Today's latest outrage the must be censored, a poster telling students what they need to be/do to become a cheerleader:
![[Image: _1461858613.jpg]](http://images.askmen.com/news/sports/_1461858613.jpg)
http://uk.askmen.com/news/sports/univers...utcry.html
![[Image: _1461858613.jpg]](http://images.askmen.com/news/sports/_1461858613.jpg)
Quote:Quote:
According to the Seattle Times, UW athletics officials said in a statement that they created the flyer “in response to a high volume of student questions about cheer and dance team tryouts.” And hey, why not? After all, the cheer squad is looking for certain things in their cheerbabes, and making a poster is a lot easier than answering several identical emails. But the problem, according to students, is not that the athletics department has requirements — it's the way they chose to portray them.
“One of the first things that comes mind is objectification and idealization of Western beauty, which are values I would like to believe the University doesn’t want to perpetuate,” UW student Jazmine Perez, director of programming for student government, told the Seattle Times via email.. “As a student of color who looks nothing like the student in the poster, this feels very exclusive.”
“I think it’s really upsetting and kind of disheartening the way it’s basically asking these women who want to try out to perform their femininity — but not too much," said Signe Burchim, a UW senior.
And they have a point! I'm no makeup expert, but saying "not too much makeup, but like, at least this much makeup" seems kind of confusing. And while I doubt seriously that UW excludes women of color from joining their cheer squad, calling for a "bronze, beachy glow" and endorsing a natural and/or spray tan isn't probably the best guidance for women to whom those things don't apply. Of course, while maybe not surprising, photoshopping an image of a tan, blonde white woman doesn't scream "diversity!" either. Remember, this is a supposedly progressive college campus, not the Dallas Cowboys we're talking about.
The entire thing could have been condensed to "Minimal makeup, no jewelry or visible tattoos, and no trendy hair colors," plus the attire requirements. Not that I know of anyone complaining, but highlighting the need for a "physically fit, athletic physique" is probably unnecessary — I doubt many fat people are in a position to try out for the cheer squad, and I doubt they'd want to when it's clear that they'll be doing so in spandex shorts and a sports bra.
Per the Seattle Times, the school removed the flyer from the cheerleading team's Facebook page after it was “determined that some of the details and descriptions provided were inconsistent with the values of the UW spirit program and department of athletics.”
Is this (as one twitter user put it) "what's wrong with America?" Christ, not by a long shot (this is what's wrong with America). But it's tone deaf and unnecessary, and when those two things come together, you can bet that America's college students will let no injustice go unpunished. Besides, we all have body image issues. No need to distribute them on a flyer.
http://uk.askmen.com/news/sports/univers...utcry.html