Anyone can learn a move, right? Like when you’re walking you can lift up
that knee and point that toe. You know make it sassy—Yes! Like sassy! Sassy! Lexy’s got sass, Lexy’s all sass. This is Kristan Ann Ware. Sassy, I’m whipping it, sassy! She knew joining the Miami Dolphins meant
having the perfect hair, body, and smile. But she wasn’t prepared for what else she’d
have to face. They say you’re only special in the
uniform, your opinion doesn’t matter, your voice doesn’t matter, you’re here to perform
and that’s it. They intimidate you into silence—but, I
mean, you want to be a cheerleader. It’s the best job in the world. Cheerleading. An iconic American pastime. Some love it, others think it’s an image-obsessed
second-rate sport. It’s a topic far removed from my day-to-day
as Refinery29’s senior beauty editor. But growing up as a soccer player, they were
always of the periphery. What I looked like on the field never mattered,
but I’m here today to learn how in cheerleading, it could mean the difference of whether or
not you make the team. So there’s a big difference in this,
it’s pretty. Sideline Prep is a pro-cheer consulting company
and Genienne Samuels is its leader. Teaching the tricks of the trade from her
11-year run as a professional cheerleader. What’s most important: definitely nutrition
and fitness, and then just don’t sleep on the importance of your appearance. But when did appearance become so important
to pro cheer? Cheerleading in the early 1900s was a male-only
activity at elite Ivy League schools. During World War II, women took over when
the men left to fight, stepping it up with gymnastics and acrobatics. It was in the 1970s that Dallas Cowboy owner,
Tex Schramm, saw a lucrative opportunity to boost ticket sales by making cheerleading
all about sex appeal. Skin tight outfits, suggestive dance moves
and a beauty queen look became a must. Today, professional cheer is as much about
image as it is about dance. For these women it’s all part of the game,
just as important as putting in long hours at the gym and mastering moves. We work so hard for years just for one audition. It’s about the experience, it’s about
the sisterhood. I love the glam. I love the feeling of putting on my makeup
and getting my hair done and going to dance and seeing myself in the mirror. I just love it. From their moves to their makeup, every last
detail is considered. Whatever it takes to land a coveted spot on
a team of their dreams. Women want to become professional cheerleaders
to basically extend their life of a passion that they already have. Professional level is the next step for them. Yay! That was so good! But recent headlines are shining new light
on to this dream, revealing just how vulnerable it is to exploitation. A new lawsuit against the Raiders. Two Raiderettes say that they were humiliated
and groped. They’re not even paid for quite a bit of
the work that they do. An entire reform on how professional cheerleaders
are treated is long overdue. She and her lawyer are calling on the NFL
to do more to protect cheerleaders. Kristan Ann Ware is currently filing a claim against the NFL and her former Miami Dolphin's cheer
team for discrimination based on her gender and religious beliefs. She says that once her team discovered her
vow to wait for marriage, coaches started singling her out and attacking her. It all came to a head in her third season
interview. Usually in the interviews they talk about
your dance technique, you know, how you are in choreography, what they expect of you,
and things like that, and nothing of my job was talked about during that interview. And I went in and sat down and the first thing
that the director mentioned was, "let’s talk about your vow to wait for marriage." I was, I don’t know, I remember the feeling—
of sitting there kind of like, my palms started to sweat, your knee caps start to shake, your
heart’s pounding because something in me told me, this isn’t right. What happened after your interview? They asked me to change into a bikini to see if I was calendar ready. Which was usual. It was never a problem
before, but just the fact that I felt like I was attacked for something so personal and
so valuable to me, and to then have to change into a bikini and stand in front of them—I
mean, it took a piece of me. I remember looking in the mirror and just
saying, "Kristan, you can leave, you can walk out right now." And I didn’t. Kristan Ann was used to being critiqued on
her appearance, it was part of the job. For her, what crossed the line was feeling
disrespected and degraded, and she’s not alone. This kind of treatment is pervasive across
the country. Bailey Davis, a former New Orleans sensation
says she was kicked off the team for an Instagram photo deemed too sexy. Members of the 2013 Washington Redskins cheer
team reported being forced to post pose topless at a photoshoot while male sponsors watched. And former Houston Texans cheerleader, Gabriella Davis, alleges that she and her teammates were called “crack whores” and “jelly bellies.” I have not spoken to a cheerleader, not one,
where they didn’t tell me that they were told all the time that they are not special,
that they are just a girl in a uniform and there’s a million girls that would take
