has a beautiful appearance and graceful dance posture. Joining the cheerleaders of their favorite teams is the dream of many American girls. As the former captain of the NFL New Orleans Saints cheerleader, Bailey Davis is an enviable member of it.
However, Bailey Davis's experience shows that the treatment of cheerleading beauties is not so glamorous. Recently, the New Orleans Saints fired it because Bailey Davis posted a somewhat exposed photo on social platform Instagram.
Although Bailey Davis claimed that she set privacy protections for this photo when she posted it, only visible to her own friends. But when the team learned about this, they decisively fired cheerleaders on the grounds that they violated the regulations that cheerleaders were not allowed to post photos on social platforms.
At the same time, the New Orleans Saints added another "crime" - Bailey Davis had multiple private dates with club players, which is another reason for his dismissal.
Bailey Davis immediately filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Commission, complaining about the existence of male and female inequality rules within the New Orleans Saints. She accused that one set of rules was for women in cheerleader roles and the other set of rules was for men in player status, typical sexist and overbearing terms.
In response to this, the New Orleans Saints refuted that Davis 's release of too sexy photos greatly affects the team's image. In addition, she has appeared at Saints players' gatherings and has had too close contact with the players in private, which violates the team's cheerleading code of conduct.
The dispute between the two sides is still unfinished, and the NFL official refused to comment. This seemingly small-scale dispute has attracted a lot of attention, and the New York Times has exposed some strict regulations on cheerleading by North American professional teams.
In fact, the earliest cheerleaders appeared in the 1920s, which originated from American football games. This event accessories derived from American Sports have gradually become a necessity and beautiful scenery in professional leagues, so as to enhance the atmosphere in your free time.
cheerleaders work long hours and have more than 8 hours of rehearsal time per week. In addition, they must perform on stage on home match days and regularly participate in community and charity activities. A former NBA cheerleader revealed that if all arrangements are included in rehearsal, fitness and performance, their working hours per week will reach 40 hours.
Obviously, becoming a cheerleader does not rely solely on a beautiful face and hot figure. They must go through difficult lifting, somersaults, and other action training. A report from the American Center for Disaster Athletic Injury Research once showed that the injury rate of female cheerleaders is even higher than that of NFL players every year, and their careers generally do not exceed 5 years.
"Every season, I feel like I'm working two jobs at the same time, and I only have some rest time every February," said Tiffany Monroe, a former cheerleader of NFL Philadelphia Eagles .
Many teams try to strictly control the private lives of cheerleaders - restrict social media activities; limit the choice of dates and social partners; do not smoke, drink, scold or chew gum in public places; prohibit private contact with players; even nail polish and jewelry are faced with strict control from the team.
What is more stringent is that in order to perfectly show off one's own uniform, cheerleaders are required to not wear underwear in shorts and must wear underwear that lift the breasts, and exposing the navel is almost a clothing routine. In addition, the team has specific regulations on the weight of cheerleaders, and once they float more than 3 pounds, they face the risk of being fired.
"I absolutely could not imagine there was another career field where employers would exert such a level of control on their subordinates, even reaching their tentacles out of their work," said Leslie Levy, an attorney in the related field. At the
game, the team often asks cheerleaders to walk into the fan club, which is considered to be using "hues" to promote the team. “Every girl is scared of it, we are thrown among the fans and live with a group of drunk fans,” Bailey Davis said, “fear of being sexually assaulted suddenly."
Even so, the salary of cheerleaders is not high.
In 2015, a cheerleader from NBA Milwaukee Bucks sued the team for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Wisconsin State Payroll Act. She claimed that the players were paid only $65 per game, plus $30 per practice and $50 a special show.
A cheerleader who played for the NBA and NFL leagues said that the salary for the Golden State Warriors was $12 per hour, NF The monthly salary of the L Raiders is only $1,200.
A large number of cheerleaders are still complaining about their time spent in training and not receiving the corresponding salary compensation. Over the past years, there have been many lawsuits in the North American Professional League regarding cheerleader salaries. Therefore, most cheerleaders have other jobs to supplement their income.
As for why they still join this industry, former Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader Tiffany Monroe said, "I'm not doing this industry for money. I think others should think the same way, more because of their love for dance, and their love for football and being a model. "For the same reason, the cheerleading selection of American professional teams is still quite fierce.
It is worth noting that some teams have made changes.
At the end of March this year, two male dancers were suddenly seen in the cheerleading selection of NFL Los Angeles Rams . Both of them passed the assessment, making the team the first team in the history of the league to have male cheerleaders. Breaking through gender restrictions, for cheerleading, it is trying to change some unreasonable old rules.
