Denker: I thought cheerleading was a sport?

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What in the 1950s is going on here?

I was initially blissfully unaware of the conservative online uproar over the Minnesota Vikings’ addition of two male cheerleaders to the squad this year, with the notable exception of a strange meme I was sent from a friend in California depicting Gov. Tim Walz waving pompoms.

Well, that’s odd, I thought, and went back to my regularly scheduled summer programming of shuffling kids to a variety of sporting events, endlessly wiping countertops and attempting to somehow complete my actual paid work as well.

The same week, when a U.S. senator and former college football coach, who apparently has nothing better to do while serving as an elected leader of our government, slammed the Vikings for having the temerity to add male dancers to their cheer squad, my oldest son was attending a basketball camp. One of the featured athletes who helped lead the kids at camp was a women’s basketball player. My son recounted her stats to me, and he said the whole camp — boys and girls alike — had gotten her signature.

More of that energy, please, and less whining by far-past-puberty-age males who apparently view NFL games as an opportunity to ogle decades-younger women’s cleavage.

I was 15 when “Bring It On” first came to theaters, and while the early aughts weren’t exactly known for their progressive views on women’s bodies, this was an age when we glorified girls in sports. And no, that glorification did not involve denying rights to our trans siblings.

The cheerleaders of my youth were elite gymnasts and dancers. They memorized complicated routines and had dedicated positions on the squad, just like any other sport. They traveled to competitions around the country. And while Minnesota high school cheerleading squads might be second in popularity to dance teams, in much of America, especially the South, cheerleading is a bona fide competitive sport. And yes, girls and boys compete.

On collegiate squads, men have long been essential members of cheerleading teams, and no one bats an eye. It was a male student, Johnny Campbell, at our own University of Minnesota, who led the first organized cheer during a football game in 1898, long marked as the beginning of cheerleading as a university football tradition.

At my alma mater, the University of Missouri, I knew young men and women alike who were on the cheerleading squad. It was a team. Athleticism was paramount.

I’m not naive enough to think that there’s no history of treating cheerleaders as sex symbols, particularly in the NFL. The Washington Football Team, formerly known as the Washington Redskins, settled a lawsuit with former cheerleaders in 2021 after cheerleaders discovered they’d appeared in lewd videos created without their knowledge during a swimsuit calendar shoot where they’d been contractually obligated to appear and wear skimpy suits.

Finally this season, the Cowboys announced a 400% pay increase for cheerleaders.

Don’t think these stories are connected? Think again. With every small step forward in progress and gender equity, there is a backlash from those who perceive they’re on the losing end. Finally, cheerleaders are gaining some small shred of pay equity in the NFL. Why not then threaten their dignity and standing by denigrating their role to one equal only to appearance and sex appeal?

Why else would the presence of two male cheerleaders irk certain conservative commentators so very much? Two male cheerleaders who, by the way, have been reading all the hatred and homophobic vitriol being tossed their way online. Does anyone remember that there are really people behind the screen reading what you’re writing about them?

Don’t be gaslit into claims that these critics really only care about the women. Women athletes don’t want their value in sport to be based on their appearance. Women athletes for the most part, known for their commitment to social justice causes of all kinds, want to stand shoulder to shoulder with other marginalized athletes. They all just want a seat at the table, a chance to compete and do their best. And have fun? And be treated as human beings worthy of human dignity? That’s it. That’s all.

I’m old enough to remember the days when boomers used to complain that millennials were ruining everything. A variety of lists suggest we’ve destroyed everything from beer to cereal to napkins to light yogurt. As far as I can tell, all of those things are still readily available in America.