Definitely A Grey Area

I do not consider myself a misogynist by any stretch of the imagination. While there are decided differences between the sexes, I consider those to be interesting, not a basis for competition. Women have been in charge of me most of my life even though my bosses "on the job" have all been male...to this point. I recognize my inefficiency with numbers and encourage my sweetie to take charge of those affairs, and she does it very well. But since 1972 (legally, though probably not in reality), there has been an element about women in sports that just puzzles me to no end: cheerleading.
Prior to Title IX, women were forced to restrict their involvement in athletics to that of "support staff," if you will: pep clubs and cheerleading groups were the only points of entry into the athletic world. I think the prevailing thought was that sports were too physical for women: they would develop unsightly musculature, growing unwanted hair and start speaking in unfeminine voices. Or, more likely, men realized that the pot of money was just so big and that anything the women took out would affect the males' payday. So, we were left with "We've got spirit, yes we do..." an other inanities while women sneaked into the Boston marathon and began cultivating a world not dominated by the cute, white skirts at Wimbledon.
Gender equity was a great law...far too late for many women like my sweetie...but in time for our daughter to avoid being relegated to second-class athletic status as a cheerleader. She got to play.
Colleges weren't happy because, as feared, women began to demand not only the right to play, but also the right to equal funding, facilities and scholarship opportunities. This, of course, led universities to attempt to brand cheerleading as a "sport"in order to meet the rules for equal participation...and Quinnipiac University gas apparently been served notice by the courts that this tactic will not fly, and hopefully, the women will get a fair shake...and not just in the booty area.
With the number of athletic programs available, I cannot imagine why an athletic young woman would not head in that direction, eschewing the rampant sexism (as I see it) of cheerleading which serves, as best I can tell, as "eye candy" to male spectators as well as a minor distraction between the chicken toss and little kids wearing big shoes and clothes racing from one end of the gym to the other during basketball breaks. Football? Don't even tell me you can hear anything they say for as far away as spectators have to sit.
Athletic? maybe, but to what end (so to speak)?
Check out the URL below for someone else's take on the idea of cheerleading as a sport.
I'm just glad my daughter got to play...fully clothed and sweating.

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/cheaper-than-therapy/2010/07/cheerleading-is-not-a-sport-a-judge-and-pictures-prove-it.html