April 27, 2008
Is Cheerleading Culturally Offensive?
Ask Bollywood Item Numbers By Mayank Chhaya
It was only going to be a matter of time before a self-righteous
Indian politician's underwear bunched up in manufactured rage or TRP
hungry television channel whipped up a fake controversy over the
Washington Redskins cheerleaders.
Although there are some predictable criticisms from the usual
suspects among the country's moral police, so far the extent of
protest seems remarkably subdued in a tradition-bound nation. While
one cannot guarantee that it would remain so, it is possible that
the 'outrage' over the cheerleaders would not amount to anything
much.
Cheerleading comes to India at a time when its movies have
significantly demystified the female body with its many raunchy
songs in which girls dress and dance far more provocatively than
what was on display at the Indian Premier League's Twenty20 game in
Bangalore. In the past decade or so the inelegantly named "item
numbers" in Hindi movies have immunized the young against any
possible shock. The amount of crotch grinding and artless
suggestiveness that Hindi movie starlets engage in some of the "item
numbers" far surpasses anything that the cheerleaders might do.
Those who know about cheerleading in the US would know that while at
some level it is undeniably voyeuristic, its moves and choreography
are by no means designed to be titillating. It is true that
cheerleaders wear clothes that barely leave anything to the
imagination, but the overriding appeal of cheerleading is athletic
rather than erotic.
The introduction of American style cheerleading seems inevitable as
cricket is acquiring some of testosterone of American football. Sure
it was once a game where every cover drive or a leg glance was
applauded by indolent British lords and lesser aristocrats from the
sidelines. Every time they harrumphed , a retinue of their servants
went scurrying about to bring them tea and sandwiches.
Now cricket is a glamour sport where fetching and well-endowed young
women with supple bodies vigorously cheer from the sidelines. The
purists may feel offended that the game is cheered by women who do
not know a bat from an umpire, but that is the nature of evolution.
It is as much entertainment as it is a sport. What would the purists
rather have - empty stands for a five-day test match or a full-house
for a three-hour game of unbridled excitement? If cheerleaders can
bring in more spectators, cricket will be the better for it.
Cheerleading, like beauty pageants, is an institutionalised
celebration of the female form in the US. It is impossible to find a
cheerleader who is not desirable. But beyond the obvious it requires
a fair degree of athletic skills, particularly when it comes to
tumbling. Cheerleading is almost a part of the school curriculum.
Young girls begin to train for this art form which is somewhere
between gymnastics and dancing. Done well and with finesse, it looks
rather easy. But, in fact, it can be very demanding physically.
Cheerleading as an attractive sideshow to football games has been in
existence since the 1880s in America . It acquired most of its
contours of today, including its rhythmic yell, in 1894 when an
undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota called Johnny
Cambell, bored of sitting quietly in the bleachers, started yelling
"Rah, Rah, Rah! Sku-u-mar, Hoo-Rah! Hoo-Rah! Varsity! Varsity!
Varsity, Minn-e-So-Tah!" from the sidelines. It has since gone on to
become an increasingly well-defined physical activity, which
involves dancing, tumbling and a whole lot of other tricks.
Some 115 years after it was introduced in the US , cheerleading has
come to India thanks to Twenty20, the tarted-up version of the more
staid test and one-day cricket. It is just as well because in the
new "cricket on crack", as the Twenty20 version is so illustratively
called, the actual game seems incidental. A young beer swigging
spectator in Bangalore said in his just acquired fake American
accent on ABC News, "They are hot. They are rockin'. I want their
numbers." Two more young men chimed in, "They are drop dead
gorgeous. To be honest, we are ardent cricket fans. But today we did
not see a single ball of cricket."
They did not have cricket on their mind. They had the cheerleaders
on their mind with their bright red pompoms, yellow bikini tops,
shorts and white high-heeled boots. It was an erotic fantasy come
true. Unless you are differently inclined, who does not like girls
with taut bodies in tight outfits and high-heeled boots flailing
their limbs? Vijay Mallya, the ever glad eye owner of the Royal
Challengers team, has understood that in order for his latest
business to be attractive he has to have attractive people selling
it.
Although it may still offend the sensibilities of some, the changing
trend of popular tastes suggests cheerleading could strike roots in
India. Of course, like everything else it is bound to be Indianised,
which might mean less skin than in the US.
(Mayank Chhaya is a writer and commentator living in the US . He can
be contacted at chooki6@yahoo.com)
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