No names

Duke Cheerleader, Holly Kokinda

The Clarion Content sees photos of cheerleaders all over the internet. Cheerleaders, in general, feel like something of an antiquated pre-feminism institution. The defenders of cheerleading will say it is a sport and that the cheerleaders are athletes, too. If one has ever seen a cheerleading competition, that is quite evident, they are athletes.

This has left us at the Clarion Content wondering. Is it the misogyny of sports, the schools, the news outlets or American society in general that accounts for this difference: NCAA athletes of all stripes are typically identified by name when photographed by media outlets. Cheerleaders almost never are identified individually in photos. Just another pretty face? Pretty objectifying from our vantage point!