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Speaker 1: Hello, this is Annie, and this is Bridget, and you're

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Speaker 1: listening to stuff Mom never told you. Today we were

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Speaker 1: talking about cheerleading and cheerleaders. Were you a cheerleader? Annie? No? Uh.

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Speaker 1: I wanted to be, though, And I often think that

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Speaker 1: if I hadn't moved, I moved it like critical development,

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Speaker 1: developmental period of my life. And the friends that in

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Speaker 1: my old hometown they were all cheerleaders. And my friends,

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Speaker 1: the friends of my new hometown, none of them were cheerleaders.

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Speaker 1: So I like to think there's an alternate reality where

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Speaker 1: I became a really awesome cheerleader to earth to Amy's

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Speaker 1: on top of the pyramid. That's right. I'm just cheering away,

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Speaker 1: cheering my heart out. What about you? Were you at

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Speaker 1: cheer I was. I would sort of cheer adjacent a

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Speaker 1: go to a school that had cheerleaders, but I went

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Speaker 1: to cheerleading camp. Yeah, I forgot about cheerleading camp. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: It sounds like both of us are folks who have

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Speaker 1: healthy respect for cheerleaders. Oh absolutely, Yeah, that's something that

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Speaker 1: I think people forget about cheer because when you're a cheerleader,

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Speaker 1: you're often in a skirt and you're in pom poms.

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Speaker 1: But cheerleaders are really talented. These are really talented athletes. Yeah, um,

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Speaker 1: I tried out for the not cheerleading, but the dance

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Speaker 1: team at Georgia Tech. And there's another Annie. And if

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Speaker 1: she's listening, hello other Annie. Alternate Annie. I called her

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Speaker 1: and she was in all of my same classes, and

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Speaker 1: she and I both tried out and she made it

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Speaker 1: and I didn't. She was slightly better than me at everything.

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Speaker 1: I respect her. I love this Ulternate Annie. Alternate Annie.

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Speaker 1: There's just so many iterations. Fun fact is that I

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Speaker 1: did dance team for most of my my I did.

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Speaker 1: And actually people who are on dance team, or at

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Speaker 1: least the ones that I knew, they like. There to

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Speaker 1: be a very clear distinction between cheer and dance. Yeah. Caveat, Yes,

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Speaker 1: very very much a caveat. But I bring that up because, um,

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Speaker 1: I sort of assumed foolishly that I would get on

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Speaker 1: there because I like dancing. Dancing is one of my

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Speaker 1: favorite favorite things, and I'm pretty athletic. I did not

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Speaker 1: make it. I don't think I was even close. Really,

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Speaker 1: what's alternate Annie up to these days? Alternate she's like

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Speaker 1: a rocket. Probably she's probably I know she's in New

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Speaker 1: York could be a rocket. She really could be. Oh no,

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Speaker 1: I don't know what I'm gonna I'm gonna have to

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Speaker 1: reevaluate some things. If alternate Annie is a rocket crisis

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Speaker 1: for later, crisis for later. But yes, the whole thing

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Speaker 1: to say, cheerleaders very talented and a lot of athleticism involved.

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Speaker 1: Um professional sport team cheerleaders are often dancers with backgrounds

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Speaker 1: in ballet, jazz, modern and hip hop and tap, and

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Speaker 1: they have to beat out dozens of other dancers for

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Speaker 1: the job, and then they have to show off the

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Speaker 1: athletic and dancing skills they have honed for years on

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Speaker 1: the fields. Yeah, these ladies are serious athletes. That's there's

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Speaker 1: a lot of kind of back and forth about is

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Speaker 1: cheerleading a sport or is it not a sport. In

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Speaker 1: my book, it's very clearly a sport. These people are

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Speaker 1: up there, they're breaking bones, they're doing flips, they're doing

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Speaker 1: dangerous stunts. It takes a lot of athleticism. Yeah. A

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Speaker 1: couple of studies from the first decades of the two

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Speaker 1: thousands found that the leading cause of catastrophic sports injuries,

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Speaker 1: which are serious injuries to your brain or your spine,

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Speaker 1: for American Girls was cheerleading, and it used to be.

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Speaker 1: I did a little of digging for fun into the

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Speaker 1: history of cheerleading for this, and it used to be

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Speaker 1: much more kind of like chant leading the crowd and chance.

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Speaker 1: And now it has become much more of a kind

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Speaker 1: of gymnastic, has a gymnastic element that was not there

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Speaker 1: until it had this resurgence and around the eighties and nineties,

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Speaker 1: and then Bring it On came out, and you know,

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Speaker 1: oh my god. A side note, Bring It On is

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Speaker 1: about cultural appropriation and racism conversation for a later episode.

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Speaker 1: But y'all know it's true. I've never seen it. Oh

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Speaker 1: my god, Annie, I miss like all of the popular

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Speaker 1: high school any kind of even wrong com adjacent I haven't.

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Speaker 1: It's not actually a rom com. It's about female athletes

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Speaker 1: because it's about cheerleaders. But to this day, if anyone

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Speaker 1: and you're not gonna get this reference, but people out

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Speaker 1: there probably will. If anyone ever says Burr, I can't

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Speaker 1: help but fill in the it's cold in here. There

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Speaker 1: must be some toros or some clovers in the atmosphere.

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Speaker 1: You don't get that, remast, Let's watch it. You will. Okay,

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Speaker 1: we have quite the list of we do. So back

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Speaker 1: to cheerleading. You know, it seems like a very, very

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Speaker 1: glamorous job, but it actually sounds like cheerleaders put up

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Speaker 1: a lot of bs just to do their job. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and NFL cheerleaders schedule varies, but most can expect to

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Speaker 1: work eight hours per week for rehearsals, plus additional practice

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Speaker 1: time for rookies, and a full eight hour day at

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Speaker 1: the stadium for home games on Sundays or sometimes Monday

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Speaker 1: nights or even holidays like Thanksgiving, our Christmas. Regular special

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Speaker 1: appearances at community, our each charity and corporate events are

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Speaker 1: required as well. Many cheerleaders are not paid by the

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Speaker 1: hour either, but with a set fee for each game

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Speaker 1: or appearance, and many complain about not being compensated at

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Speaker 1: all for practices or travel times. Yes, so it seems

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Speaker 1: like they're not being compensated the way that you would

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Speaker 1: expect that a lot they're doing, a lot of things

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Speaker 1: would have that are required of them, but they're not

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Speaker 1: paid for them. And we'll talk more about how that

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Speaker 1: gets really twisted and toxic and reported in a little bit.

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Speaker 1: But even when those things are on the up and up,

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Speaker 1: you know, charity events, things like that. It seems like

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Speaker 1: those things are required of them, but they may not

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Speaker 1: be even being compensated for those kinds of things. Yeah. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: And they also have a lot of really demanding and

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Speaker 1: often strange rules. Tell me about it. Former NFL cheerleaders

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Speaker 1: say that members of their squad were sometimes bench for

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Speaker 1: gaining weight during a season. They can also be fine

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Speaker 1: for things like wearing the wrong outfit to her practice.

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Speaker 1: Some other kind of strange rules they have are not

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Speaker 1: being allowed to drink or curse or chew gum in public,

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Speaker 1: So I could definitely not abide by those rules. And

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Speaker 1: bands on hanging out or dating NFL players. The States stations,

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Speaker 1: that's the SATs in New Orleans, the New Orleans Saints

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Speaker 1: their cheerleaders they are rules actually prohibit cheerleaders from fratnizing

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Speaker 1: with players, to the point where a cheerleader would be

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Speaker 1: required to leave a restaurant or a party if an

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Speaker 1: NFL player entered, even if she was there first. One

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Speaker 1: team meeting required that all the cheerleaders had to have

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Speaker 1: straight hair. The playbook for the Jills comes with these

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Speaker 1: instructions never eating uniform and less and arrangements have been

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Speaker 1: made in advance just say thanks so much for offering,

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Speaker 1: but no thank you. Never all kept say oh we're

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Speaker 1: not allowed to eat like that's a bad look. Yeah. Um.

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Speaker 1: It also has other of gem's like learn how to

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Speaker 1: use a map, quest um, pedicures, exploration for all caps.

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Speaker 1: I know like speaks for itself. Bad breath is offensive.

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Speaker 1: Always keep it in check. Never engage in gossip. Don't

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Speaker 1: hang out too long in the bathroom. Other women will

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Speaker 1: judge you there too. Never use phrases such as like

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Speaker 1: always say excuse me when you burp, sneeze, or fart,

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Speaker 1: even if you think someone isn't around. Avoid conversations about

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Speaker 1: the weather it seems desperate. Do not eat bread at

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Speaker 1: a formal event. This is so specifically. Bare shoulders and

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Speaker 1: low cut tops are not appropriate. Um dining etiquette. There's

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Speaker 1: something about how to put in a tampon quote a

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Speaker 1: tampon too big can irritate and develop fungus. Change every

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Speaker 1: four hours. Seeing they're they're like up in the ladies.

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Speaker 1: These requirements are like bartim. Yes, the Raven cheerleaders are

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Speaker 1: required to friend their director Facebook. They also have to

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Speaker 1: buy the bikini calendars and sell them. They can keep

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Speaker 1: the profits, but they're stuck with any they don't sell,

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Speaker 1: and they have to buy one hundred calendars at twelve

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Speaker 1: dollars a piece at least, And that's nothing to sneeze

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Speaker 1: that you might not have that money. Well, they especially

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Speaker 1: probably don't have that money when you actually look at

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Speaker 1: how much these athletes are being paid, which is frankly

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Speaker 1: not that much. No, not at all. And even while

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Speaker 1: a lot of these handbooks are clear to point out

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Speaker 1: that cheerleading is not supposed to be a full time job,

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Speaker 1: they actually don't really make that much money. Now. I

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Speaker 1: did a lot of digging on these stats trying to

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Speaker 1: figure out how much these athletes make, and it's not

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Speaker 1: really widely available, probably because they're not making a lot

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Speaker 1: of money and they want to keep that information secret.

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Speaker 1: But one lawsuit filed on behalf of one former San

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Speaker 1: Francisco forty cheerleader said that she earned a total of

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Speaker 1: one thousand, two hundred and fifty dollars per season, which

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Speaker 1: when you do the math, works out to about two

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Speaker 1: dollars per hour, which is nothing no one. Anonymous NFL

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Speaker 1: cheerleader wrote in to Cosmopolitan that she was paid three

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Speaker 1: thousand dollars during the two thousand sixth season, but after

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Speaker 1: adding up non non reimversed expenses for things like makeup

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Speaker 1: and stylist appointments, she netted only three hundred dollars. And

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Speaker 1: stuff is really expensive, and from what I read, most cheerleaders,

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Speaker 1: professional cheerleaders are expected to pay for it out of pocket.

