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Articles

Don’t bring it on: the case against cheerleading as a collegiate sport

Pages 255-277
Received 09 Aug 2012
Accepted 16 Jan 2013
Published online: 16 Apr 2013
 

The 2010 Quinnipiac cheerleading case raises interesting questions about the nature of both cheerleading and sport, as well as about the moral character of each. In this paper we explore some of those questions, and argue that no form of college cheerleading currently in existence deserves, from a moral point of view, to be recognized as a sport for Title IX purposes. To reach that conclusion, we evaluate cheerleading using a quasi-legal argument based on the NCAA’s definition of sport and conclude that cheerleading fails to qualify as a legitimate sport. A philosophical argument leads to the same conclusion, primarily because of the essential entertainment-aspect of cheerleading. We then examine a consequentialist moral case for making cheerleading an intercollegiate sport and argue that the balance of moral reasons is against doing so. Finally, we look at cheerleading’s newest offspring – Acrobatics and Tumbling, and STUNT – and express our moral reservations about their current claims to be worthy of Title IX recognition. While we would not claim that any single one of our arguments is decisive, we are convinced that the cumulative weight of the arguments against granting intercollegiate sport status to any of the forms of cheerleading or its derivatives is, at present, irresistible.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrew B. Johnson

Andrew B. Johnson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Missouri State University. Correspondence to: Andrew B. Johnson, Missouri State University, 901 S. National Avenue Springfield, MO 65897, USA.

Pam R. Sailors

Pam R. Sailors is a Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Missouri State University. Correspondence to: Pam R. Sailors, Missouri State University, 901 S. National Avenue, Springfield, MO 65897, USA.

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