So maybe I'm totally off the wall here and/or this is a relatively trivial issue, but

[pnwmom]

what do you think?

With regard to cheerleader teams of 11 year olds, is it wrong and racially discriminatory to impose a straight hair standard on everyone? Or should this girl be happy with the option to put her non-straight hair in a tight bun and hang a straight pony tail extension off of it?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027329871#post30

[JustAnotherGen]

1. I don't know

I was a ballerina when I was younger. In competition -And recitals - and certainly performances- conformity to the corp/body of dancers was required. That meant my hair went back in a tight bun along with everyone else in the company/class.

Coming out of that - I would be more alarmed if there were weight pressures.

[pnwmom]

2. A tight bun is one thing. These girls were required to have straight pony tails

coming out of those tight buns.

[JustAnotherGen]

4. Couldn't they do hair pieces?

The problem with these cheer leading teams/schools seems to be they are trying to push something athletic - that they want to throw some showmanship around.

Any ballet dancer that goes all the way knows that the pretty costume masks the extreme athleticism that goes into the art/showmanship.

I was doing choreography on the side (love ballet and lyrical!) until my early 30's and my mentality? My routine, my costume, my stage make up, my hair. I only liked working with kids about 11/12 and older so their parents already knew what was going to be expected.

Maybe "cheer" schools need to make up their minds - the whole system of competition. Are these athletes or are they performers? To me - athletes need their hair back and it doesn't matter if it is curly or straight. I'm shocked at the gobs of street make up they put on those little girls. I had more than a few parents happy when their kids pulled me for company choreography because they knew their daughters and sons weren't going to be in clown red lipstick and bright blue eyeshadow.

[pnwmom]

6. Why straight hair pieces? How many African American girls have naturally straight hair?

What's wrong with pony tails that are straight, kinky, and everything in between?

It seems to me that this is giving preference to a certain hair texture that is much more common with white and Asian girls.

I agree with you about the issue of whether they are athletes or performers. I think they should be athletes, that makeup is completely unnecessary, and that hairstyles should be whatever is efficient. But that's just me.

[betsuni]

3. It's ridiculous.

If they have such a boner for uniformity, everyone should put their hair in a bun and wear the same length/color hairpiece. Nobody should go along with the straight-hair only decision. What's next, the color, the length? The judges are looking at skill, anyway, not the damn ponytails.

[JustAnotherGen]

5. This times 10

They are athletes. Athletes.

Watch these girls. What they are doing not just anyone can do. It takes practice and skill set building. I think I'm more upset with the idea of razzle dazzle in an athletic competition than anything else.

Sets a bad precedent for other female athletes.