Speaker 1: Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud Order
Speaker 1: Order Kerni Whoalbury and a waddery woman. And before we
Speaker 1: get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would
Speaker 1: like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of
Speaker 1: which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country, acknowledging
Speaker 1: the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through
Speaker 1: as this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and
Speaker 1: the storytelling of you to make a difference for today
Speaker 1: and lasting impact for tomorrow. Let's get into it.
Speaker 2: She's on the Money. She's on the Money.
Speaker 3: Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money podcast and
Speaker 3: millennials who want financial freedom. Even if you don't have
Speaker 3: a Netflix account, you have probably already heard of America's
Speaker 3: Sweethearts Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. It's the number one series in
Speaker 3: Australia right now and has been for a while.
Speaker 2: The show follows the lives.
Speaker 3: And the progress of new cheerleading recruits for the American
Speaker 3: football team, the Dallas Cowboys, and it's got a lot
Speaker 3: of people talking. Despite having their fair share of controversy
Speaker 3: from sexual assault to age theft. They've had some of
Speaker 3: the biggest scandals in the cheerleading industry. And despite being
Speaker 3: exposed to the sexist, misogynistic, outdated, and highly problematic world
Speaker 3: of the elite cheerleading organization that Dallas Cowboys is, it
Speaker 3: honestly does set out to do exactly what it sets
Speaker 3: out to do, sharing the emotions, the challenges and successes
Speaker 3: of the industry. But for me, it brought up so
Speaker 3: many infuriating thoughts and I'm here to have a chat
Speaker 3: about why. So let's have a little bit of a
Speaker 3: conversation about my main points of concern about the show.
Speaker 3: And I don't think anyone is going to be surprised
Speaker 3: that they're financial. They are incredibly talented, and these women
Speaker 3: are at the very top of their industry. They have trained,
Speaker 3: arguably their entire lives to earn minimum wage. Firstly, these
Speaker 3: women are not paid what they are deserving of by
Speaker 3: any stretch of the imagination. In fact, Kat on the
Speaker 3: show If You Know You Know, said in twenty twenty
Speaker 3: two that her salary was similar to a Chick fil
Speaker 3: a worker who maybe works full time. This is generally
Speaker 3: around twenty five grand year in America, which is about
Speaker 3: thirty five thousand dollars Australian, which is absolutely disgraceful. The
Speaker 3: Dallas Cowboys are the most valuable football team in American football,
Speaker 3: with a net worth of wait for it, nine billion
Speaker 3: dollars this year, and they are the world's wealthiest sports team.
Speaker 3: Let that sink in. Their cheerleaders are paid less than
Speaker 3: a Chick fil A worker. The majority of the player
Speaker 3: that play for the football team and people behind the
Speaker 3: scenes are millionaires and the highest NFL players in the industry.
Speaker 3: They make more than fifty million dollars a year, yet
Speaker 3: they're not valuing their women. In fact, their team's mascot
Speaker 3: salary is reported to be sixty five thousand dollars, more
Speaker 3: than double what the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders are making. These
Speaker 3: women dedicate their entire lives to dance education, including spending
Speaker 3: thousands on ballet and jazz and gymnastics training, and when
Speaker 3: asked about the DCC's low salaries, all the chief brand officer,
Speaker 3: Charlotte Jones could offer was some speech about it being
Speaker 3: in a sisterhood and how it's been that way since
Speaker 3: nineteen seventy two. Are you guys for real? It wasn't
Speaker 3: until nineteen seventy four that women could get a credit
Speaker 3: card in their own name. We learned from the first
Speaker 3: episode that these women are incredible, having to undergo both
Speaker 3: physically and mentally challenging training and recruitment processes while sustaining
Speaker 3: full time work as nurses, doctor orthodontists, and accountants. The
Speaker 3: second thing I want to talk about is their lack
Speaker 3: of diversity. Now, throughout the tryouts, we see so many
Speaker 3: aspiring DC cheerleaders who are black and brown being cut,
Speaker 3: and then they celebrate that a red headed white dancer
Speaker 3: gets through and they call that a sign of diversity.
