Men Who Cheer

[Orienting Questions]
Michelle Bemiller 2005
p.324 in Adler & Adler 6th ed. Excerpted from Sociological Focus 38(3)
1. What do Bemillers interviews imply about the norms or standards of hegemonic
masculinity?

The interviews that Bemiller constructed showed that hegemonic masculinity really needed to be asserted by
those men who participated in the cheerleading. Because of the social norm that cheerleading is a female
sport, the men felt that there were a variety of ways that they needed to assert their dominance over the feminine
boys and females in the squad. Through hyper-masculinity displays, both the men and women on the team
agreed that it was tough for the boys because they had to constantly put up with a barrage of comments from
outsiders.
2. What is the relationship between the meanings of feminine, gay, and masculine as
used by hegemonic masculinity? Do these labels carry any relative status?

The use of these terms in hegemonic masculinity is another display of power. Hegemonic masculinity asserts
that being male is dominance and the feminine and gay would be used in a derogatory sense, to assert that
masculine is powerful and the other two are not. In todays society, these labels do carry a status as we still
live in a very male dominated environment where if you are considered either feminine or gay, even if
female, it is viewed as weakness, and inspires lack of power.
3. What do the male cheerleaders do to avoid stigma?

To avoid stigmas, the boys in the study acted in hyper-masculine ways. Some of the methods that were
discussed included getting into a fight with boys from the football team and winning. Another method was that
the boys consistently talked about their female counterparts in either a sexualized or marginalized way. They
attempted to display dominance by reminding others that cheerleading began as a male sport and that females
wouldnt be able to do it without the assistance of men.

4. Think sociologically. How can we explain the stigmatization of male cheerleaders? Why is
hegemonic masculinity constructed in this way?

I think that the stigmatization of male cheerleaders stems from our perception and media in society. The article
and the men bring up the important point that cheerleading did begin as a mens sport. The article also brings up
the importance of men in a female dominant work place and how they are still viewed as more valuable (rising
in the ranks, higher salaries, etc.) though they tend to take the jobs that are not as feminine (more
administrative work). This goes back to our discussion of hegemonic masculinity because, in all of the fields
presented, men are attempting to assert dominance. I feel that it seems really counterproductive, because if one
is trying so hard to proclaim masculinity, what does that say about the masculinity in and of itself that it needs
to be so violently defined? Hegemonic masculinity seems to be constructed in this way in order for those in
power (in this case, the men attempting to assert themselves) to have more reason to be in power. While this
sounds very circular, I believe that hegemonic masculinity just portrays itself as another tool of trying too
hard and is essentially deconstructive to the male psyche.