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Speaker 1: And I mean high school cheerleading is not the same level.

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Speaker 1: But I remember my friends had to they had to

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Speaker 1: wear a certain color makeup, they had to wear makeup,

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Speaker 1: and they had to do their hair a certain way.

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Speaker 1: And I was always kind of like, wow, really, but yep, yep,

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Speaker 1: yep they do. And that becomes especially troubling when you

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Speaker 1: remember that these athletes are not making that much money.

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Speaker 1: To then say you need to buy this calendar out

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Speaker 1: of pocket, you need to buy this makeup out of pocket.

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Speaker 1: That's out the out of pocket. To require that to

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Speaker 1: be something that you need for your job, but then

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Speaker 1: make you pay for it when you're not being paid

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Speaker 1: that much is a bit much. According to Time, NFL

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Speaker 1: cheerleaders earned somewhere between seventy five and a hundred and

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Speaker 1: fifty dollars per game and might make because much as

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Speaker 1: fifty dollars per hour for a special corporate appearance. The

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Speaker 1: San Diego Chargers cheerleaders had been getting paid a flat

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Speaker 1: seventy fee per game, but a California law that went

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Speaker 1: into effect actually mandated that they be paid for all

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Speaker 1: of their work at least at the state minimum wage

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Speaker 1: of ten dollars per hour. Wow, it still sounds pretty grim. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I'm surprised that this is that is a win, like

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Speaker 1: getting the minimum wage. Yeah, I mean great, good, But

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Speaker 1: still I think I I read about the the jiggle

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Speaker 1: tests where you do the jumping jacks and if you're jiggling,

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Speaker 1: they might bench you for having gained weight. Um, and

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Speaker 1: if you get benched, you're not gonna get paid for

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Speaker 1: that game. And if there's only eight games in a season,

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Speaker 1: then that's an eighth severe the whole paycheck. Like that

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Speaker 1: seems so unfair. I think people listening might be saying, well,

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Speaker 1: when you signed up to be a cheerleader, you know

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Speaker 1: that you're a peer. It is going to be a

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Speaker 1: thing part of the job. But this just seems demeaning. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and um, in my time that when I've done some

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Speaker 1: acting things, um, you get paid as an actor for

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Speaker 1: like rehearsal and like showing up to get costuming and

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Speaker 1: stuff like that. And I do remember one guy said

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Speaker 1: to me on set once, isn't it weird to be

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Speaker 1: in a profession where it's all about how you look?

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Speaker 1: And I was like, well, yeah, now that you see

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Speaker 1: that really strange it is now. It is now, but

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Speaker 1: it is strange. But at the same time, if that's

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Speaker 1: if that is the case, you should be paid for

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Speaker 1: the work you're doing to achieve that look, like the

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Speaker 1: makeup and the hair, all of it. That should be

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Speaker 1: not coming out of your pocket. Well, if it's part

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Speaker 1: of the job, would think that, you know. I think

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Speaker 1: that the issue comes in because when it's cheerleaders, the

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Speaker 1: idea is that they're sexy, their women, and that people

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Speaker 1: sort of don't understand that it's just like any other

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Speaker 1: labor concern, that cheerleaders just because they wear skirts and

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Speaker 1: they wear makeup and they're beautiful women who are dancing,

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Speaker 1: that doesn't mean that it's not a regular labor dispute.

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Speaker 1: And so I think that some people might have a

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Speaker 1: hard time wrapping their head around the fact that, yeah,

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Speaker 1: it isn't there if you are not making a lot

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Speaker 1: of money, and that you're still asked to on top

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Speaker 1: of that, by your own makeup, byr own mess byron

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Speaker 1: that if those things are requirements for your work, it's

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Speaker 1: sort of not fair. But I think it's one of

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Speaker 1: those issues that because it involves women and because it

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Speaker 1: involves a certain kind of sexuality on display that people

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Speaker 1: kind of it becomes murkier for some folks, when in fact,

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Speaker 1: for me, it's very cut and dry. It's a labor

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Speaker 1: it's a workplace issue. Totally agree. We have um a

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Speaker 1: lot more, a lot more of troubling workplace issues to discuss.

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Speaker 1: But first we're going to take a quick break for

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Speaker 1: a word from our sponsor and we're back. Thank you, sponsor. Okay,

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Speaker 1: so let's get into sort of the biggest news happening

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Speaker 1: in the professional cheerleading world right now. There was a

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Speaker 1: bombshell report in the New York Times alleging some pretty sleazy,

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Speaker 1: troubling behavior going down with the cheerleaders on the Washington

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Speaker 1: football team. Uh. You'll notice I did not say a

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Speaker 1: certain word that starts with the letter R, even though

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Speaker 1: that is the official name of the team. Being from DC,

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Speaker 1: I can tell you there is a big push to

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Speaker 1: get that name changed. Uh. I believe that name is

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Speaker 1: a slur, so I try not to say it, and

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Speaker 1: I we'll try not to say it in this episode,

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Speaker 1: but it's a little bit of a we should come

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Speaker 1: up with a different name for it. I feel like

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Speaker 1: they have a different name that's been proposed. There was

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Speaker 1: actually this social media hoax back in twenties seventeen that

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Speaker 1: was put on by a group called Native Advocates to

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Speaker 1: bring awareness for this name change, where they made a

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Speaker 1: fake news website or a fake news press release saying

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Speaker 1: that the team name was being changed to the RedHawks.

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Speaker 1: So it's called them the red Hawks. That's enough. So

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Speaker 1: again this you might be thinking, what is happening, Um,

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Speaker 1: we're gonna be calling the Washington d C professional football

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Speaker 1: team the red Hawks instead of their actual name. We

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Speaker 1: know it's the act. We know this is not the name.

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Speaker 1: Don't write in and say you've got the team name wrong.

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Speaker 1: We know this. It's a slur. I'm not gonna say it. Well,

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Speaker 1: I have a confession I must make. I thought this

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Speaker 1: was the Washington State football time. Annie. Oh no, I

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Speaker 1: am more out of touch than I thought. This is

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Speaker 1: like a you're I mean, like this is I'm not

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Speaker 1: a sport person, but this is shocking to me. I

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Speaker 1: am shocked as well. I am not lie. I am

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Speaker 1: learning this now. Annie. That's the Seahawks. The Washington State

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Speaker 1: football team is the Seahawks, the Washington d C, which

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Speaker 1: is a different place where the Red Hawks. I didn't

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Speaker 1: know about the Seahawks too. I don't know how. I

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Speaker 1: never realized there's discrepancy there that they had to t

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Speaker 1: ms in my head. Oh, I gotta, I really need

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Speaker 1: to think about things. I need to find alternate Anny

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Speaker 1: Nascar for some advice. Yeah, she's gonna take you after

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Speaker 1: her demanding rockets work out. She's gonna take you for

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Speaker 1: lunch and get your life together. That's what I need.

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Speaker 1: That's what I need. Okay. So here's what's going down.

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Speaker 1: According to this report in the New York Times, the

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Speaker 1: Washington RedHawks took their cheerleading squad to Costa Rica for

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Speaker 1: a calendar shoot. The cheerleaders were paid nothing beyond transportation costs,

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Speaker 1: meals and lodging, which I already found a little bit

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Speaker 1: if you know. I mean, I guess maybe you would

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Speaker 1: be happy to to go on a Costa Rican vacation.

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Speaker 1: But still, so here's where it gets really sketched in

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Speaker 1: my book, Red Hawks officials took their passports upon arrival

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Speaker 1: at the resort, depriving them of their official identification. Now,

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Speaker 1: the officials say, this is just a routine thing to

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Speaker 1: keep you know, to keep the logistics or keep them safe, whatever.

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Speaker 1: But if you got to Costa Rica, a different country,

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Speaker 1: and the first thing that happened to you that you

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Speaker 1: if you were there for work, and the first thing

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Speaker 1: that happened was give me your passport, that would already

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Speaker 1: give me some creepy vibes. Yeah, and I feel like

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Speaker 1: there are many situations where you might want your passport

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Speaker 1: in another country. I would say pretty much all situations.

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Speaker 1: I would feel super unsafe without my passport. Yeah. And

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Speaker 1: as someone when you travel, the advice you get is

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Speaker 1: make a copy of your passport and leave one at home. Like,

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Speaker 1: if logistically they're saying it's logistics, why couldn't they just

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Speaker 1: have a copy of the passport, you would think. So

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Speaker 1: the steer leaders go to an adult's only resort and

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Speaker 1: they're they're here for this photo shoot. So the Red

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Speaker 1: Hucks cheerleaders they show up to this adult's only resort

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Speaker 1: and they are doing this calendar, this kind of sexy

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Speaker 1: calendar photo shoot. Some of them were required to be

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Speaker 1: topless and others of them only were body paid. Now,

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Speaker 1: this resort isn't kind of a secluded area, so you know,

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Speaker 1: not a big deal. You know, would wouldn't be if

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Speaker 1: you felt uncomfortable being topless. It wouldn't be that maybe

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Speaker 1: that big of a deal because it's secluded. Except the

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Speaker 1: RedHawks invited spectators, a contention of sponsors and FedEx Field suiteholders,

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Speaker 1: all men were granted up close access to the photo shoots,

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Speaker 1: which is gross. Yeah, that's disgusting. Well, it actually gets worse.