Speaker 3: I mean, Charlie is lovely, but a red headed white
Speaker 3: dancer who got through all of the auditions is not
Speaker 3: a sign of diversity. Dallas is a very ethnically diverse
Speaker 3: state in a country that has some of the largest
Speaker 3: ethnic diversity in the entire world. Jackie Scott, who is
Speaker 3: a former Dallas Cowboy cheerleader, has said before that the
Speaker 3: standard of beauty in professional cheerleading is a white European one,
Speaker 3: and in the years since she was on the squad
Speaker 3: from twenty twelve to twenty sixteen, she mentioned that she'd
Speaker 3: never felt comfortable to wear her natural hair. She said,
Speaker 3: it never occurred to me that maybe I could start
Speaker 3: over and rock my natural hair as a cheerleader, because
Speaker 3: I'd never say it done. Instead, she wore her hair relaxed,
Speaker 3: and when the heat did so much damage that she
Speaker 3: experienced extensive breakage, the squad recommended she get extensions. Cynthia L. Robertson, PhD,
Speaker 3: an associate professor and chair of the Department of Black
Speaker 3: Studies at the University of Nebraska Omaha, has mentioned that
Speaker 3: black women get rid of their curls because of white supremacy.
Speaker 3: People view straight hair, light skin, and smaller noses as
Speaker 3: quote more beautiful. She's been quoted saying black women since
Speaker 3: the plantation have had to alter their hair in order
Speaker 3: to be accepted. And Robertson then said, I would imagine
Speaker 3: that these cheerleaders know, without even being asked, that they
Speaker 3: need to straighten their hair. When women are auditioning for
Speaker 3: these professional cheerleading teams, former cheerleaders and dance teachers usually
Speaker 3: advise them to model their look on what they have
Speaker 3: already seen present in the team, and this is especially
Speaker 3: true for black cheerleaders. In fact, Scott said, you feel
Speaker 3: like there's only a certain number of spots for the
Speaker 3: minority cheerleaders on a squad of roughly thirty six. Scott
Speaker 3: was one of six black cheerleaders for two years, and
Speaker 3: one of three black cheerleaders during her own two years.
Speaker 3: She's been quoted saying, no one has ever said this,
Speaker 3: It's just how we feel. It's almost like we're competing
Speaker 3: against each other to get that spot rather than embracing
Speaker 3: one another. You often look at the who's who of
Speaker 3: the team and what they're like. Clearly they like them
Speaker 3: and how they look. So I'm going to try and
Speaker 3: just look like that so I can show them that
Speaker 3: I can be part of their team, which to me
Speaker 3: is not embracing diversity. And given the DCC leader has
Speaker 3: been quoted in saying it's been the same since nineteen
Speaker 3: seventy two, it's just part of the tradition, I think
Speaker 3: it's time that tradition changes. All right, let's move on
Speaker 3: from that, because I want to talk about the conversations
Speaker 3: that they're having about women's bodies now. I feel like
Speaker 3: I've had this conversation a number of times on the
Speaker 3: podcast because it is really important to me and our community,
Speaker 3: but also It's really topical this week because research has
Speaker 3: just come out to say that Taylor Swift has had
Speaker 3: a very positive impact on her fans' body image and
Speaker 3: diet culture. So ten out of ten for the Swifty culture,
Speaker 3: but one out of ten for the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.
Speaker 3: There's honestly so much harm being done throughout this entire
Speaker 3: series when it comes to the normalization of not just
Speaker 3: nasty or unrealistic, but dangerous expectations they have on women's bodies.