their place. Sara Blackwell is a lawyer representing Kristan
Ann, along with several other former pro-cheerleaders who are taking on the NFL. It sounds to me like they just want to completely
control them. They have a lot of control over these women
and the way they get it is by belittling them and making them feel worthless. You are told that you are only here to be
seen and never heard. Your opinion doesn’t matter, your voice
doesn’t matter, you’re completely replaceable. Why would they say things like that? I think it’s the ownership and
the control they want to have over you. Not only when you’re in the uniform and you're at your job, but when you’re away from it. Sara gave me access to some of the cheerleaders’
handbooks and rules. I saw guidelines for everything. Love life, social media, and appearance. The rules for dealing with players reveal
a clear double standard, cheerleaders are told to avoid players at all costs. But the players are free to do what they want. This is extreme gender discrimination, and
players can go anywhere they want, they can text the cheerleaders, they can call the cheerleaders,
they can follow the cheerleaders on social media, but if the cheerleaders even accept
their request they can be immediately terminated. They say it’s for the girls’ protection,
which is sad, because we’re not in the 1950s here. Perhaps the best indicator of how much they’re valued is how much they’re paid. I used to be a Cincinnati Bengal, but I was
paid more being a dancing cupcake than an NFL cheerleader. It didn’t take long for Alexa Brenneman,
now Wesendorf, a two-season cheerleader for the Cincinnati Bengals, to realize she was
being taken advantage of. You’re expected to pay for your nails, you’re
expected to pay for your hair, you’re going to have to have a gym membership, stay in shape. But we were paid around $100 per game. I added up our practices, our trainings, our
appearances, our events and then divided those hours and it’s less than $3.00 an hour. Alexa filed a lawsuit against the Cincinnati
Bengals and in 2015 the team finally agreed to back pay and to raise salaries to meet
minimum wage. As these lawsuits come about, women are starting
to be paid minimum wage and things are starting to change. Alexa’s case shows that it’s possible
to take on the NFL and win. Still, there’s a long way to go. Today, what cheerleaders are paid is less
than the players and in many cases less than the mascots, less than the concession stand
workers. I was curious to know what GeNienne Samuels,
as a professional cheer veteran, thought of everything I’d learned. A lot of cheerleaders that we’ve spoken
to have said one of the things that kept them quiet was this idea of, you’re easily replaceable,
I can have a girl in here by tomorrow. The concept of feeling as though you are easily
replaceable is valid, I think for pro cheer. It’s also valid as a reporter, as an anchor,
but I think that it’s less of a fear and just part of reality. And I would hope that women don't allow
that reality to hinder them speaking up and voicing concerns or problems that they may
encounter. Cheerleading has been my life. As a child it was my outlet. We’re in it because we love it, because
we’re dancers, and we love the sisterhood. There are so many younger girls
that look up to me, I just want to set the tone for them and show them that this is an
attainable dream for them. While some have used the lawsuits as part
of a bigger argument to end pro cheerleading, the women leading the charge see an opportunity
for something else. A chance to be included in the conversation. I’m just speaking out to make a positive
difference for the NFL, not to bash the NFL. What it’s gonna take is a team of women
that are going to stand up together and say, we’re not going to tolerate this
any longer. What do you hope happens with the NFL? They need to say, "I hear you," to the cheerleaders and "we’re gonna take effective and real steps to make this a very professional and
lawful environment." And if their voices are heard it could transform
the sport into something that’s truly worth cheering for. Thanks for watching Refinery29. For more videos like this, click here. And to subscribe, click here.
I mean...
Cheerleading was totally ridiculous in high school, ladies. It doesn't get less ridiculous when you are old enough to be doing something with your life.
Pretty demanding, but unnecessary job.
Should get rid of them. They add nothing to they game. It just objectified women.
It’s hard to imagine why anyone would put themselves through this, except maybe the off chance that they’ll end up in one of those rare (disallowed) relationships with a wealthy player that ends in a profitable divorce?
If it was really about the performance it seems like there are other ways to do modern dance in a “competitive” way that would be a healthier, safer, and more respected job (even if it would probably have to be a side hustle while earning real pay and benefits elsewhere).
Cheerleading seems really out of place in modern society, it’s like camwhoring-but-IRL or something. Maybe it will eventually be replaced by something like women doing twitch streams of themselves pushing terms of service while watching the game on TV?