Flipping through the channels on TV on a Sunday evening, I realized that boredom has set in.
Maybe, it's because I am fighting this stomach bug and don't feel that great, but I am experiencing a new type of "nausea" then I have in the past 24 hours.
I began watching a show called , "the Making of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders" and within a very few minutes I was completely appalled by the degradation of women.
These young women are chastised for their weight, that their legs are too short for the outfits, that they are awkward.
The director of the DCC (dallas cowboy cheerleaders) is a woman named Kelli Finglass and the choreographer is Judy Trammell. Both of these women were previous cheerleaders and have been hired to pick and name the squad. They had to go through the try-outs themselves, and both were part of the squad for at least five seasons. Perhaps that is why they are so hard on the girls.
This whole process really sickened me. I don't know if its because of the way the ladies were treated and judged or if it is the sad state of our world, that makes these young women, believe that they have nothing if they don't make the team.
It is totally not part of anything I would have wanted for my daughters. I realize that cheerleading is a sport and that sometimes, it becomes the "world" to girls and their families.
But what does it teach them?
That you have to beautiful, coordinated, they have to have certain thigh size to be noticed? I am concerned about the aspirations and goals of these young women that they can't imagine life without being a DCC.
I am not a "feminist" by nature.
But tonight I am.
I am repulsed by what has been portrayed on the TV.
I am angry.
What kind of society are we living in?
What are we teaching girls about their worth? What they are to value in life? To be a cheerleader in front of 100,000 people in person and maybe millions more on TV for at the most twenty games per year?
I am saddened by what I watched.
I was furious at the two women who were cut throat, catty and so degrading of some of the gals who were auditioning.
What gives them the right? Because they used to be a cheerleader?
Or are they trying to hold on to their "glory days"?
"I have poured my heart and soul into this".
That is a quote by one of the ladies. There were countless similar thoughts conveyed by the girls.
I realize when you want something, you must work hard for it.
At what cost though?
To make you feel "worthless" and "not special enough" if you don't make an NFL football team cheerleading squad?
I worked hard to become a nurse. I worked for 31 years taking care of patients and their families. It was something that I not only did as a career but something I could do for others. I don't think these young ladies will ever last that long on the football field, in fact I would bet any amount of money that they won't.
"You need to lose five pounds."
"You have to take this seriously".
"You need to wow the audiences".
"You can't go on your Barbie looks".
"You don't have the style we are looking for".
Those spoken words produced devastating feelings into the lives of the young women who were rejected by the Cheerleading gestapo.
Because they weren't picked to represent "America's Team"? (who by the way are not America's team anymore, and probably won't be ever again).
Where have we gone wrong making young women believe their lives are over because they didn't make the squad?
I think about the millions of girls all over the world that don't even know what a cheerleader is, much less a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader. That so many girls fight to have an education because where they live, they are not considered worthy to attend school.
That the cost of dance lessons and outfits is abhorrent, when more than two thirds of the world live in poverty and would covet something barely new.
How do I convey moral values to a group of young women, when what they see on the tv, magazines and social media is that the size of their body, the skimpiness of what they put on is what makes them be noticed? How do I instill that our worth comes from Someone way more important?
That there is A GOD who loves them more than words can convey, more than the mind can comprehend, and who literally died to show them how much He loved them.
Oh ladies, there is so much more to life.
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