THESE BUBBLY CHEERLEADERS HAVE LITTLE TO CHEER ABOUT
There are crazy rules governing how the girls hired by NFL teams should act, look and weigh or even date, writes Ken Belson
Cheerleaders for the Carolina Panthers, known as the TopCats, must arrive at the stadium on game days at least five hours before kick-off. Body piercings and tattoos must be removed or covered. Water breaks can be taken only when the Panthers are on offence. TopCats must leave the stadium to change into their personal attire.
Baltimore Ravens cheerleaders were subject to regular weigh-ins and are expected to “maintain ideal body weight”, according to a handbook from 2009. The Cincinnati Ben-Gals were even more precise in recent years: Cheerleaders had to be within three pounds (1.36kg) of their “ideal weight”.
Some cheerleaders must pay hundreds of dollars for their uniforms, yet are paid little more than minimum wage. Cheerleaders must sell raffle tickets and calendars and appear at charity events and golf tournaments, yet they receive none of the proceeds. Cheerleader handbooks, seven of which have been reviewed by The New
York Times, include personal hygiene tips, like shaving techniques and the proper use of tampons. In some cases, wearing sweatpants in public is forbidden.
The New Orleans Saints, who fired a cheerleader this year for posting a picture the team deemed inappropriate on her private Instagram account, are one of many National Football League teams with stringent, and seemingly anachronistic, rules for their cheerleaders.
Across the NFL, teams even try to place extensive controls on how cheerleaders conduct their lives outside work. This includes limiting their social media activity as well as the people they choose to date and socialise with. Restrictions are placed on their nail polish and jewellery.
Those rules and additional work requirements have sparked another public relations headache for the NFL, after The New York Times revealed last week that Bailey Davis, the cheerleader the Saints dismissed in January, filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claiming unfair treatment. The complaint comes at time when the NFL is dealing with issues of domestic violence and sexual harassment among players and league employees, and when issues of gender equality are facing unprecedented scrutiny in nearly every corner of the country.
The complaint is the first step in what could be a lengthy litigation with the Saints franchise and the league. Davis spent much of last week appearing on television, criticising the Saints and other NFL teams for having rules that she said demean women.
Leslie A Lanusse, a lawyer representing the Saints, said the franchise strives to treat all employees fairly and denied the franchise had discriminated against Davis because of her gender. “At the appropriate time and in the appropriate forum, the Saints will defend the organisation’s policies and workplace rules,” Lanusse said in an email.
The NFL declined to comment. The Ravens did not respond to questions about their current policies. The Bengals said they had updated their rules for cheerleaders and no longer have precise weight guidelines.
Unlike NFL players, who are unionised and generally free to promote themselves in any way they choose, cheerleaders are part-time workers with few benefits. A few teams, including the Chicago Bears, the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers, do not employ cheerleaders. Most of the more than two dozen other teams with cheerleaders outline the rules and restrictions in the cheerleaders’ contracts and handbooks.
Other rules are applied as a specific reaction to an ever-changing social environment. Cheerleaders who complain about the conditions are told that they can easily be replaced. The threats are not empty. In this employeeemployer relationship, the teams have all the leverage.
“The club’s intention is to completely control the behaviour of the women, even when they are not actually at their workplace,” said Leslie Levy, who represented cheerleaders who sued the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders. “It’s an issue of power. You see a disparate treatment between the cheerleaders, and the mascots and anyone else who works for the team. I can’t think of another arena where employers exert this level of control, even when they are not at work.”
Levy and other lawyers have had some success. In 2016 the Jets agreed to pay their cheerleaders, known as The Flight Crew, almost US$325,000 in back pay. The Raiders agreed to $1.25 million in back pay for the Raiderettes. (The Raiders did not respond to questions about their cheerleading policies.)
Despite increases in pay, the rules persist in part because supply outweighs demand. Most teams employ only a few dozen cheerleaders, who must audition along with hundreds of other candidates every year to keep their jobs. In the case of the Saints, cheerleaders are limited to a maximum of four years with the club. Yet thousands of women are eager to join the squad.
To be sure, there are cheerleaders for whom the good experiences far outweigh the bad.
“Cheerleading changed my life,” said Flavia Berys, a former cheerleader for the San Diego Chargers who wrote books on audition secrets and became a real estate lawyer. “When I was an NFL cheerleader, I learned a lot about how to speak to the media, I learned about the rules of decorum and professionalism. We were taught how to interact with the staff and the players, and everything. The training we had was all for a reason, and looking back, I think it was all for the right reasons.”
Even when they aren’t on duty for their teams, cheerleaders are subject to specific franchise rules about their behaviour. They are forbidden from fraternising with players. They cannot speak with them, seek their autographs or follow them on social media. They must block players who follow them. They are not allowed to post pictures of themselves in uniform. Teams say this rule is to prevent the cheerleaders from attracting stalkers.
According to their 2016 handbook, the San Francisco Gold Rush cheerleaders are told never to disclose that they are affiliated with the team. They are also advised to “turn off your GPS applications on your phone that will indicate where you are any given time.”
Some teams are adapting. The Los Angeles Rams recently announced that for the first time, two men will join their team of 40 dancers. (Men have worked as acrobats and baton twirlers on NFL sidelines before.) Keely Fimbres, the head of cheerleading for the Rams for 28 years, said adding men to the team is a sign that gender roles are changing, however slowly.
“I think this is just the right timing because we talk about equality and inclusiveness,” she said. “They’ll be fun to watch on Sundays.”