A summary of the article “Cheerleader Chic”, detailing elements of a modern attitude toward the recent resurgence of cheerleading in movies. This is one of those response papers. They’re kind of odd because I never know exactly what to write for them. Should I retell the article? Should I give my opinion of the writing? Or should I focus my opinions on the thoughts of the writers? For this one, I think I copped out.
Response Paper for the article, “Cheerleader Chic”.
“Cheerleader Chic” offers insights from three different perspectives as to why the icon of the cheerleader has once again returned in favor in our schools. The ideas of the parody of the uniform, the attraction of mates, and the ideal woman are put forth as reasons for this resurgence.
Robert Thompson thinks that the age of the cheerleader has come and gone. Nowadays, the cheerleader uniform is a mockery. The risqué outfits that girls wear in school pale the uniform of the cheerleader. It exists only as a jest to days when we were more innocent.
Helen Fisher believes that cheerleaders are able to present themselves as more worthy mates than other girls by their show of vitality. Sports fans typically find cheerleaders very near their robust male counterparts, thus extending Fisher’s supposition. She says that a psychological mechanism allows the opposite sex to detect this display of vigor.
Michael Porte expects that the cheerleader characterizes everything womanly about a woman and allows attached men to fantasize for everything that they would wont. The cheerleader fantasy allows men to escape from their dreary relations and imagine life with a woman that their wives are not.