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Speaker 1: After a fourteen hour day that included posing and dance

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Speaker 1: practice and all of that, the squad's director told nine

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Speaker 1: of the thirty six cheerleaders that they had a special

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Speaker 1: assignment for the night. Oh no, I bet you can

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Speaker 1: sort of imagine where this is going. I I unfortunately

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Speaker 1: think I can. Yes, So some of the male sponsors

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Speaker 1: who'd been there probably leering at them all day like creeps,

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Speaker 1: had picked them to be personal escorts at a nightclub

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Speaker 1: later that night. And oh no, it's bad. So so

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Speaker 1: it doesn't sound like they were forced or required to

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Speaker 1: have sex with these men, but it's still it's a

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Speaker 1: it's a weird situation. One of the cheerleaders said, they

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Speaker 1: weren't putting a gun to our heads, but it was

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Speaker 1: a mandatory for us to go. We weren't asked, we

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Speaker 1: were told other girls were devastated because we knew exactly

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Speaker 1: what she was doing. Wow, I can't I'm shocked that

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Speaker 1: this was kind of a surprise assignment. That that feels

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Speaker 1: very shady to me in and of itself, and the

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Speaker 1: whole thing is, but the fact that it's just sort

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Speaker 1: of sprung on you. Hey, you have to go do

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Speaker 1: this thing that you might be very uncomfortable with. We

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Speaker 1: didn't give you any warning. You just gotta go do it. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: According to this report, some of the schooletters when they

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Speaker 1: found out they had to do this, burst into tears,

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Speaker 1: like on the spot. That's so sad. So when the

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Speaker 1: nine cheoletters were picked to do this quote special assignment

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Speaker 1: showed up to the club, they found the club dark

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Speaker 1: and pretty much empty except for the men who had

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Speaker 1: requested them. And when they got there, they actually found

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Speaker 1: that Red Hawks officials were there at the club, Lawn Rosenberg,

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Speaker 1: the senior vice president of operations, and Dennis Green, the

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Speaker 1: president for business operations were both there. A former Red

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Speaker 1: Hawks cheerleader who volunteered as a sideline assistant during the

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Speaker 1: games was encouraging the women to drink and flirt and

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Speaker 1: have a good time. The issue was that management really

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Speaker 1: seemed to condone all of this. One cheerleader who was

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Speaker 1: there said, according to this report, so honestly, it's like,

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Speaker 1: you get to this club, there's nobody there. Let's be real,

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Speaker 1: this group of men who's probably been ring at you

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Speaker 1: all night while you were topless, and you really couldn't

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Speaker 1: say anything about it. He hand picks you more or

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Speaker 1: less makes it mandatory if you go to this nightclub

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Speaker 1: with him. You get there and it's like your bosses

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Speaker 1: are there and they're encouraging you to drink and flirt.

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Speaker 1: That's weird. That is so strange, and that would fall

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Speaker 1: under like if that happened at almost any other company,

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Speaker 1: it would be very very troubling and problematic and probably

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Speaker 1: gets sued. You. Yeah, it would be bad. So here's

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Speaker 1: a kind of extra added layer of making this sort

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Speaker 1: of a sleazy experience for these for these women. They

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Speaker 1: say that after the nightclub, around two or three am,

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Speaker 1: they got into the van only to be stopped by

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Speaker 1: several police officers, who of course asked for their passports,

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Speaker 1: which they didn't have. Yeah, and after they were allowed

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Speaker 1: to leave by the police, a man affiliated with the

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Speaker 1: cheerleading squad allegedly said quote, I guess they thought you

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Speaker 1: were prostitutes. Wow, it's really hard to stay without having

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Speaker 1: them without knowing. That's what inflection he said that if

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Speaker 1: he was being helpful or rude, Yeah, I mean, that's

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Speaker 1: just such an uncomfortable experience, so much so that when

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Speaker 1: they returned to the resort, several women on the team

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Speaker 1: decided not to return to the squad the next season.

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Speaker 1: What happened in Costa Rica, they said, made them feel

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Speaker 1: worthless and unprotected, and I can understand why. Yeah, you

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Speaker 1: just feel very as if the people in charge of

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Speaker 1: in charge of you in your career and one would

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Speaker 1: hope keeping you safe when you're traveling, and to be

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Speaker 1: treated that way, as if you're just going to do

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Speaker 1: this and I don't really care what happens to you. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: we're not going to give you security. Just think if

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Speaker 1: that night, which was already awful, really got unsafe and

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Speaker 1: somebody had to run out of there because one of

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Speaker 1: these men got grabby or whatever. You don't have your passport,

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Speaker 1: you don't have security, you do have nothing. I mean,

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Speaker 1: and especially with the alcohol flowing, it just does not

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Speaker 1: sound like they were set up to have a safe experience.

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Speaker 1: It's no, it sounds like the opposite of it, in fact,

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Speaker 1: which is mhmm, terrible. Yeah, it does sound terrible. I

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Speaker 1: should note that Stephanie Jokanian, a longtime director and choreographer

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Speaker 1: for the Red Hawks, disputes much of what the women

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Speaker 1: say happened in Costa Rica. She totally denies that the

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Speaker 1: nightclub night was mandatory and says that the cheerleaders who

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Speaker 1: went were not chosen by sponsors. She says, I was

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Speaker 1: not forcing anyone to go at all. I'm the Mama Baron.

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Speaker 1: I really look out for everybody, not just the cheerleaders.

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Speaker 1: It's a big family. We respect each other and our craft.

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Speaker 1: It's a very supportive environment for these ladies. The Red

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Speaker 1: Hawks also put out a statement pretty much saying the

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Speaker 1: same thing, disputing the claims of what happened in Costa

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Speaker 1: Rica and reaffirming that there you know, they stand for

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Speaker 1: the safety of all of their athletes, which sounds to me, yeah,

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Speaker 1: it does. Have that as we say. Dan Schneider, the

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Speaker 1: team's owner, has also been accused of making the whole

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Speaker 1: cheerleading program raunchier, like pushing it in that direction. Mr

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00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:01,280
Speaker 1: Schneider was quote bringing the craft closer to pole dancing

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Speaker 1: with every season, said a two thousand nine column in

407
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Speaker 1: the Washington City Paper, which referred to an advertisement on

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Speaker 1: Mr Schneider's w t e M a m sports talk

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Speaker 1: radio station that year. In the ad, Breathymale Voices discussed

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Speaker 1: a listener contest in which five lucky winners would have

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Speaker 1: Red Hawks cheerleaders wash their cars. One man asked the

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Speaker 1: other if he would like the cheerleaders soaping up and

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Speaker 1: scrubbing you. Yeah, that makes my skin crawl. Just yeah,

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Speaker 1: these are athletes. I mean, no shame to women who

415
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Speaker 1: are in the you know who dance or who are

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Speaker 1: sex workers. But it's like that's not what these wouldn't

417
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Speaker 1: sign up for. They weren't signed up to be just

418
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Speaker 1: because they wear shorts, carts and dance on a field.

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Speaker 1: They do not sign up to wash cars in a bikini.

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Speaker 1: Doesn'thing wrong with that, but that's not they didn't do

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Speaker 1: like years and years and years in ballet training to

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Speaker 1: watch some jerk's car and they have their owner. The

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Speaker 1: owner of this team be the one who's putting them

424
00:22:58,200 --> 00:22:59,879
Speaker 1: out there to do that. It's just really the great

425
00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:04,640
Speaker 1: even worse, on the Red Hawk's own website, fans were

426
00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:06,800
Speaker 1: able to play a version of the game not or Hot,

427
00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:10,000
Speaker 1: where it would be two pictures of Red Hocks cheerleaders

428
00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:11,720
Speaker 1: and you get to pick which one is hot and

429
00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:14,640
Speaker 1: which one is not. And that was on their official website. Now,

430
00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:17,120
Speaker 1: after this New York Times report was released, they took

431
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:19,119
Speaker 1: it down with their screenshots on the internet. This was

432
00:23:19,119 --> 00:23:22,479
Speaker 1: a thing that they thought was appropriate to have on

433
00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:26,920
Speaker 1: their official website until this report came out. Right, I

434
00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:31,240
Speaker 1: recall um a bit of a greffuffle around the hotty

435
00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:34,720
Speaker 1: alert um, which was like a social media thing where

436
00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:37,720
Speaker 1: they once a week would publish like a picture on

437
00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:40,680
Speaker 1: Instagram upon the cheerleaders in bikini, but the cheerleaders weren't

438
00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:46,600
Speaker 1: allowed to publish quote sexy pictures on their personal personal

439
00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:48,879
Speaker 1: Instagram accounts, and a lot of teams that did that

440
00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:51,480
Speaker 1: said it was for their safety to prevent stalking. But

441
00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:55,560
Speaker 1: um fans, which is tag like that, that excuse doesn't

442
00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:58,160
Speaker 1: hold water. Yeah, I want to talk about that more

443
00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:01,600
Speaker 1: going forward. But it is clear to me that they

444
00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:05,600
Speaker 1: dictate these women and their sexuality to a degree that

445
00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:07,880
Speaker 1: is absurd. Right where they tell you when to change

446
00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:10,479
Speaker 1: your tampon, you know what you can and can't do

447
00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:13,120
Speaker 1: when you're in public on your own time, all of that,

448
00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:15,080
Speaker 1: and it's clear to me that they when you find out,

449
00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:17,120
Speaker 1: like there's a cheerleader who says that she was fired

450
00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:20,439
Speaker 1: because she posed in a one piece bathing suit on

451
00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,680
Speaker 1: her personal Instagram account, and it's clear to me that

452
00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,480
Speaker 1: the NFL, then, you don't have a problem with sexuality,

453
00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:29,159
Speaker 1: but they want to be in control of it. They

454
00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:33,280
Speaker 1: want to use the sexuality of their cheerleaders to make money,

455
00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:36,000
Speaker 1: to promote to whatever, and they want these women to

456
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:39,639
Speaker 1: have no agency and no control of their own sexuality,

457
00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:42,479
Speaker 1: which is a really weird discrepancy. Clearly, they don't give

458
00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,400
Speaker 1: a crap about the modesty of these players or whatever

459
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:47,960
Speaker 1: excuse they're giving, because if they did, they wouldn't be

460
00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:51,359
Speaker 1: doing they wouldn't be allowing men to leer at them

461
00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:53,439
Speaker 1: when they're trying to work. So they clearly don't care

462
00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:55,920
Speaker 1: about that. But they're saying, oh, we care about your modesty.

463
00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:57,359
Speaker 1: We don't want you to be stocked. It's very like

464
00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:00,920
Speaker 1: benevolent sexism, but it's also very just toxic. And isn't

465
00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:04,720
Speaker 1: any wonder then that these fans oftentimes feel entitled their

466
00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:07,720
Speaker 1: to their bodies. You know, these women describe what they

467
00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:09,440
Speaker 1: have to put up with when they're on the job,

468
00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:12,360
Speaker 1: and this is in their handbooks of how they're expected

469
00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:15,720
Speaker 1: to behave. If a fan gets grab you with you,

470
00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,440
Speaker 1: your actual handbook says that you're not supposed to offend him.

471
00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,280
Speaker 1: You're supposed to sort of be sort of gracious and polite.

472
00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:23,560
Speaker 1: And so clearly they don't. These rules are not there

473
00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:25,520
Speaker 1: to protect these women. If they really cared about protecting

474
00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:27,560
Speaker 1: these women, they would have security with them, they would

475
00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:30,359
Speaker 1: they would make very easy efforts to protect them. They

476
00:25:30,359 --> 00:25:33,720
Speaker 1: clearly don't care. So that excuse is so clearly bulle. Yeah,

477
00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:36,800
Speaker 1: And it's just weird when it again like we want

478
00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:39,520
Speaker 1: you to be in this sexy outfit here, but don't

479
00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:42,000
Speaker 1: do it on your own time. That doesn't make that

480
00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:44,359
Speaker 1: doesn't make sense to me. It doesn't make sense. So

481
00:25:44,359 --> 00:25:47,200
Speaker 1: there are a couple of other like really creepy allegations.

