Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Culture clash
The New Orleans Saintsations cheerleading squad is visiting England. The press coverage is, well, very British:
There are a lot of preconceptions surrounding cheerleading - that bizarre US-born mix of dance and gymnastics which now boasts 11,000 disciples across the UK and is being steadily assimilated into cultures across the world - some true, many not. It's quintessentially American, and, like all quintessentially American things, provokes a mix of derision and unbridled fascination....
"People, especially here in the UK, are intrigued by us because we're mysterious," says Amanda T, one of the least enigmatic girls I've ever met.
Heh. And then there is this:
Far from being human Barbies, or, as one critic described them, "pole-dancers without the tips", these girls are all high-achievers, something they are known for in the US but which has been lost in typecasting overseas.
You can never really understand your own culture until you look at it from the outside.
5 Comments:
By 
, at
Wed Nov 26, 02:59:00 AM:
University of Minnesota football cheerleaders. Highest combined GPA of any football cheerleading squad in the country!
I try to sit near them every game, and I just gaze at them with a kind of academic awe.
and with . . . uh . . . . I mean . . . oh, nevermind.
By 
Dan Kauffman, at
Wed Nov 26, 08:31:00 AM:
"Bethany is as honey-glazed and all-American as blueberry pie"
They obviously did not do much research, the correct metaphor would be
All-American as Apple Pie
By Dawnfire82, at
Wed Nov 26, 08:34:00 AM:
Which I've still never had 'honey glazed.'
By Mystery Meat, at
Wed Nov 26, 09:47:00 AM:
I hope they never find out George W. Bush was the head cheerleader at Andover and a cheerleader at Yale for four years.
By , at
Wed Nov 26, 02:23:00 PM:
I prefer unenigmatic girls, myself.
