SOC212: Chapter 28 – Men Who Cheer

Ross Au

Reactions:

1) The immediate reaction I had when reading this chapter is actually related to something outside of
cheerleading. I am a student in the music performance program at the school, and I find it interesting
how certain instruments seem to be “tailored” towards a specific gender identity, much like how some
sports that were discussed in this chapter could be identified as a “masculine” or “feminine”. I have
not seen a male whose major instrument is the flute or harp. In contrary, the guitar department is 100%
male dominated, and this has been an ongoing trend. It is strange how “masculine” or “feminine”
labels can be assigned to objects or activities which would seemingly have no correlation to gender.

2) I happened to know two heterosexual male cheerleaders in high school on a personal level. I
definitely thought that they, were the extroverted, A-type personality breed, and they certainly didn't
question their sexuality. However, coinciding with the article, one of their primary reasonings behind
active participation in cheerleading activities, was due to the presence of, and the interaction with their
“attractive” female counterparts. Based on personal interactions with these acquaintances of mine, I
found it interesting how alarmingly accurate the findings and problems addressed in this chapter were.

Keepers:

1) I think that one of the overarching themes that were indirectly presented in this chapter, was the
distinction between the terms “sex” and “gender”. That is, “sex” is the set of biological conditions that
one is given at birth, whereas “gender” is a constructed phenomenon. In other words, “gender” is
something you can perform. In this particular chapter, we can see that the cheerleaders belonging to
the male sex, are participating in activities that are not gender normative, since cheerleading is so
commonly identified as a female activity.

2) Another important point to take away from this chapter, is the fact that it is not only the male
cheerleaders who actively try to suppress or confront stigma associated with being a male cheerleader,
but also, the females play a key role in this as well. This can be done using strategies to help argue for
the legitimacy of the sport (emphasizing physical exertion). By making claims that female
cheerleaders rely on men in order for the sport to function helps defend a (hetero) male cheerleader's
masculinity.

Questions:

1) On page 322, there is a scenario in which one of the respondents makes a claim that “if a male has a
female friend, he must have a sexual interest in her, and if he does not, he must be gay. From my
personal observations, it seems that this labeling of homosexuality towards people who have many
friends of the opposite sex, has a more profound effect on males, than females. I have encountered
many instances of males who were labeled as “gay” because they have predominantly female friends.
However, I can not recall a time when a female was labeled as a “lesbian” because of a larger amount
of male friends. I would like to know why.

2) I am fairly convinced that the author of this chapter has a very “westernized” perspective of the
issue. I would like to see whether or not the association of certain activities with gender, exists in a
other, possibly non-patriarchal social structures as well. The immediate example I can think of are the
native-American “berdaches”; well respected, and key figures in many native-American cultures, who
identify themselves as a mixed gender. Also, the male respondents in this chapter were all
heterosexual. I would have liked for the author to factor in accounts of male cheerleaders who ARE
homosexual as well.

Why does the topic matter?

This topic matters because it outlines the problems of associating activities as masculine or
feminine. The main issue, in my opinion, being unequal opportunities for participation due to the
ascribed status that is your sex. Also, by stigmatizing men (and women) who do not necessarily
conform to heteronormative roles, we are actively, reproducing the ideas of gender stratification of
hetero male superiority over homosexual males, and women. At this rate, the goal of gender equality
seems very distant.