482
00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:52,560
Speaker 1: Um a former Red Hawks cheerleader, shared one especially unusual assignment.

483
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:55,359
Speaker 1: Several years ago. She said her and five teammates were

484
00:25:55,359 --> 00:25:57,159
Speaker 1: told to drive to address that the Red Hawks have

485
00:25:57,280 --> 00:25:59,040
Speaker 1: given them. When they got there, they thought it was

486
00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:00,919
Speaker 1: gonna be a business or some thing like that, but

487
00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:04,160
Speaker 1: it was a house. They go inside thinking maybe it's

488
00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:06,760
Speaker 1: a party or charity event or whatever, and it wasn't.

489
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:10,080
Speaker 1: There were seven men in their forties just hanging out

490
00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:13,359
Speaker 1: in this house. When they get there, the homeowner says,

491
00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:15,679
Speaker 1: you know, who's single, who's married, starts sizing them up.

492
00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:17,639
Speaker 1: The men were all drinking. They asked the women if

493
00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:19,640
Speaker 1: they wanted to drink they the women were like, probably

494
00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:24,040
Speaker 1: no thing, because this is weirdess um. The women they

495
00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:26,280
Speaker 1: did a two minute dance in the basement of this house.

496
00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:28,520
Speaker 1: They spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the

497
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:31,119
Speaker 1: house and having awkward conversations with the men while the

498
00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:33,960
Speaker 1: men were watching an NFL game on TV. One shooter

499
00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:36,000
Speaker 1: who was there said it was sketchy because we were

500
00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:38,239
Speaker 1: in some dude's house, some random house, and it was

501
00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:42,560
Speaker 1: physically uncomfortable to be there. And yeah, it just seems

502
00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:46,960
Speaker 1: like they're being treated like property, like escorts that you

503
00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:49,960
Speaker 1: can just call and they'll show up on demand, and

504
00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:52,240
Speaker 1: you know, it's one thing to be expected to dance,

505
00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:53,919
Speaker 1: and if someone's having a charity event at their home,

506
00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:56,240
Speaker 1: a big party, that's one thing. But then it show

507
00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:57,600
Speaker 1: up and it's like, oh, you just want me to

508
00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:02,080
Speaker 1: hang out in this house in this basement with like

509
00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:05,399
Speaker 1: seven strange men while they hang out. I mean it

510
00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:09,320
Speaker 1: want It just sounds like a terrible time. It's it's awkward,

511
00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:12,520
Speaker 1: and three it's just it's dehumanizing. Yeah. And I think

512
00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:14,880
Speaker 1: if I had to describe, if I had to write

513
00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:18,200
Speaker 1: a job description of what I thought a cheerleader did,

514
00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:21,760
Speaker 1: that doesn't fall under it. Oh yeah, hanging out with

515
00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:24,280
Speaker 1: seven old guys you've never met in a basement of

516
00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:26,720
Speaker 1: someone random house. That's not part of the You don't

517
00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:28,879
Speaker 1: think that was part of the training. That's not on

518
00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:33,920
Speaker 1: your resume. I don't think that came up. No. Um. Yeah,

519
00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:39,720
Speaker 1: And I'm just kind of they're struggling with why why

520
00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:42,800
Speaker 1: that's even happening either. I guess they're big fans. They

521
00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:46,520
Speaker 1: must donate money, Like, I don't know. I just feel

522
00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:51,879
Speaker 1: that that must be kind of a wink quink, nudge nudge.

523
00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:54,320
Speaker 1: No one tells you that that's going to happen, and

524
00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:57,600
Speaker 1: no one really lists officially that that's happening. I don't know,

525
00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:02,040
Speaker 1: it's so, I mean, it's I feel for these women,

526
00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:05,720
Speaker 1: I really do. And then I mean, I think this

527
00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:08,360
Speaker 1: comes up again and again, not being able to tell

528
00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,280
Speaker 1: these men to off like not like, not being able

529
00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:14,080
Speaker 1: to be like, this is an uncomfortable situation. I don't

530
00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:15,520
Speaker 1: want to I don't want to do it having this

531
00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:18,920
Speaker 1: be mandatory and having your response also be mandatory, because

532
00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:21,840
Speaker 1: I've had I've done all kinds of weird jobs where

533
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:26,600
Speaker 1: I was my physicality was involved, and usually in those jobs,

534
00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:28,600
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, you are the one

535
00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:30,879
Speaker 1: who is responsible for keeping yourself safe, and so you

536
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,679
Speaker 1: are empowered to be like, yeah, this situation seems not

537
00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:35,040
Speaker 1: on the up and up. You don't have to do it.

538
00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:36,960
Speaker 1: I was a campaign worker for a while, the person

539
00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:38,480
Speaker 1: who would knock on your door and be like, oh,

540
00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:40,640
Speaker 1: do you want to vote for Barack Obama? And it

541
00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:42,760
Speaker 1: was clear like if I didn't feel comfortable going to

542
00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,560
Speaker 1: a house, guess what it was okay if I was like, no,

543
00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:48,040
Speaker 1: I'm not going to that house. Because people in workplaces

544
00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:50,920
Speaker 1: need to feel empowered to keep themselves safe and in

545
00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:53,440
Speaker 1: this environment, it sounds like no one has been given

546
00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:57,560
Speaker 1: that agency. It's sort of reminds me of Um, I

547
00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:02,000
Speaker 1: was a waitress for a while and just having to

548
00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:06,520
Speaker 1: depend on tips and encountering so much sexual harassment and

549
00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:09,240
Speaker 1: just because it's your customer, the customer is always right

550
00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:10,880
Speaker 1: and you're depending on the money. That's where most of

551
00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:13,520
Speaker 1: your money is coming from. Um. Yeah, a lot of

552
00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:15,360
Speaker 1: times they would say something to you. Becaustomer would say

553
00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:17,320
Speaker 1: something to you that made you feel really inappropriate. Maybe

554
00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:20,960
Speaker 1: the whole thing feel really inappropriate and uncomfortable, and you

555
00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:25,680
Speaker 1: just kind of like laugh try. I called it de escalating.

556
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:30,040
Speaker 1: A lot of people use that term, but I was, yeah,

557
00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:32,600
Speaker 1: like I'm going to go to this other table now.

558
00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:38,000
Speaker 1: Um it's sort of similar to that, but it's different too,

559
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:40,480
Speaker 1: and that at least at the end of the day,

560
00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:45,280
Speaker 1: I can go home and post whatever on not that

561
00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:48,400
Speaker 1: I could do for that long day, I can go

562
00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,760
Speaker 1: I can go home and take up a keyy shot

563
00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:54,800
Speaker 1: me eating a doughnut and in a bikini like I

564
00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:58,280
Speaker 1: won't be able to sit it. Also, spitting and swear.

565
00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:02,920
Speaker 1: It's a little thing. It's just the little things. Um.

566
00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:05,960
Speaker 1: So another creepy allegation, this time on one of the

567
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:08,400
Speaker 1: creepiest places that you could possibly So if you want

568
00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:10,520
Speaker 1: to think, where is someplace where I would not want

569
00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:15,400
Speaker 1: to bind myself in a creepy situation top top thing

570
00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:21,320
Speaker 1: to thing that comes to mind? Okay, okay, it's now

571
00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:25,120
Speaker 1: I was going, I'm gonna say boat. I want to

572
00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,680
Speaker 1: find myself in a creepy situation on a boat. But

573
00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:30,280
Speaker 1: in that is exactly what happened to the Red Huck

574
00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:34,120
Speaker 1: steerleaders jo Jackian we mentioned earlier, who was a choreographer

575
00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:37,640
Speaker 1: and a squad director. Basically, the Red Hucks cheerleaders had

576
00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:40,520
Speaker 1: to have a mandatory team bonding boat trip at a

577
00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:45,040
Speaker 1: peer in Georgetown, and they get on this boat. They're thinking, oh,

578
00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:46,680
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a party boat, it's going to be

579
00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:48,960
Speaker 1: team building whatever, you know, a bonding thing that you

580
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,320
Speaker 1: might do at any workplace. They get on and they

581
00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:53,880
Speaker 1: realize it isn't a commercial boat at all. It is

582
00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:56,880
Speaker 1: a yacht with several man aboard, including one familiar face

583
00:30:56,960 --> 00:30:59,960
Speaker 1: and Mr William R. Til Jr. Who is a spawn

584
00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:03,400
Speaker 1: sir of the Red Hawks and as a sponsor, he'd

585
00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:06,120
Speaker 1: helped judge the cheerleading tryout and occasionally was invited to

586
00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:08,520
Speaker 1: buy package deals to attend those calendar she was that

587
00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:11,320
Speaker 1: we talked about earlier. He also paid for Red Hucks

588
00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:13,680
Speaker 1: cheerleaders to attend the Super Bowl. Now, five of these

589
00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:17,240
Speaker 1: cheerleaders described this experience as a wild gathering where men

590
00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:21,800
Speaker 1: shot liquor into the cheerleader's mouth with turkey basers below deck.

591
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:25,960
Speaker 1: Men handed out cash prizes in turking contests. Now, none

592
00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:27,360
Speaker 1: of the women who went on this trip so they

593
00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:30,280
Speaker 1: were touched in appropriately, and to team captains that the

594
00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:33,160
Speaker 1: trip was pretty pleasant. One added quote, they were all

595
00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:35,240
Speaker 1: adult and got out of the experience what they wanted

596
00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:37,040
Speaker 1: to get out of it, you know. A few years later,

597
00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:40,000
Speaker 1: one cheerleader was told what to expect about this sort

598
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:44,400
Speaker 1: of annual team building bonding, wild boat liquor being sprayed

599
00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:48,440
Speaker 1: in your mouth affair. She was told, I've been given

600
00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:50,200
Speaker 1: a heads up that we were going on this particular

601
00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:51,760
Speaker 1: man's yat and that he had a lot of money,

602
00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:53,280
Speaker 1: and that you could make a lot of money there

603
00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:56,400
Speaker 1: if you wanted, referring to the cash prizes. But that

604
00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:57,880
Speaker 1: was not for me, and a lot of us felt

605
00:31:57,920 --> 00:31:59,719
Speaker 1: the same way, but we were too scared to complain.

