The Relentless Mistreatment of NFL Cheerleaders
The National Football League is, at least administratively, a man’s world. With a nearly all-male coaching staff (there are currently 12 female coaches, ranging from position coaches to interns) and male players populated the league’s publicity, the NFL is surely aware of its status as an organization for and by men. Yet one of the most iconic aspects of major league football is perhaps its most feminine—the cheerleaders.
NFL cheerleaders are by nature sideline players, yet their contributions to the league have made them figureheads of the organization, accruing additional revenue from TV shows like Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team, as well as through merchandise.
Despite their broad success and recognition, NFL cheerleaders endure significantly lower wages than male football players; the most experienced cheerleader will make about $75,000 per year, compared to a rookie football player, who averages approximately $435,000 per year—nearly six times as much. Although this gap is shocking and no doubt unjust, inequality between players and cheerleaders is unfortunately not limited to pay.
On Oct. 11, 2021, Jon Gruden stepped down from his position as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. Prompting his resignation were a slew of racist, homophobic and misogynistic emails released the same day by The New York Times. Though Gruden took much of the negative spotlight, the messages were found amid another NFL investigation into sexual misconduct allegations among the Washington Commanders.
The investigation revealed that Gruden had received explicit photos of Commanders cheerleaders from the Commanders’ former president. This detail may not be the crux of the sexual mistreatment, but it is a blatant example of the incredibly harmful, potentially violent misogyny facing NFL cheerleaders.
Despite such damning evidence, the NFL has successfully swept much of the information about Gruden and other administrative officials’ treatment under a rug of steel. The concerns of cheerleaders are repeatedly unaddressed, regardless of their severity.
In addition to their lax attitude toward sexual mistreatment, the NFL maintains incredibly strict regulations for their cheerleaders. While football players are free to sport tattoos and piercings of just about any kind, most teams’ cheerleaders are not allowed to have either. Other imposing rules include a required arrival time of at least five hours before kickoff, limited water breaks, regular weight checks, maintaining a professional uniform after work and constant monitoring of personal social media accounts.
The treatment of NFL cheerleaders can be intrusive at best and entirely demeaning at worst. Their collective experience is not only unjust, but exemplary of the carelessness with which female-presenting individuals are considered in their places of work and beyond. Their beauty is both forced and commodified, their labor both needed and ignored.
Some former cheerleaders have suggested unionization as the only viable mode of freedom from the NFL’s misogynistic clutches. Others have stressed the importance of continuous media coverage of issues with officials. An issue so immense and unaddressed does not have one proper solution.
The voices of former cheerleaders remain incredibly important in raising awareness and suggesting new methods of attacking such a looming organization. Through their bravery and persistence, perhaps the faces of the NFL will one day be treated as such.