Are men with pom-poms 'woke' now? New Minnesota Vikings cheerleaders spark firestorm

When the north star state Vikings announced their cheerleading team roster earlier this month, they also unleashed an internet firestorm.

"The next generation of cheer has arrived," the team wrote on Instagram Aug. 9, alongside a picture that opened with a smiling Louie Conn jumping into a backflip then dancing and shaking his pom-poms alongside the other dancers, including a bouncing, enthusiastic Blaize Shiek.

The response was immediate, with some people on social media leaving offensive remarks and threatening to stop supporting the team. Then, more public-facing officials chimed in, like Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who accused the team of pushing a "woke" narrative, and Fox News host Will Cain, who said the issue is "male cheerleaders being female cheerleaders."

A former Vikings player and current Conservative activist, Jack Brewer, told Fox News he was "disgusted and embarrassed" about the addition of male cheerleaders, adding, "no man needs to ever have a pom-pom in their hand." 

Eventually, the Vikings themselves put out a statement supporting Conn and Shiek, telling Today.com that approximately one-third of NFL teams have male cheerleaders this year, and that every member of the team has an impressive dance background and went through a rigorous audition process.

Conn and Shiek aren't the first male cheerleaders in the NFL — that happened in 2018 with the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints.

And if the outrage is over men dancing alongside women, well, for as long as there has been dance, there have been male dancers.

So why are people so fired up about this particular type of dance, and why now?

"It seems to be less about men being on the field and more about the fact that they're dancing instead of just lifting or basing stunts. That really just shows the biases we still have around gender and dance."

Football has a distinct role in American culture, where it's the leading spectator sport. And the NFL tends to be historically gendered, with tough and gritty male players tackling each other as ultra-feminine cheerleaders root for them from the sidelines.

The "Taylor Swift effect" on football ratings, viewership and merch sales has already angered a lot of male fans for the increased focus on the pop star during games. She was booed at the Super Bowl this year and heckled online by U.S. President Donald Trump.

And now, as some media outlets are pointing out, male cheerleaders are further disrupting this culture, while also redefining what male athleticism can look like — strong, graceful and joyful. Not just holding up the base of a pyramid, but dancing front and centre.

"When people think of the NFL cheerleaders, you think of the big men throwing the women in the air. More gymnastics and stunting," Napoleon Jinnies, who cheered for the Los Angeles Rams in 2018 and made history by performing at the Superbowl in 2019, told CNN Wednesday.

"I think now that we're fully integrated, and not like an accessory, doing the same moves and the same motions as the women counterparts on the team, I don't know, it's just different for most people."

Male cheerleader says haters can 'look somewhere else'

In the Canadian Football League, male cheerleaders aren't new, Beveridge said. Edmonton, for instance, has had men on the team for years, and others have since followed suit, she explained. Although they're primarily involved in stunting, she added.

"Cheerleading is such a blend of athleticism and performance, and it's not something that should be defined by gender," Beveridge said.

"Having men on the sidelines dancing shows young boys and men that there's a place for them in this world, too."

Conn and Shiek were also announced as cheerleaders in a political climate unfriendly to gender diversity in athletics, as Trump vows to "keep men out of women's sports" by banning transgender athletes, and several U.K. Sports teams banning transgender players following a British Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a "woman."

The outrage over the Vikings cheerleaders, then, is also about "attempts to control masculinity," wrote former NFL player RK Russel in the Guardian.

"It's about the mere existence and visibility of men on NFL cheer squads who don't conform to the rigid, outdated ideas of masculinity that so many use sport, and football in particular, to defend," he wrote Tuesday.

But amid the negativity, a lot of the response has also been positive, with fans coming out to support and applaud the cheerleaders.

On the Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders Instagram, for instance, commenters posted that the new squad "embodies inclusion," supports "everyone's rights to their dreams," and pledged their love to both the cheerleaders and the football team.

"Seahawks fan, but here to support your cheer squad," wrote one person on Instagram.

"New Vikings fan here," added another.

In another Instagram post seemingly in response to the uproar, Conn and Shiek pose together in uniform alongside the caption, "wait... Did someone say our name?"

Conn, for his part, also posted a photo of himself as a child, sitting in the splits with an arm in the air, with the caption, "I'm right where I was meant to be."

"I've never felt so loved," he added.

Senior Writer & Editor

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