606
00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:01,640
Speaker 1: We felt that our place on the team would be

607
00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:05,160
Speaker 1: compromised if we did. Sure if if the guy who

608
00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:10,200
Speaker 1: owns the boat, the yacht is judging the cheerleading tryouts,

609
00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:13,480
Speaker 1: I would very much feel the same way. Team bonding

610
00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:16,760
Speaker 1: is a very misleading name for that. Yeah. Even the

611
00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:19,840
Speaker 1: head choreographer, the squad director, Mr. Jockeyans, said that she

612
00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:22,880
Speaker 1: didn't really understand how this was a team bonding experience,

613
00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:26,880
Speaker 1: which it doesn't sound the tea bonding experience at all. No.

614
00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:29,360
Speaker 1: At first, I was like, h I wonder if this

615
00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:31,040
Speaker 1: is going to go the way of that Office episode

616
00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:32,920
Speaker 1: where there on the booze cruise and then there's a

617
00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:36,840
Speaker 1: working contest and cash prizes involved. Like, Okay, it's a

618
00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:40,640
Speaker 1: little bit worse than that, just a little bit. Uh.

619
00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:42,920
Speaker 1: And Mr Teal, whose name is still painted on two

620
00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:46,560
Speaker 1: prime parking spots at FedEx Field though he no longer

621
00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:48,600
Speaker 1: owns a suite at the stadium, was adamant and saying

622
00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:51,320
Speaker 1: that nothing inappropriate happened on his boat and that he

623
00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:55,280
Speaker 1: always treated the cheerleaders with respect. I have five sisters,

624
00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:57,840
Speaker 1: he said, adding that at his boat's parties, no one

625
00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:01,200
Speaker 1: was allowed to be disrespected. Oh so because you have sisters.

626
00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:05,040
Speaker 1: I hate that. It's awful. It's awful. So if you so,

627
00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:08,160
Speaker 1: Basically it's like we could do a whole episode on this, yes,

628
00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:11,560
Speaker 1: but basically it's like if I'm no one's sister or

629
00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:14,240
Speaker 1: no one's daughter, like if my if my dad is

630
00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:17,240
Speaker 1: dead and I'm the only child, people can treat me

631
00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:20,560
Speaker 1: however however they want said like, oh, like that's someone's daughter.

632
00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:22,280
Speaker 1: It's like, what if you're not someone's daughter, what does

633
00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:26,320
Speaker 1: that mean? You're still a person? Right? Whenever um sexual

634
00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:28,320
Speaker 1: harassment thing would come out, and I always think of

635
00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:30,080
Speaker 1: Paul Ryan and I don't know why, but they would

636
00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:32,160
Speaker 1: be like, oh, I've got a I've got a daughter

637
00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:34,320
Speaker 1: and a wife, and I really don't want them to

638
00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:37,640
Speaker 1: be treated like this. And I'm like, so if they're

639
00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:41,440
Speaker 1: not related to you, if they're not directly within your circle,

640
00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:46,240
Speaker 1: yeah whatever, if I didn't have this wife and daughter,

641
00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:49,440
Speaker 1: who knows. Also, you don't see women saying there's not

642
00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:52,160
Speaker 1: any men in my life, so I murder them. I

643
00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:55,240
Speaker 1: don't didn't know they were human because I don't have

644
00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:58,040
Speaker 1: any any male family members. I didn't know that's true.

645
00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:00,360
Speaker 1: You never hear people really say like I have husband

646
00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:02,360
Speaker 1: and I have a son, like, I would never do that.

647
00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:06,320
Speaker 1: I have a father. No, No, I always think of like,

648
00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:08,400
Speaker 1: don't we all have the mother though? Can't we just

649
00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:15,120
Speaker 1: relate to that thing? It's asinine, It's so asinine. Oh,

650
00:34:15,239 --> 00:34:19,520
Speaker 1: I have another creepy allegation, this time on a golf course. Um.

651
00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:21,960
Speaker 1: This is a lawsuit that described an event where cheerleaders

652
00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:25,439
Speaker 1: were auctioned off at a golf tournament and then we're

653
00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:28,040
Speaker 1: expected to ride around in the golf cart on the

654
00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:30,560
Speaker 1: winning bidder's lap because there was no space in the

655
00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:34,000
Speaker 1: golf cart. And this was after like a dunking contest,

656
00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:36,520
Speaker 1: and it was sort of a charity event but demandatory

657
00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:41,040
Speaker 1: to go um and uh, it made it made the

658
00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:44,840
Speaker 1: cheerleaders involved very uncomfortable, I can imagine. So it actually

659
00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:47,560
Speaker 1: sounds like being sort of loaned I don't even know

660
00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:49,319
Speaker 1: if I don't want to say I mean, I don't

661
00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:51,160
Speaker 1: know if that's the right word, but it sounds like

662
00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:53,759
Speaker 1: being sort of loaned out to men. It's kind of

663
00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:55,560
Speaker 1: considered part of their job, but they weren't even being

664
00:34:55,560 --> 00:34:58,080
Speaker 1: paid for it. The way one cheerleader saw it, it

665
00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:00,719
Speaker 1: was unfair that the team making money off It's cheerleaders

666
00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:03,200
Speaker 1: who get paid so little or asked to do this.

667
00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:05,520
Speaker 1: She says people would just call up the managers and

668
00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:07,680
Speaker 1: say how many girls do you want? For how many

669
00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:09,880
Speaker 1: hours do you want them to dance? It's literally like

670
00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:12,520
Speaker 1: you're calling for an escort, she said, And she recalls

671
00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:14,440
Speaker 1: that she was only paid a hundred dollars for a

672
00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:19,919
Speaker 1: promotional event while the team charged twelve hundred dollars per cheerleader. Oh,

673
00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:22,960
Speaker 1: the math doesn't add up there, it doesn't add up,

674
00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:24,439
Speaker 1: So she she makes it really good point. She says,

675
00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:26,919
Speaker 1: it's not like somebody grabbed my boobs and nobody told

676
00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:29,239
Speaker 1: me have sex with me right now. It's a lot

677
00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:32,439
Speaker 1: more nuanced. It's like every other abuse dynamic. You don't

678
00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:34,680
Speaker 1: feel like you have the liberty to say I prefer

679
00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:37,120
Speaker 1: not to do this. In turn, you're treated poorly, you're

680
00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:39,680
Speaker 1: paid hardly anything, and ragged on the rehearsals for not

681
00:35:39,719 --> 00:35:41,960
Speaker 1: wearing the right lipstick. The whole thing is so messed up.

682
00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:45,960
Speaker 1: So it just sounds like a real toxic environment and

683
00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:49,680
Speaker 1: an environment where people are not one not being fairly compensated.

684
00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:52,279
Speaker 1: Because honestly, if I was a cheerleader and someone said,

685
00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:54,719
Speaker 1: bridget how much would we have to pay you to

686
00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:58,640
Speaker 1: get in a bikini and wash some guy's car? I would?

687
00:35:58,719 --> 00:36:02,680
Speaker 1: I might be like, oh, well I would. I would

688
00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:05,000
Speaker 1: write a number of the favorite flight across the table

689
00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:07,719
Speaker 1: and if we agreed, fine, But it just sounds like

690
00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:11,239
Speaker 1: a situation where a they it's mandatory, they don't have

691
00:36:11,239 --> 00:36:14,920
Speaker 1: a choice, and be they're not being compensated for this

692
00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:17,400
Speaker 1: extra thing. And again, it says in a lot of

693
00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:20,760
Speaker 1: their contracts that they have to do promotional or charity events.

694
00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:23,840
Speaker 1: But dancing at some guys random basement party is on

695
00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:25,920
Speaker 1: a charity event like this is this is not in

696
00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:27,719
Speaker 1: their contract that they have to do this, and they're

697
00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:29,400
Speaker 1: being expected to do it, and if they don't do it,

698
00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:32,279
Speaker 1: sounds like they get pressured. And it again, it's just

699
00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:35,719
Speaker 1: like any other workplace faritess issued it's because there's beautiful

700
00:36:35,719 --> 00:36:39,000
Speaker 1: women involved who wear short skirts. Doesn't make it anything

701
00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:43,520
Speaker 1: different than any other labor dispute. Yeah, no, not at all, um.

702
00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:46,239
Speaker 1: And all of these allegations come as NFL cheerleaders are

703
00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:50,279
Speaker 1: involved in high profile discrimination lawsuits against the NFL. A

704
00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:53,760
Speaker 1: former cheerleader for the NFL's Miami Dolphins filed a complaint

705
00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:56,200
Speaker 1: against the league and the team, alleging that she was

706
00:36:56,200 --> 00:37:00,360
Speaker 1: discriminated against because of her religion and gender. Christine Where,

707
00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:03,759
Speaker 1: who spent three seasons with the Dolphins cheerleading squad ending

708
00:37:03,760 --> 00:37:06,200
Speaker 1: in the spring of sen said in a complaint with

709
00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:09,200
Speaker 1: the Florida Commission on Human Relations that she was subjected

710
00:37:09,239 --> 00:37:11,960
Speaker 1: to a hostile work environment for her expressions of faith

711
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:16,000
Speaker 1: and Christianity. Where contended that she became quote a target

712
00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:20,800
Speaker 1: of discipline, ridicule, harassment, and abuse from the team's cheerleading director,

713
00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:24,360
Speaker 1: Dory Grogan, and other coaches and representatives of the squad

714
00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:27,560
Speaker 1: only after she posted an off season photo on social

715
00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:31,080
Speaker 1: media of herself being baptized before the third season on

716
00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:36,000
Speaker 1: the team. So again that social media coming up, that

717
00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:41,560
Speaker 1: you have to this like policing what you're doing outside

718
00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:45,319
Speaker 1: of Yeah, it's it's sucked up at. Another lawsuit also

719
00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:48,600
Speaker 1: involved in social media, a New Orleans Saint st sational

720
00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:55,120
Speaker 1: I love the names of these to Bailey Davis was

721
00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:58,080
Speaker 1: fired from the Saint Stations after posting an Instagram photo

722
00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:00,399
Speaker 1: showing her on an outfit similar to a one piece

723
00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:03,160
Speaker 1: bathing suit. She filed a complaint with the Equal Employment

724
00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:06,200
Speaker 1: Opportunity Commission saying the Saints have different standards for women

725
00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:09,359
Speaker 1: and men, which they clearly do. Yeah, clearly, And never

726
00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:11,880
Speaker 1: mind the fact that NFL players can punch their wives

727
00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:15,200
Speaker 1: in the face and like rape people and beat people

728
00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:21,480
Speaker 1: and be pretty much awful responsible human beings, and it's fine. Oh,

729
00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:26,440
Speaker 1: a one piece bathing suit, get her out of here. Yeah,

730
00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:29,120
Speaker 1: that's too much, subridge, too far. I mean, if she

731
00:38:29,160 --> 00:38:33,080
Speaker 1: had beat her partner unconscious at a videotape, that's one thing.

