Open-air Hoochie Girls UNITE!

[MavKikiNYC]

Does this mean that the CT yell leaders at A&M would have to stop clutching their genitalia during Aggie scoring drives?

Lotsa luck, Rep. Edwards.


Bill to ban racy cheerleading avoids key questions

By Katherine Cromer

A squad that performs an inappropriate routine could be banned from performing for the rest of the school year. But who decides what's inappropriate?

Dirty dancing may fly on MTV, but cheerleaders and dance team members better keep their routines clean.

For six years, the National Cheerleaders Association has penalized squads that include vulgar or suggestive movements in their competition routines.

Now, a Houston lawmaker has filed a bill that would exact an even higher price for pushing it too far, a move that some area cheerleading and dance experts say they support.

But others wonder who could enforce such a subjective standard.

"I'm a dancer," said Kay Lynn Renfro, director of the Grapevine High School Fillies drill team. "There are many things to me that there is nothing about it that is sexual or explicit, but to someone else watching, it may be."

The bill filed by state Rep. Al Edwards, D-Houston, would ban "sexually suggestive" performances by school dance teams, drill teams and cheerleaders at athletic events or competitions. A squad that performs an inappropriate routine could be banned from performing for the rest of the school year, and the district or campus could be fined.

"I don't think that children should think that they can do these sexually-oriented types of marches or dances," Edwards said Friday. "And that's when they get the most cheering from all the young people in the stands.

"Let's not have our young girls being exploited this way in our school districts."

Edwards said he has seen explicit dancing on high school football fields, particularly from cheerleaders and "majorettes," and decided that it "needs to be dealt with." He said it is not a personal issue for him or his family.

It was unclear Friday how much support Edwards' bill would garner in the Texas House. In the past, he has introduced bills that generated headlines but not much support from his legislative colleagues.

In 1989, he proposed allowing the state to amputate the fingers of drug dealers.

And in 1991, he introduced a bill calling for a statewide vote on allowing corporal punishment of inmates in state prisons, saying that such disciplinary measures as flogging would help rehabilitate prisoners.

Edwards' proposed ban on suggestive dancing is short on specifics, such as defining what is suggestive, who would judge appropriateness of dance moves and the amounts of fines.

Describing what he considers inappropriate cheerleading moves, Edwards paraphrased the late Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart's 1964 definition of obscenity: "We know it when we see it."

NCA competition guidelines define vulgar movements as "hip thrusting, inappropriate touching/slapping/positioning to one another."

Most people don't want to see such moves, said Jason Dollar, an award-winning cheer choreographer and owner of the Pride All-Stars competitive cheerleading team, based in Addison.

"I personally find it tacky," Dollar said. "Nobody wants to see it."

But he conceded that defining suggestiveness is subjective. Two teams may have identical moves, but one team may seem more suggestive "depending on how they carry themselves and the expressions they have," he said.

That's why Tiffany Littlejohn, head coach of the Mansfield High School cheerleading squad, avoids anything that might cross the line between fun and filthy.

"In a way, I agree with him," Littlejohn said of Edwards. Her team's professionally choreographed routines have included the music of Elvis Presley and Barry Manilow.

Raunchy music can lead to raunchy moves, Littlejohn said, and some squads use music that must have improper language bleeped out or replaced by sound effects to avoid a violation of NCA competition rules.

"Even in the edited versions, it's still suggesting things," Littlejohn said. "I'm very careful about that. Personally, I don't want to be embarrassed, and they're a reflection of me."

Martha Selman, NCA communications director, said there might be fewer problems with suggestive dance moves if cheerleading sponsors, many of whom are classroom teachers drafted to coach a squad with no prior experience, are properly trained in what is acceptable.

"Look at Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears," Selman said. "That's entertainment, and this is cheerleading. The purpose of cheerleading is to be the peer leaders and ambassadors for their school."

Staff Writer John Gravois Contributed to This Report.

[Ninkobei]

lol "In 1989, he proposed allowing the state to amputate the fingers of drug dealers."

Has anyone suspected that this guy may be some kind of al-qaida terrorist trying to destroy our country from the inside?

I think this bill was aimed at <high-schoolers not necessarily all cheerleading. Can you imagine going to a mavs game and not seeing the dancers? it would be a crime! anyway, I hope they put this guy into a retirement home soon.

[Drbio]

I nominate kiki for the most creative thread titler at d-m.com.

[Chiwas]

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