Speaker 3: I don't know if you guys have watched it, but
Speaker 3: the way Victoria is treated, The way Victoria treats her body,
Speaker 3: not me, the cheerleader, is honestly disgusting. I feel so
Speaker 3: bad and I want to scoop her up and give
Speaker 3: her a hug, because she is crucified for having the
Speaker 3: body she has, when in actual fact, to me, she
Speaker 3: looks like a supermodel. Throughout the entire show, we see
Speaker 3: skinny women being called curvy. The commonality of women experiencing
Speaker 3: bodies asmorphia. They normalize not eating and it's expected that
Speaker 3: they fit in the same uniform they get at the
Speaker 3: start of the year for the entirety of the year.
Speaker 3: They will not be reissued another uniform should their body
Speaker 3: change for any reason. In an audition round one, male
Speaker 3: judge was quoted as saying she has more weight on
Speaker 3: her face compared to the year before. At this point,
Speaker 3: we really have to ask ourselves how much damage is
Speaker 3: being done by elevating these standards for women by putting
Speaker 3: them on the telly. Let's go to a really quick break,
Speaker 3: because if you thought that my rant was over, my friend,
Speaker 3: you were wrong. Don't go anywhere. All right, guys, we
Speaker 3: are back, and I don't know if you're as impressed
Speaker 3: as I am with their high kick that goes straight
Speaker 3: down into the splits. But there is evidence all the
Speaker 3: way through the show that this is an unsafe working
Speaker 3: environment for women in every single way. In fact, one
Speaker 3: of the veterans is talking about having a hip replacement,
Speaker 3: but just wants to see out one more season before
Speaker 3: having to go through such a traumatic surgery. In addition
Speaker 3: to all of this, there are experiences of assault and
Speaker 3: stalking by these women due to their job, alongside daily
Speaker 3: objectification they experienced due to it. One of the things
Speaker 3: that absolutely sent me was that they have no touch
Speaker 3: policy for the cheerleaders when getting photos with fans, right,
Speaker 3: So that makes sense, like, obviously they are not there
Speaker 3: to be touched by men. They are not there to
Speaker 3: be touched by anybody. But throughout the entire series, when
Speaker 3: we see the cheerleaders taking photos with fans, the DCC
Speaker 3: team hand the men of football and there's a reason
Speaker 3: for it, right, and it's absolutely messed up. It's to
Speaker 3: prevent the fans or the men taking photos with them
Speaker 3: from touching the women inappropriately. And we know that this
Speaker 3: has come from experience, right. The football didn't just happen
Speaker 3: because they questioned men. The football came because men were
Speaker 3: taking advantage of the situation. In fact, in one episode,
Speaker 3: a man says, well, getting a photo at a meet
Speaker 3: and greet event with the girls, can I put an
Speaker 3: arm around you? And a security guard promptly replies, hands
Speaker 3: on the football. A security guard later adds that it's
Speaker 3: a no touch policy and that they always bring footballs
Speaker 3: with them because if a man doesn't get this, if
Speaker 3: a man doesn't feel comfortable standing with his hands to
Speaker 3: the front or the side, they give him the option
Speaker 3: of holding the football, as though he wouldn't know what
Speaker 3: to do with his hands apart from touch these women.
Speaker 3: It gives me the biggest dick in the entire world,
Speaker 3: and it takes some of the shine away from being
Speaker 3: a cheerleader in this space. Are we remembering here that
Speaker 3: they also get paid minimum wage. I don't know if
Speaker 3: we need to go back to that. But not only
Speaker 3: are they being put through these trials and tribulations, they're
Speaker 3: literally being abused. They're in an unsafe work environment, and
Speaker 3: they're expected to just be happy with minimum wage because
Speaker 3: it's essentially all for the glory. On top of this,
Speaker 3: these women are athletes and their work is physically dangerous
Speaker 3: and damaging. If you watch the series, you know that
Speaker 3: most cheerleaders after their seasons, after they retire, end up
Speaker 3: having to get some type of reconstructive surgery. The team
Speaker 3: doesn't provide them with any health insurance. The injuries that
Speaker 3: the cheerleaders are left with are intense. We're talking things
Speaker 3: like reconstructed hips, not just like a little torn acl
Speaker 3: One of the retired veterans featured, so Caroline, for those
Speaker 3: of you who follow the show, who is the older
Speaker 3: sister of Anna Kate who gets through the audition process.
