Twelve National Football League teams announced, more or less simultaneously, that they are adding male cheerleaders to their rosters for the coming season. One of those teams is the Minnesota Vikings. It is fair to say that these announcements have gotten a mostly negative reaction. Rightly or wrongly, the Vikings have taken the most heat:
The controversy has even made international news. This is from the Telegraph:
Some have tried to defend the NFL’s move on the ground that college teams have long had male cheerleaders. That is true, of course. But, to put it delicately, the ambience is a little different. Male college football cheerleaders hoist the girls up on their shoulders, do pushups after touchdowns, and so on.
I have no wish to pile on this year’s new cheerleader crop; they probably are nice guys. But here is the punch line: of whom do the male Vikings cheerleaders remind you?
That’s right:
In both football and politics, Minnesota’s image isn’t what it once was!
