Taking A Trip Down Memory Lane

 

Cheering has been my go to sport since I was six years old. I cheered from elementary school, all the way throughout high school. Looking back I have gained so much from cheering.

 

My mom was probably the best cheer. She was so heavily involved with every team I’ve been on. My family would never miss a competition! Looking back I'm so grateful to have such a supportive and loving parents. At the end of each competition they would always have flowers for me and they would tell me how proud they were, even if my team didn't win.

In middle school, my mom put me in gymnastic classes just so that I would gain more skills. I was such a fast learner. I learned how to do a back flip in less than a month, and I was able to master a back tuck even faster.

Competitions were my favorite part of it all. At my high school, everyone was super supportive of the cheerleaders, mainly the varsity team. The gym would be filled up and people from all different high schools in the county would come watch. In 2013, the varsity cheer team I was on at the time ended up making it to the State competition, and we won first place! This was the second time my high school’s varsity team made it to State’s, and the fact that we won was such an amazing feeling.

I’ve gotten to know so many different people from different cultures while cheering. Cheer leading is a both physical and social based sport. Yes I said sport, we'll get to that topic on another day...
But, I have definitely gained a lot of self confidence and teamwork skills that have helped me in the real world.

There is so much more to cheer leading than the general assumptions that people make. By tuning in to the two following posts, I am hoping to show you a different side to cheer leading if you have not learned it already.

Casanova and Casanovette

Slut.

Whore.

Hoe. 

Bitch.

Skank.

These are all words to describe sexually active women.

Player.

Ladies’ Man.

Romeo.

Casanova.

These are all words to describe sexually active men.

 Language is a strong, but subtle form of oppression. Referring to females by names that are not human is denying females the right to being accepted as a viable gender of the human race. For example, a bitch is a female dog. Calling a female a bitch is saying that she isn’t human and in turn doesn’t deserve basic human respect.

Men and women engage in the same activity, but men are praised for it and women are punished for it. Our society was built on the fundamental idea that women should be ashamed of their sexuality. This is seen in 17^th century Puritan society and on my modern day college campus. Women still receive a scarlet letter grade for being sexually active. 

Just last night I was sitting in the common room with a group of my friends. This girl walks by holding this guy’s arm. Two of my male friends proceed to say “Hey did y’all see that girl that just walked by. She has like 50 bodies." Me being the person I am had to ask WHY DOES THAT MATTER? My friend answered with “she’s just a hoe, plain and simple.” Instead of saying anything else, I just decided to listen to the rest of the conversation. One of my female friends then said “look at how she’s dressed. I mean clearly she’s a hoe." THERE IS NO CORRELATION BETWEEN CLOTHING AND SEXUAL ACTIVITY.

A male football player that has multiple sex partners isn’t something people think twice about. The phrase “boys will be boys” was created to justify such male activity. Meanwhile, a female college student has multiple sex partners, has safe and consensual sex, but is called a hoe.

If a male can be a Casanova, then I can be a Cassanovette.

Click here if you're interested in reading further into this topic

Walk of Shame vs. Stride of Pride

Morgan attended a party at the lacrosse house last night with her three roommates. She had a very stressful week filled with two midterms and one essay due. They went to this party to blow off steam and just have some fun. After all, College is the time of your life.

Morgan and her friends drank a little and danced. While at this party, Morgan meets this really chill guy named CJ and they instantly connected. They left together and went to his dorm room. Neither of them were intoxicated and they had safe, consensual sex. 

Morgan left CJ’s room at 5 am in CJ’s t shirt and her heels in hand. On her hike back to her room, various university staff members stared and gave her dirty looks. A group of football players that were up for morning workouts passed her and shouted “I know her night was good”. The security guard that lets students into the dorm just shook his head at her. 

When Morgan finally got into her room, her roommate woke up and told her that “she should have some self-respect and only a slut would want the whole campus to know that she had sex the night before".

This isn’t a true story but it easily could be.

The sad truth is that if Morgan was a guy her friends would be cheering her on as if she was running a marathon instead of walking home from a “one night stand”. In fact, the walk of shame is not even a thing for guys. This is just another example of the inequalities between men and women, just in case you needed another one.  

Why should women feel ashamed after having sex? Sex is a natural thing. As long as it consensual and safe, there is nothing to be ashamed of.

Own your sexuality. 

Take pride in your active sex life.  
Turn your walk of shame into a stride of pride.