732
00:38:33,280 --> 00:38:35,239
Speaker 1: That's one thing we could get. We could get by

733
00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:39,840
Speaker 1: with their shoulders. Not on my watch, no way. So

734
00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:43,520
Speaker 1: these two cheerleaders were asking for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

735
00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:46,359
Speaker 1: to have a meeting with a group of cheerleaders. If

736
00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:49,600
Speaker 1: Goodell agreed, the two former cheerleaders who had filed these

737
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:53,520
Speaker 1: discrimination claims would settle those claims for a dollar each.

738
00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:57,520
Speaker 1: The settlement proposal by Sarah Blackwell, the lawyer representing the cheerleaders,

739
00:38:57,760 --> 00:39:01,000
Speaker 1: asked the Goodell and league lawyers have a faith meeting

740
00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:04,160
Speaker 1: with at least four cheerleaders to create binding rules and

741
00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:08,040
Speaker 1: regulations for all NFL teams. Also, teams that currently have

742
00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:10,319
Speaker 1: cheerleading squads would not be allowed to disband them. As

743
00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:14,239
Speaker 1: retaliation for at least five years. And this really sounds

744
00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:17,400
Speaker 1: like a classic workplace protections issue and just because their cheerleaders,

745
00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:20,759
Speaker 1: that shouldn't be treated any differently. Yeah, it sounds like

746
00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:23,160
Speaker 1: a lot of these women they understand the team's approach

747
00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:25,839
Speaker 1: no sex cells if you it's a job where you

748
00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:28,000
Speaker 1: have to look a certain way, and I think, you know,

749
00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:31,120
Speaker 1: a lot of them seem fine with that, and they

750
00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:34,920
Speaker 1: seem like they're really enthusiastic supporters of cheerleading. It up

751
00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:37,920
Speaker 1: the team, But it just sounds like they're safety is

752
00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:40,800
Speaker 1: just not even being considered. There's no league wide policy

753
00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:42,640
Speaker 1: for security or a union to protect them. They're just

754
00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:44,839
Speaker 1: they're just sort of on their own and they're dealing

755
00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:48,760
Speaker 1: with really really fucked up labor practices and they're supposed

756
00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:50,960
Speaker 1: to just take it and like it and shut up

757
00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:54,880
Speaker 1: about it. Yeah. Grateful. Yeah, I mean that's actually what

758
00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:57,040
Speaker 1: that's I'm happy that you said that, because I want

759
00:39:57,080 --> 00:40:01,759
Speaker 1: to talk about how this culture of harassment functions on

760
00:40:01,840 --> 00:40:13,359
Speaker 1: cheerleading squads. After this quick break and we're back and

761
00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:16,200
Speaker 1: we were just talking about cheerleaders. So it sounds like

762
00:40:16,239 --> 00:40:19,600
Speaker 1: there is a real culture of harassment and an expectation

763
00:40:19,640 --> 00:40:22,200
Speaker 1: that these women will just suck it up, deal with it,

764
00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:24,759
Speaker 1: and not make waves. And I think a big part

765
00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:28,080
Speaker 1: of that is this feeling that you should feel grateful

766
00:40:28,239 --> 00:40:30,640
Speaker 1: and lucky to be a cheerleader, and that because we

767
00:40:31,200 --> 00:40:34,480
Speaker 1: dang to have you joined the squad, you're one of picked,

768
00:40:34,560 --> 00:40:36,439
Speaker 1: one of you know, a handful of women who would

769
00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:38,480
Speaker 1: kill to be here, you should just shut up and

770
00:40:38,520 --> 00:40:40,960
Speaker 1: not make waves. And I think that that is a

771
00:40:41,080 --> 00:40:46,960
Speaker 1: really toxic situation. Yeah, and just that feeling of um,

772
00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:50,560
Speaker 1: you can be so easily replaced and if you fall

773
00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:52,759
Speaker 1: out of line, we'll get rid of you, and there's

774
00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:56,239
Speaker 1: so many women in line to take your place like

775
00:40:56,360 --> 00:40:59,440
Speaker 1: that is not a good work environment. It's not a

776
00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:02,600
Speaker 1: Dallas wait shooter said, we be that hundreds of girls

777
00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:05,520
Speaker 1: for this position. It was always very apparent, always there

778
00:41:05,719 --> 00:41:07,640
Speaker 1: there's always somebody else who can do this job. We

779
00:41:07,719 --> 00:41:10,439
Speaker 1: never talked about these things, never questioned them. And even

780
00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:13,080
Speaker 1: looking at the handbook that some of these athletes deal with,

781
00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:16,240
Speaker 1: some of them make it very clear that they don't

782
00:41:16,239 --> 00:41:18,279
Speaker 1: want you to make waves. In the handbook for the

783
00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:22,720
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals cheerleaders, for example, they're pretty much sternly warned

784
00:41:22,760 --> 00:41:26,959
Speaker 1: about in subordination in bold, big capitalized letters. The handbook says,

785
00:41:27,320 --> 00:41:30,799
Speaker 1: in subordination to even the slightest degree all caps is

786
00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:34,279
Speaker 1: absolutely not tolerated. You will be benched or dismissed, said

787
00:41:34,280 --> 00:41:38,200
Speaker 1: the handbook, with three exclamation points. That. Yeah, that's intense,

788
00:41:38,640 --> 00:41:41,800
Speaker 1: and that's also unambiguous. It's like very clear someone says

789
00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:44,520
Speaker 1: do this, and you think this is not this goes

790
00:41:44,560 --> 00:41:47,120
Speaker 1: against my values or doesn't make me feel safe. It's

791
00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:50,279
Speaker 1: right there in plain day in subordination and even the

792
00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:52,720
Speaker 1: slightest degree will get you dismissed. Like it's very clear,

793
00:41:53,120 --> 00:41:57,400
Speaker 1: the slightest degree that could be out so fa I

794
00:41:57,600 --> 00:42:03,200
Speaker 1: like this would never work for a law professor at

795
00:42:03,200 --> 00:42:06,040
Speaker 1: Southern Methodist University, saide of that handbook. Language for the

796
00:42:06,080 --> 00:42:08,560
Speaker 1: handbook to say you can't question anyone an authority is

797
00:42:08,600 --> 00:42:10,719
Speaker 1: to say, shut up and do as you're told. You're

798
00:42:10,719 --> 00:42:13,160
Speaker 1: telling them in essence, don't bother complaining and because you

799
00:42:13,160 --> 00:42:17,680
Speaker 1: may get fired. And that's up. Yeah, it really is. Uh.

800
00:42:17,719 --> 00:42:21,320
Speaker 1: And there's another report from the Dallas cow Girls. Um,

801
00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:23,600
Speaker 1: the Dallas Cowgirls taught their cheerleaders and dancers what to

802
00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:25,840
Speaker 1: say to people who said offensive things or touch them

803
00:42:25,880 --> 00:42:28,680
Speaker 1: in appropriately. Like we were discussing earlier, the women were

804
00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:31,520
Speaker 1: told never to upset the fans. We were taught if

805
00:42:31,560 --> 00:42:34,160
Speaker 1: someone's getting handsy on you, how to navigate that, said

806
00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:37,000
Speaker 1: the former longtime Cowboys cheerleader. We were told what to say,

807
00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:39,920
Speaker 1: like that's not very nice. To be sweet, not rude,

808
00:42:40,160 --> 00:42:42,000
Speaker 1: say can I ask you to step over here? Use

809
00:42:42,040 --> 00:42:44,399
Speaker 1: body language to help deter the situation. Never be mean,

810
00:42:44,880 --> 00:42:48,280
Speaker 1: never always courteous, because if it's not for the fans,

811
00:42:48,520 --> 00:42:50,840
Speaker 1: we wouldn't be here. That's how we were supposed to

812
00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:55,799
Speaker 1: think of this. Yeah, that just sounds so problematic to me,

813
00:42:55,840 --> 00:42:58,440
Speaker 1: because I think as women, we are all sort of

814
00:42:58,480 --> 00:43:02,240
Speaker 1: taught this land whige of how to what you called earlier,

815
00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:05,480
Speaker 1: de escalate. And I wish I could say that any

816
00:43:05,520 --> 00:43:07,839
Speaker 1: time a man touched me in a way I didn't

817
00:43:07,880 --> 00:43:09,840
Speaker 1: like that, I punched him. It was not a tough bitch.

818
00:43:10,320 --> 00:43:13,200
Speaker 1: But sometimes that's not safe, and sometimes you you as women,

819
00:43:13,239 --> 00:43:17,600
Speaker 1: I think that we are burdened by society by having

820
00:43:17,600 --> 00:43:19,239
Speaker 1: to put up with something that makes you feel like

821
00:43:19,239 --> 00:43:21,279
Speaker 1: like nothing, that makes you feel disrespected, it makes you

822
00:43:21,320 --> 00:43:24,160
Speaker 1: feel like less of a person, and then having to

823
00:43:24,239 --> 00:43:27,799
Speaker 1: react in a way that's still keeps their feelings at

824
00:43:27,880 --> 00:43:29,719
Speaker 1: the at the front lines that you know, you don't

825
00:43:29,719 --> 00:43:33,080
Speaker 1: want to make the matter or or insult them, so

826
00:43:33,120 --> 00:43:35,680
Speaker 1: you have to say that's not very nice, or giggle

827
00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:39,239
Speaker 1: and move a hand away. And I just think that

828
00:43:40,080 --> 00:43:44,440
Speaker 1: as women telling a woman how to respond when someone

829
00:43:44,480 --> 00:43:48,200
Speaker 1: does something. That's if someone grabs you, that's just. And again,

830
00:43:48,200 --> 00:43:49,960
Speaker 1: these women should have security, like no one should be

831
00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:53,120
Speaker 1: no one should being grabbed against their will when they're

832
00:43:53,120 --> 00:43:55,000
Speaker 1: trying to do their job, these women, so there should

833
00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:56,720
Speaker 1: be something in place to make sure that's not happening.

834
00:43:57,080 --> 00:43:59,080
Speaker 1: And who gives it what the fan thinks? I mean,

835
00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:01,640
Speaker 1: if a fan is slapping someone on the ass and

836
00:44:01,640 --> 00:44:04,719
Speaker 1: they're drunk, they shouldn't be in a public setting like that.

837
00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:07,319
Speaker 1: They need they need to be kicked out or escorted out.

