Vulgarity or necessity: why do cheerleaders wear short skirts?

Cheerleading is not only a way to support the team or entertain fans, but also a sport in its own right (World Cheerleading Championships have been held since 2001). Besides, it is very traumatizing in itself, as it includes a lot of complex acrobatic elements. For example, in the United States, according to statistics, more than 50% of sports injuries are attributed to cheerleaders. Despite this, most people more often pay attention to the appearance and attire of cheerleaders than to their sporting professionalism.

And most recently, on September 18 of this year, the Finnish newspaper Iltalehti ran an article with the headline “Have we gone too far? Cheerleaders at KHL games dance in leotards.” So why are the girls wearing so few clothes? Is it important to attract a male audience in this way, or are they just more comfortable dancing this way? To answer this question, let’s turn to the history of the sport.

The evolution of cheerleading uniforms

Support players with rhythmic movements began in the 1870s in the United States, but the date of the foundation of this sport is considered to be 1889. The first cheerleader in history was a freshman medical student at the University of Minnesota named Johnny Campbell. He was the one who proposed the idea that someone should lead the fans in the stadium and come up with a variety of chants to cheer on the university’s soccer team.

Until the 1920s, the vast majority of cheerleaders were men. However, in the ’40s, during World War II, the situation changed dramatically. A large number of men went to the front. Today, more than 90% of cheerleaders are girls.

Men’s cheerleading team

The clothing of the performers at first was not that they were not frank, but, on the contrary, was the most ordinary. Floor skirts, longsleeves, pants and shirts, the only distinguishing feature – the emblem of the team.

But gradually the cheerleaders’ performances became more and more complicated, and the stunts more and more dangerous, because of which the uniform had to become more comfortable, and therefore more open. Now instead of sweatshirts and pants, both girls and guys began to wear short shorts, socks and T-shirts.

Cheerleading style has evolved along with fashion. When miniskirts became popular in the 60’s, cheerleaders immediately adopted the trend and shortened their costumes even further. At the same time, the idea of cheerleading became truly global: now every university and college has its own cheerleading squad. Many girls dreamed of becoming cheerleaders or at least being like them.

Over the many years of cheerleading’s formation, it has formed its own standards of costumes: a brightly colored uniform, not restricting movement, which is sewn to order. The fabric is chosen depending on the direction: for the nomination “cheer” – non-slip. Such material is necessary for the suit does not slip during tricks, otherwise the risk of injury increases during jumps and other acrobatic elements. For the same reason it is forbidden to perform in tights. For the “dans” category, on the contrary, teams choose a slippery fabric to make it easier to perform stunts on the floor.

In the 1930s, universities began to actively use the attribute that is still a hallmark of cheerleading – pompoms. The modern vinyl pompom was invented in 1965. Earlier, pompoms with long fibers were popular, but now girls use accessories made of wide petals of shiny foil.

In the 80’s and 90’s cheerleading made its way to pop culture. Elements of the cheerleaders’ clothing began to be used by famous designers, and in the 2000s there were many movies about the sport.

A still from the movie “Light It Up This Summer!”

Nowadays, no one can be surprised by short shorts and tops, as well as the style of cheerleaders’ clothes, because in Russia and in Europe, many sports clubs have cheerleaders.

Why, then, are Scandinavians outraged?

The thing is that according to Finnish journalists, the costumes of their cheerleaders look much more modest. And the Swedish league has already removed cheerleaders from hockey arenas many years ago, so in this case the outrage of our girls is caused by their own struggle with cheerleading.