Sexism Question: If you believe cheerleading is a sport, are you sexist?

Or, if you don't believe cheerleading is a sport, are you sexist?

it depends.

Cheerleading is pointless, no matter who participates in it, whether it's a man or a woman (you do remember there are male cheerleaders, right?).

:eyes:

It's a great way for young girls to exercise.

on. Can you be stupid and still be smart?

btw, cheerleaders come in both genders.

Both are considered sports, so I don't see why cheerleading shouldn't be.

I knew some cheerleaders in college. They were pretty impressive athletes.

which can be very athletic, but still not a sport...just as dancing is not a sport.

The olympics would be a good start.

Some will argue that a sport needs a ball, which is usually true, but that is not the critical detail.

A sport, is any form of athletic competition, that includes an offense and a defense. That is, the participants can attempt to BLOCK each others efforts directly.

So ... Golf ... not a sport. I can't tackle a guy as he tees off. He might as well be playing alone.

Boxing ... sport ... the opponents face off against each other.

Oh ... a horse race, sport ... the riders can try to cut each other off. Dressage, riding a horse over a course to see who does it with the best form, not a sport.

And so ... cheer leading ... since the opposition can't try to knock over the human pyramid ... NOT a sport.

This also means, bowling (which my kids and I love), NOT a sport.

A "Sport" was something that had a finite amount of time, a set of rules, and an a score measured by accomplishing something (getting a touchdown, hitting a free throw, etc).

A "Contest" was something that could have some of the same elements as a sport but was ultimatly up to a judge or group of judges to decide.

Olympics I watched as a kid in the 70s. It seemed the Russian and German judges were always cheating.

:rofl:

except there's no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other.

I wondered where that line was going.

And in Boxing, you do come face to face with your opponent and you can directly engage them. If one boxer knocks the other boxer out, the judges become irrelevant.

Here might be a related test. If the participants can do what they do via VIDEO, with each participant remote from each other, its probably not a sport, and more like an exhibition or a contest.

For instance, we could have divers in three remote locations. The judges could be in a forth location. The judges watch the divers and score them. Not a sport. I actually like this model because it removes the crowd from the judges consideration, a common issue for many "judge" based events.

Bottom line, having a judge is not, in and of itself, enough to turn something into a sport.

It has not offense or defense.

Sorry, but that's pure fail.

In a marathon, I can cut in front of you. In a steeplechase, same thing.

If you have to stay in lanes, then no, not a sport.

On edit: I notice you included no criteria of your own. I'd call that a fail.

swimming.
diving.
track and field.
bobsled.
biathlon (even though you're armed, you're not allowed to shoot your competitor.)
gymnastics.


Your Olympics are going to be smaller.

On the plus side, auto racing is a sport - drivers can and do block their competition from trying to pass.

I don't know if I like your definition all that well, though it is functional, and at least you have one. :hi:

Some one above used the term "contest" for events that fell outside their definition of what a "sport" would be.

And just consider how much more exciting that biathalon would be if they could shoot at each other (since we don't want to condone murder, I suggest an advanced form of laser tag). :)

And I'm not saying that any of these activities, whether we call them sports or not, don't require tremendous athletic ability. And I'm enjoying reading some of the other attempts to develop the classification system.

I think found this thread interesting because it reminded me of the recent scientific debate about whether Pluto is really a planet. Officially, under the updated definition, Pluto is no longer considered a true planet.

However, one author discussing the Pluto debate (not so much the outcome of the debate bu the debate itself) made a good point. Most classification systems end up with some number of anomalous outcomes, and so we have "birds" that can't fly, like the turkey and the penguin ... or tomatoes, which are technically fruits, and yet most people consider them vegetables. A classification system, because it attempts to generalize, loses some details that in various instances might small, and in other instances large in terms of their impact on the classification of a single item.

activities requiring athletic skills sports.

Consider a group of people on a platform, stage, or level grass. A couple of them in the back of the pack pick up a third one and toss her (usually a her) across the entire pack where two more are in front of the pack waiting to catch her.

The tossers could not see the catchers, and the one being tossed relies on the strength and skill of the catchers as well as the tossers.

Between the toss and the catch, the one being tossed does a couple of flips or turns while in flight.

It is athletic. It is a sport. It is fascinating to watch.

Personally I find it disgusting but then again what goes on in my bedroom would disgust 99.9% of the fundies out there, oh and would sex also be a sport?

There was no catcher, just the tosser and the tossee, and then they both did battle with a bunch of Orcs.

As to the last part, regarding sex/vs sport, I do recall asking Miz O, when we were younger, to be a good sport.

the dwarf saying he wouldn't be tossed? There was a competition where dwarfs were tossed for distance, I think it go shut down after small people protested it on humanitarian grounds because they felt it degraded small people. Actually sex raises heart rate and it burns calories. the raised heart rate is why heart attack victims are told to slowly re enter sexual relations after a major heart attack.

my house, I can enjoy that part even more with this new information tidbit.

Thanks for that tidbit.

It depends on what you are classifying as "cheerleading" .

If you are talking about cheering for a crowd at a game, I would probably classify that as a performance -- much like a dance or a stage play. If you are talking about going to competitions where there are rules and judging based on accepted standards, then yes, it is absolutely a sport. There are plenty of sports that blur the line between performance and competition (gymnastics, ice skating, synchronized swim, to name a few), so I have no problem with classifying cheerleading amongst them. In fact -- it is one of the more dangerous sports allowed in schools based on the complexity and precision of the tosses and mounts that competitive teams have to incorporate in their routines. Below are two links to support this statement:

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2008/09/19/sports-injury-research-cheerleading-riskier-football/
http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/ExerciseFitness/10532

--Ultraviolet Cat

Did you come out of a time machine today? Cheer squads are mixed gender.

Why don't you email them and ask?

I define exhibitions and sports differently. To me, a sport involves some sort of athletic endeavor, and it allows you to prevent your opponent from scoring. An exhibition is simply a display of athletic skills which are compared to your opponent.

Figure skating, downhill skiing, the 100 meter dash are all exhibitions.

Some people consider eating mass quantities of particular a sport. People disagree with my definition of a sport, but I think that it's the strongest. A sport involves preventing your opponent from scoring. An exhibition is an unfettered skills display.

It assumes that only females are cheerleaders, something which is not true in the slightest.

:shrug:

so, not really a sport, but "squads" do all kinds of intricate maneuvers and jumps, etc. so I think it should be considered a sport...like synchronized swimming

I don't see the difference between men wanting to see sexy cheerleaders and women wanting to see sexy ball players.

I think cheerleading is a sport, because I have seen some women do some incredible feats of acrobatics, and get injured doing them. I've also seen men do some incredible feats of acrobatics and get injured doing them. Men participate in cheerleading just like women do.

I'm not clear on how that could be taken as sexist since both sexes participate in it.

And while it is entertaining reading the various definitions people make up for the word 'sport' this is a word with accepted definitions, none of which require the combat elements which some here are so sure define what is a sport.
Sport:
a : a source of diversion : recreation
b : sexual play
c (1) : physical activity engaged in for pleasure (2) : a particular activity (as an athletic game) so engaged in.

So the definitions have to do with leisure and recreation, and the fact that the activity is done for pleasure, not for to fulfill an actual need. It is about diversion, play, and fun. No one on one or team competition is required for the word to be accurate, not at all.

Sport is a bit of a loaded term here. Making it a sport would, in most high schools, take away a female sports slot meaning that less other sports will be offered. But since it isn't a sport it isn't being regulated leading to alot of unnecessary injuries for high school girls.