838
00:44:07,360 --> 00:44:10,160
Speaker 1: Like yeah, I just think it's it's clearly they're bending

839
00:44:10,160 --> 00:44:13,680
Speaker 1: over backward to protect the feelings of the fans while

840
00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:19,720
Speaker 1: putting their their employees at risk. Yeah, and it sends

841
00:44:19,719 --> 00:44:22,880
Speaker 1: a message of kind of yeah, this is what we

842
00:44:23,040 --> 00:44:26,280
Speaker 1: value this more than this, and that's as a person,

843
00:44:27,040 --> 00:44:31,719
Speaker 1: not a good feeling to have and um to tolerate

844
00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:34,720
Speaker 1: that kind of behaviors too. It just sends a message

845
00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:39,000
Speaker 1: that is not a message that should be sent. You're

846
00:44:39,040 --> 00:44:43,000
Speaker 1: worth less than this. Yeah, your dignity, both as our

847
00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:47,080
Speaker 1: our valued employee and as a human sking being is

848
00:44:47,239 --> 00:44:50,520
Speaker 1: less important than this drunk guy's sucking ego. And then

849
00:44:50,560 --> 00:44:54,800
Speaker 1: it's prescion ng sensibilities like heaven forbid he feel offended

850
00:44:55,080 --> 00:44:57,759
Speaker 1: they slapping someone's ass or grabbing someone against their will

851
00:44:57,760 --> 00:45:01,680
Speaker 1: out of goddamn football game. And the was just thinking

852
00:45:01,960 --> 00:45:04,040
Speaker 1: this is this isn't even I'm not even cheerleader, and

853
00:45:04,080 --> 00:45:07,400
Speaker 1: I'm like angry on these women's behalf. I know, the

854
00:45:07,480 --> 00:45:10,320
Speaker 1: cheerleaders and dancers in Dallas, as in most NFL stadiums,

855
00:45:10,320 --> 00:45:12,680
Speaker 1: were required to visit tailgate parties. And that's I mean

856
00:45:13,360 --> 00:45:16,040
Speaker 1: in areas that are essentially standing room only bars. They

857
00:45:16,160 --> 00:45:19,160
Speaker 1: visited high price at luxury suites and came to dread

858
00:45:19,360 --> 00:45:22,560
Speaker 1: certain ones. You knew the alcohol was flowing and that

859
00:45:22,640 --> 00:45:25,239
Speaker 1: they could be handy, she said, arms around the waist,

860
00:45:25,280 --> 00:45:27,400
Speaker 1: kisses on the cheek. You know that they would and

861
00:45:27,440 --> 00:45:31,600
Speaker 1: you couldn't say anything and if they did object quote,

862
00:45:31,880 --> 00:45:36,240
Speaker 1: you'd be dismissed from the team. Yeah, that just boils

863
00:45:36,280 --> 00:45:38,719
Speaker 1: my blood and breaks my heart to feel like you

864
00:45:38,760 --> 00:45:40,840
Speaker 1: are a professional and that you have to just this

865
00:45:41,040 --> 00:45:43,280
Speaker 1: is just part of the job, being groped and kissed,

866
00:45:43,440 --> 00:45:47,000
Speaker 1: and if you have a problem with it, you're out. Yeah,

867
00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:50,040
Speaker 1: all that training, we don't care. Um. And one of

868
00:45:50,080 --> 00:45:52,560
Speaker 1: the ways that this has been allowed to go on

869
00:45:52,640 --> 00:45:55,640
Speaker 1: for so long is with the use of India's so

870
00:45:55,680 --> 00:45:58,000
Speaker 1: a lot of teams require their cheerleaders to sign non

871
00:45:58,040 --> 00:46:01,080
Speaker 1: disclosure agreements or NDAs, and this apparently raises a big

872
00:46:01,120 --> 00:46:04,040
Speaker 1: red flag that harassment it's likely to take place now.

873
00:46:04,120 --> 00:46:06,880
Speaker 1: According to Deborah Cats, who is a Washington based lawyer

874
00:46:06,960 --> 00:46:09,800
Speaker 1: who has three decades of experience bringing sexual harassment cases

875
00:46:09,840 --> 00:46:12,680
Speaker 1: to light, she says when employees of little power signed

876
00:46:12,760 --> 00:46:15,080
Speaker 1: n d as, it creates an environment or sexual harassment

877
00:46:15,160 --> 00:46:18,279
Speaker 1: or improper pay can proceed because people are fearful of

878
00:46:18,320 --> 00:46:20,800
Speaker 1: speaking out. Anytime you have a profession or an industry

879
00:46:20,800 --> 00:46:23,759
Speaker 1: where sexual harassment can be anticipated, putting someone under an

880
00:46:23,840 --> 00:46:26,560
Speaker 1: NDA is designed to clearly protect the image of the team.

881
00:46:27,320 --> 00:46:28,959
Speaker 1: And that's really why a lot of these women feel

882
00:46:28,960 --> 00:46:32,720
Speaker 1: like they can't report. Yeah, and they rarely do report

883
00:46:32,760 --> 00:46:36,000
Speaker 1: harassment cases, either because they feel it is an expected

884
00:46:36,040 --> 00:46:37,440
Speaker 1: part of the job or out of fear of being

885
00:46:37,480 --> 00:46:41,000
Speaker 1: removed from the team for complaining. For countless women who

886
00:46:41,040 --> 00:46:43,880
Speaker 1: have worked for teams of the years, the statute of limitations,

887
00:46:43,920 --> 00:46:47,200
Speaker 1: which varies by state, has most like most likely expired

888
00:46:48,120 --> 00:46:51,640
Speaker 1: handbooks and contracts provided to cheerleaders really have detailed information

889
00:46:51,719 --> 00:46:55,200
Speaker 1: on how to handle or report harassment from fans beyond

890
00:46:55,440 --> 00:46:58,719
Speaker 1: legal boiler plate. The San Francisco forty Niners, who outsourced

891
00:46:58,760 --> 00:47:01,760
Speaker 1: oversight of their goal rush cheerleaders to a third party.

892
00:47:02,520 --> 00:47:05,840
Speaker 1: Another possible complication to claims made against some teams include

893
00:47:05,960 --> 00:47:09,480
Speaker 1: this line in the contract. If there is ever a

894
00:47:09,560 --> 00:47:12,160
Speaker 1: case where you feel uncomfortable or sense a fan that

895
00:47:12,320 --> 00:47:16,400
Speaker 1: is acting inappropriately, please get immediate assistance or contact your

896
00:47:16,440 --> 00:47:21,920
Speaker 1: director immediately and she will notify the security authorities. But

897
00:47:22,080 --> 00:47:25,480
Speaker 1: that's nothing, that's not that's not helpful. I mean, it

898
00:47:25,600 --> 00:47:31,160
Speaker 1: just sounds like a very unmeaningful boiler plate line. And

899
00:47:31,239 --> 00:47:34,040
Speaker 1: it also kind of, at least to me, has this

900
00:47:34,200 --> 00:47:38,640
Speaker 1: five of if you do that, you're being a baby,

901
00:47:39,560 --> 00:47:43,680
Speaker 1: or like you're just complaining and you're causing trouble and

902
00:47:43,800 --> 00:47:49,200
Speaker 1: making waves and exactly and I guess, yeah, who wants

903
00:47:49,239 --> 00:47:51,640
Speaker 1: to be the cheerleader who is known for quote causing

904
00:47:51,719 --> 00:47:54,840
Speaker 1: trouble right, like, Like, it doesn't sound like a situation

905
00:47:54,920 --> 00:47:58,560
Speaker 1: where these claims will be dealt with in a manner

906
00:47:58,640 --> 00:48:01,760
Speaker 1: that is that it will mean anything other than trouble

907
00:48:01,840 --> 00:48:05,680
Speaker 1: for you for reporting it, right And it probably will

908
00:48:06,320 --> 00:48:09,959
Speaker 1: impact if they are choosing to throw some extra work

909
00:48:10,160 --> 00:48:13,120
Speaker 1: or extra money to a cheerleader's way, They probably wouldn't

910
00:48:13,160 --> 00:48:16,680
Speaker 1: throw it to you if you complained about something exactly.

911
00:48:17,080 --> 00:48:19,399
Speaker 1: And I think I keep thinking about what we're talking

912
00:48:19,400 --> 00:48:21,759
Speaker 1: about before this idea that you know these women are

913
00:48:21,840 --> 00:48:24,720
Speaker 1: prevented from posing in in swimsuits on their own personal

914
00:48:24,760 --> 00:48:27,320
Speaker 1: Instagram accounts and stuff like that, that it's clear to

915
00:48:27,480 --> 00:48:31,520
Speaker 1: me that these women are in situations where the power

916
00:48:31,600 --> 00:48:34,920
Speaker 1: holders are the males who own these teams, and that

917
00:48:35,840 --> 00:48:40,480
Speaker 1: these people want complete control over the sexual agency of

918
00:48:41,400 --> 00:48:44,160
Speaker 1: of adult human women. Like it, just when you become

919
00:48:44,200 --> 00:48:48,000
Speaker 1: a cheerleader, your job is to cheer, it's to dance,

920
00:48:48,080 --> 00:48:50,080
Speaker 1: it's to do the things that are in your contract.

921
00:48:50,800 --> 00:48:53,800
Speaker 1: And to say you can't, you don't. You're not signing

922
00:48:53,800 --> 00:48:57,400
Speaker 1: away your sexual sense of self, your self worth, your agency.

923
00:48:57,800 --> 00:48:59,480
Speaker 1: No one should be put in a situation where they

924
00:48:59,560 --> 00:49:03,960
Speaker 1: feel like they don't have control over their bodily and autonomy,

925
00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:06,680
Speaker 1: and that their own sexual identity and sexual agency and

926
00:49:06,719 --> 00:49:09,160
Speaker 1: expressions of that, that that belongs to each and every

927
00:49:09,200 --> 00:49:11,000
Speaker 1: one of us. And it's very clear to me that

928
00:49:11,080 --> 00:49:14,759
Speaker 1: in this really like draconian way, that the NFL wants

929
00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:16,160
Speaker 1: to be in charge of that, to the point where

930
00:49:16,160 --> 00:49:18,400
Speaker 1: they tell you how often to change your goddamn tamp on,

931
00:49:18,520 --> 00:49:21,680
Speaker 1: like a like that that is what? What is this?

