No Need for Feminism Anymore! Dudes Are Cheerleaders.

The Florida Marlins baseball team are creating a cheerleading squad made up of plus-sized men who will rah-rah-sis-boom-bah under the moniker "the Manatees." The new squad will boost the Marlins alongside their existing traditional, female cheerleading squad, the Mermaids.

Let's put aside for now the fact that the idea of having cheerleaders at a baseball game is completely ridiculous, as it is one of the more leisurely sports, and that (to me at least) the notion of having grown women as cheerleaders at professional sporting events is just stupid. Let's focus on the bigger questions, like what the hell is the point of all this? And how long before some idiot says, "See? We're exploiting obese dudes, which makes up for all of that gender inequality. We're square now, right?"

Comments

[sils]

Not okay.

[ozma]

WOW! I love this idea. Oh.my.Lord. This is the best idea I have ever, ever, ever heard in professional sports.

Put the fanatics out there! Let them show their love...

Oh, I pray this is the start of a trend.

[Sandy]

We've been "lucky" enough to have something similar in Chicago for a while now. http://www.nba.com/bulls/dance/matadors.html

[Mrs. Kennedy]

I think this actually makes a hell of a lot more sense than grownup women in stripper gear shaking pom-pons. Cheerleaders should lead cheers, and who better than a bunch of fans who don't take themselves that seriously? It's sports, for god's sake, not the supreme court. Keep it fun and quit eliding it with exploitative heterosexism.

[MizJawnson]

Wake me when they dress in drag like the Hoggettes.

[BaltimoreGal]

I know there's a lot wrong with this (including the fact that there's cheerleading in baseball) but the idea of plus-sized male cheerleaders called the manatees makes me laugh till i cry. Cause they are men. Who are shaped like manatees. Get it? Bwahahahaha.

[Suzy Q]

Methinks sils might haved been a cheerleader in a past life. One of the cute, girly kind.

Personally, I have never been more proud to be a Floridian. *snif*

[Mrs. Kennedy]

I should have written "LET's keep [sports] fun," I didn't mean to seem like I was pointing an accusing finger at you for bringing this up, kdiddy, I totally dig you.

[sweetney]

sils comment just made me cry it was so funny. TEARS OF LAUGHTER AND JOY.

[kdiddy]

word to my mom, mrs. kennedy. I agree with you. It makes way more sense for the cheerleaders to be super fans, rather than chicks on contracts. Manatees, ftw.

[sils]

Not a cheerleader, was a theatre nerd... but I was a fat kid. I just don't like it when people are mocked. Fat men being called manatees seems... mean to me, I guess.

I know that they're willing participants, but it makes me think of fat people who make jokes at their own expense before someone else can in order to spare their own feelings.

Kind of like I think the cheerleaders dressed scantily and shaking their goodies probably have similar self esteem issues. I guess I don't think two wrongs make a right.

I'm such a kill joy today.

[Meaghan]

Um, the Hogettes (Redskin's chubby old man cheerleading squad) has been around since 1983. They're in drag and pig noses, natch.

http://www.hogettes.org

*oink*

[Spigman]

My dad is one of the Hoggettes (not an original, but joined like 15 years ago).

They were the first thing I thought of (of course) when I heard about the Manatees.

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