Speaker 3: Don't worry, she not only had to undergo one giant surgery,
Speaker 3: she had to undergo two after she retired. During her
Speaker 3: last year on the team, she found out she needed
Speaker 3: a whole hip reconstruction surgery, but she chose to put
Speaker 3: it off so that she could continue cheer for the team.
Speaker 3: She later had to go into surgery for her left foot,
Speaker 3: which left her wearing a moonboot to recover. None of
Speaker 3: it was covered by the team, none of it was
Speaker 3: covered by insurance, and she couldn't work the entire time.
Speaker 3: Then there are the dreaded split jumps that every single
Speaker 3: DCC member has to perform during the thunderstruct routine, which
Speaker 3: causes permanent hip damage for most of them. Look, the
Speaker 3: last thing I wanted to talk about is the expectation
Speaker 3: that these women have to do their jobs and be
Speaker 3: saints at the same time. These women are expected to
Speaker 3: reach absolutely impossible body standards, be the absolute best dancers
Speaker 3: in the entire world, have perfect hair, perfect makeup, and
Speaker 3: they are also expected to be nice to everybody at
Speaker 3: all times. They're meeting fans constantly, they're holding dance sessions
Speaker 3: at nursing homes, they're visiting children in hospitals, and then
Speaker 3: they're held to the unreachable moral standards and scolded when
Speaker 3: they fall short. Excuse me, but this is her literal job.
Speaker 3: She is working. She is learning more than fifty routines
Speaker 3: for minimum wage. She doesn't owe thanks to anybody, especially
Speaker 3: the director of the DCC or. I feel like I've
Speaker 3: ranted far too much. But the fact that the Dallas
Speaker 3: Cowboys cheerleader team has not changed since nineteen seventy two
Speaker 3: and all of this is just part of the tradition
Speaker 3: and it's a privileged to be part of the team
Speaker 3: has driven me insane, which is why we're having this
Speaker 3: cute little Saturday rand. But I will wrap it up
Speaker 3: there because enough is enough. Don't get me wrong, I
Speaker 3: enjoyed watching that show. I love a bit of drama.
Speaker 3: You all know that my favorite show in the entire
Speaker 3: world is The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. So
Speaker 3: if that says anything about the type of content I
Speaker 3: like to consume, please don't judge me. But at the
Speaker 3: end of the day, I think we need to be
Speaker 3: watching these shows with a really critical eye and a
Speaker 3: really critical lens to make sure that we are not
Speaker 3: normalizing these behaviors. They are absolutely disgusting, and I think
Speaker 3: that while the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders show has been fantastic
Speaker 3: to watch and clearly has been really engaging. It's cracked
Speaker 3: open a conversation on just how problematic they are and
Speaker 3: on how a lot of the expectations that are sexist, misogynistic,
Speaker 3: outdated and highly problematic are put on not just the
Speaker 3: Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, but women as a whole. So guys,
Speaker 3: have a good Saturday. I hope I haven't brought down
Speaker 3: the mood, but instead found a heap of friends who
Speaker 3: are on the same page as me.
Speaker 4: The advice shared on She's on the Money is general
Speaker 4: in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's
Speaker 4: on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should
Speaker 4: not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision.
Speaker 2: If you do choose to buy a financial.
Speaker 4: Product, read the PDS TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice
Speaker 4: tailored towards your needs. Victoria Divine and She's on the
Speaker 4: Money are authorized representatives of Money. Sheper pty LTD ABN
Speaker 4: three two one six four nine two seven seven zero
Speaker 4: eight AFSL four five one two eight nine