932
00:49:22,360 --> 00:49:26,480
Speaker 1: It's it's infuriating, but it also is so disgusting and

933
00:49:26,640 --> 00:49:29,480
Speaker 1: so specific, and so I almost sort of don't even

934
00:49:29,480 --> 00:49:32,279
Speaker 1: know what to make of it, you know, Yeah, it's

935
00:49:32,480 --> 00:49:37,759
Speaker 1: it's a weird warped image projection almost of what the

936
00:49:37,960 --> 00:49:41,440
Speaker 1: ultimate I keep thinking of that, Um, if you farge

937
00:49:41,520 --> 00:49:44,040
Speaker 1: or sneeze or burp, even if you think someone's is

938
00:49:44,080 --> 00:49:47,879
Speaker 1: not around you, excuse me, And it's like a weird

939
00:49:48,000 --> 00:49:50,919
Speaker 1: image of women don't do those things that, Like it's

940
00:49:51,040 --> 00:49:53,800
Speaker 1: this almost kind of Barbie doll or Yeah, it's like

941
00:49:53,800 --> 00:49:57,919
Speaker 1: they're trying to make them not human women. And they're

942
00:49:57,920 --> 00:50:00,759
Speaker 1: also sort of feeding in this idea it that you

943
00:50:00,880 --> 00:50:04,759
Speaker 1: are always being watched and consumed and even when you're

944
00:50:04,800 --> 00:50:07,400
Speaker 1: alone in your apartment, if you burp alone in your apartment,

945
00:50:07,480 --> 00:50:11,120
Speaker 1: or if you do a normal bodily function while you're alone,

946
00:50:11,280 --> 00:50:14,680
Speaker 1: assume you are being watched and consumed by a male

947
00:50:14,760 --> 00:50:17,120
Speaker 1: gaze in that moment. You can never escape the mail gaze,

948
00:50:17,120 --> 00:50:19,400
Speaker 1: even when you're alone in your goddamn home. Like that.

949
00:50:19,600 --> 00:50:22,960
Speaker 1: That seems to be what they're saying, and it's so weird. Yeah,

950
00:50:23,960 --> 00:50:28,960
Speaker 1: it's a very toxic mix of etiquette that feels like

951
00:50:29,040 --> 00:50:32,400
Speaker 1: it's from back when there's eighteen hundreds and women had

952
00:50:32,400 --> 00:50:35,239
Speaker 1: all those weird etiquette rules they had to follow, and

953
00:50:35,320 --> 00:50:39,200
Speaker 1: then this hyper sexualization got together and had a baby.

954
00:50:40,400 --> 00:50:43,480
Speaker 1: This is so it results from it. It was very strange.

955
00:50:43,560 --> 00:50:46,120
Speaker 1: Some of the I read. I think it was the

956
00:50:47,000 --> 00:50:50,840
Speaker 1: The Jills. Their handbook was released online and it was older,

957
00:50:51,320 --> 00:50:53,600
Speaker 1: but just reading it felt like I was reading something

958
00:50:53,960 --> 00:51:00,319
Speaker 1: from eighteen fifties, like etiquette handbook. If it's far, it's

959
00:51:00,400 --> 00:51:03,440
Speaker 1: it is bizarre, and it's like it's this bizarre abstraction

960
00:51:03,560 --> 00:51:07,960
Speaker 1: of femininity that doesn't really exist. Because women fart, women

961
00:51:08,040 --> 00:51:10,640
Speaker 1: gain weight, women poop. We eat a lot of bread

962
00:51:10,719 --> 00:51:13,640
Speaker 1: out of this. Sometimes sometimes we're busy and we change

963
00:51:13,640 --> 00:51:16,880
Speaker 1: our tampon not every four hours. Yeah, yeah, we we

964
00:51:17,080 --> 00:51:19,320
Speaker 1: do these things where people were human, you know, And

965
00:51:19,400 --> 00:51:21,360
Speaker 1: it's this idea that when you sign up to be

966
00:51:21,360 --> 00:51:24,879
Speaker 1: a cheerleader that you're less than human, like your human

967
00:51:24,960 --> 00:51:27,960
Speaker 1: your humanity is no longer acknowledge because you signed that

968
00:51:28,040 --> 00:51:29,800
Speaker 1: a way, and that's not real. That's not true, Like

969
00:51:29,880 --> 00:51:32,080
Speaker 1: you don't sign these things away when you become a cheerleader.

970
00:51:32,120 --> 00:51:35,800
Speaker 1: And I think that because it's beautiful women in short skirts,

971
00:51:36,160 --> 00:51:39,399
Speaker 1: we just accept that that it's normal. But it's weird,

972
00:51:39,480 --> 00:51:41,440
Speaker 1: like when you when you run down the list of

973
00:51:41,520 --> 00:51:43,160
Speaker 1: all the things they say that these women aren't allowed

974
00:51:43,200 --> 00:51:45,920
Speaker 1: to do. It's bizarre. And if you if it was

975
00:51:45,960 --> 00:51:48,680
Speaker 1: any other job, you'd be like, no, I when I

976
00:51:48,920 --> 00:51:51,239
Speaker 1: my job is to work for you and do the

977
00:51:51,280 --> 00:51:53,520
Speaker 1: tod I say I'm gonna do and then go home

978
00:51:53,680 --> 00:51:57,000
Speaker 1: where you know, live my life, and it would be

979
00:51:57,640 --> 00:51:59,600
Speaker 1: it's so I think it's not all jobs are like that,

980
00:51:59,640 --> 00:52:02,480
Speaker 1: because our jobs where you know, you can't do certain things.

981
00:52:02,560 --> 00:52:06,360
Speaker 1: But it just seems so strange that in order to

982
00:52:06,960 --> 00:52:09,960
Speaker 1: wave pom poms and dance on a football field, that

983
00:52:10,080 --> 00:52:13,239
Speaker 1: they are dictating how much bread you can eat at

984
00:52:13,280 --> 00:52:16,960
Speaker 1: a party. Just it's it's just it's bizarre. It is

985
00:52:17,560 --> 00:52:20,440
Speaker 1: I read this article by this great writer, Kavithia A.

986
00:52:20,680 --> 00:52:24,520
Speaker 1: Davidson on espn W called NFL cheerleaders must be able

987
00:52:24,560 --> 00:52:26,959
Speaker 1: to control their own sex appeal, which I think really

988
00:52:27,040 --> 00:52:31,200
Speaker 1: really nails this sort of bizarre describancay. She writes, these

989
00:52:31,239 --> 00:52:34,040
Speaker 1: women are choosing to use their sexual capital in their jobs,

990
00:52:34,360 --> 00:52:36,960
Speaker 1: but they have little choice over how that value is

991
00:52:37,120 --> 00:52:39,960
Speaker 1: used by their employers. Teams have dictated when cheerleaders can

992
00:52:40,080 --> 00:52:43,040
Speaker 1: dress a certain way when it suits their needs, without

993
00:52:43,120 --> 00:52:45,239
Speaker 1: allowing them freedom of movement when they're off the clock.

994
00:52:45,640 --> 00:52:48,080
Speaker 1: It's a problem that stems from a conflict central to

995
00:52:48,160 --> 00:52:51,200
Speaker 1: our culture. Men want women to exist as pretty things

996
00:52:51,239 --> 00:52:54,920
Speaker 1: for their entertainment, but only on their terms. Oftentimes men

997
00:52:55,000 --> 00:52:57,360
Speaker 1: would like to simply gaun at them without having to

998
00:52:57,400 --> 00:53:00,640
Speaker 1: think about pesky issues such as fair wage practices, not

999
00:53:00,840 --> 00:53:04,200
Speaker 1: thinking these women are entitled to protections, but they think

1000
00:53:04,400 --> 00:53:08,360
Speaker 1: they're entitled to these women's bodies. I think that nails

1001
00:53:08,400 --> 00:53:11,120
Speaker 1: it for me. Yeah, you hit it right on the

1002
00:53:11,760 --> 00:53:14,520
Speaker 1: on the head. I think men want to live in

1003
00:53:14,560 --> 00:53:17,160
Speaker 1: a world where you get to consume women's bodies and

1004
00:53:17,440 --> 00:53:19,880
Speaker 1: you feel entitled to women's bodies, but you don't have

1005
00:53:19,960 --> 00:53:22,920
Speaker 1: to deal with any of the realities of what that

1006
00:53:23,040 --> 00:53:25,959
Speaker 1: what that means, whether it's pay me for that fine

1007
00:53:26,160 --> 00:53:29,440
Speaker 1: and pay me compensate me fairly for that, or I

1008
00:53:29,560 --> 00:53:34,719
Speaker 1: am a human being who farts, it eats bread, You're

1009
00:53:34,760 --> 00:53:38,239
Speaker 1: gonna have to deal with it. I'm gonna do both

1010
00:53:38,239 --> 00:53:42,720
Speaker 1: of those things all the time. They're kind of connected

1011
00:53:42,880 --> 00:53:45,120
Speaker 1: a little bit. Oh just bread. Give you guess you

1012
00:53:45,160 --> 00:53:50,440
Speaker 1: would know food stuff. I not because you fart a lot,

1013
00:53:50,640 --> 00:53:53,400
Speaker 1: because you host a podcast about food and like the

1014
00:53:53,480 --> 00:53:56,439
Speaker 1: mechanics of food. Just to be clear, I'm not saying

1015
00:53:56,440 --> 00:54:02,480
Speaker 1: that any firms a lot. It's a let's end this

1016
00:54:02,560 --> 00:54:05,120
Speaker 1: show because it's really getting bad. Let's let's wrap this up.

1017
00:54:05,320 --> 00:54:09,480
Speaker 1: I can breathe. Yeah. So that's what we had to

1018
00:54:09,520 --> 00:54:12,680
Speaker 1: say about cheerleaders. Listeners. We would love to hear from you,

1019
00:54:12,920 --> 00:54:17,200
Speaker 1: especially if you have cheerleaded our cheerleading, have any experience

1020
00:54:17,280 --> 00:54:19,560
Speaker 1: in this or whatever. We love hearing from you all

1021
00:54:19,600 --> 00:54:22,840
Speaker 1: the time. You can contact us on Instagram at stuff

1022
00:54:22,880 --> 00:54:25,920
Speaker 1: mom Never Told you are, on Twitter at mom Stuff Podcasts,

1023
00:54:26,280 --> 00:54:28,040
Speaker 1: or you can always email us at mom stuff at

1024
00:54:28,080 --> 00:54:30,560
Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. And I especially can't wait

1025
00:54:30,600 --> 00:54:34,759
Speaker 1: to hear from Alternate Rocket Annie, So please definitely help

1026
00:54:34,800 --> 00:54:37,280
Speaker 1: me get my life on Track. Alternate Annie help forget

1027
00:54:37,280 --> 00:54:38,440
Speaker 1: her NFL team names right