Ethical question

[underpants]

Should cheerleaders be allowed to work at Hooters?

Former ETSU cheerleader says she was kicked off squad for being Hooters Girl
Wednesday, February 01, 2006

http://www.timesnews.net/article.dna?_StoryID=3596107

JOHNSON CITY - A former East Tennessee State University cheerleader contends that she was dismissed from the squad because of her job at a restaurant known for tight-fitting, scanty uniforms.

"I'm 18. I should be able to work where I choose," ETSU freshman Kimberly Sams said of her job at Johnson City's Hooters Restaurant. "Maybe if it was a strip club or something like that, it would be different. If the basketball team can come in here and eat, then I should be able to work (at Hooters)."

Sams, a Carter County resident who graduated with honors from Unaka High School last May, joined the ETSU squad at the start of the fall semester and started working at Hooters in November.

She cheered until about three weeks ago, when squad coach Tammy Bartow called her into the locker room after a basketball game and dismissed her.

[LSK]

1. you forgot something

[underpants]

4. Thank you

Yaaaaaay!

[purr]

2. Who cares if she was a stripper even?

Like its any of their damn business where she works. I agree with her if the team can go there to eat, whats the difference other than shes getting paid to serve their food? Ignorant.

[kick-ass-bob]

3. Most cheerleading outfits have a decency clause.

That would knock out any stripping/posing for Playboy, etc.

I don't see how Hooters measures up to that, however.

[BikeWriter]

5. That's stoopit!

:(

[LeftyMom]

6. My sister is a college cheerleader and works as a lifeguard in the summer

her lifeguard outfit is as revealing as the hooters waitress outfit. I can't see how the not-that-revealing outfit is at issue (it doesn't show more than the typical cheerleader get-up) and she's hardly the first student to wait tables for money.

Would they rather she worked a pole? (It's still none of thier business what legal work she does to pay tuition, IMO.)

[underpants]

7. I agree

I once had a conversation about that with a college official about what I did with my spare time.

[asthmaticeog]

8. I don't see what the hell the difference is.

Cheerleaders and Hooters servers signify the exact same goddamn thing to the consumer, both in psychosexual terms and in straight-up tittyness.

Squad Coach Bartow's prolly just jealous.

[Radical Activist]

9. Absolutely.

The coach is have delusions of grandeur about the "sport" she's engaged in.

[laheina]

16. Hey, wait a minute.

I'm by no means defending the actions of the school, or spewing at you, but NCAA cheer leading is a sport. It is not about tits and ass. Maybe you are thinking of the Laker Girls or the Raiderettes?

I think that I got more severe injuries than I ever got in soccer, basketball, or even karate, from cheer. Most high school squads aren't that good though. That is probably what many of you are thinking of.

But you also have to understand that it has a culture. I was on the shit end of that culture many times, so believe me, I'm not defending it. But one of the aspects of that culture is that you are an ambassador for the team, so they have rules about image and other stupidity. The notions are kind of antiquated. You would think they thought we were doing the pageant circuit and not back flips where everyone could see their bloomers.

However, I can guarantee you that she knew what the rules were, and she prolly knew that her working there was going to cause problems. It may have been a gray area, but she knew it was iffy. Just like I knew people were gonna get pissy my freshman year in high school when I shaved off half of my hair right before home coming. But it was a look. :)

Flame on cheerleader haters.

[Radical Activist]

21. I know people who injure themselves falling down stairs.

That doesn't make stair walking a sport.

I'm sure Hooters girls can say a lot about how hard it is to be a waitress. Its not an easy job. That doesn't change the fact that Cheerleaders and Hooters girls serve essentially the same function for the spectator. If it were about sports then it would be a full-out gymnastics competition, like at the olympics. Why don't schools spend money on gymnastics teams instead of cute cheerleading uniforms? I think the attempt to play up cheerleading as a sport is a rationalization for the participants and the parents who turn their teenage daughters into public sex objects. The comparison you make to the pageant circuit reinforces my view.

[laheina]

22. A few points to consider

"I'm sure Hooters girls can say a lot about how hard it is to be a waitress. Its not an easy job."

Granted. I've done it. However, she could have worked anyplace else, especially one that doesn't use female bodies to sell hot wings. Before you say that that is essentially the function of a waitress, check out the lawsuits filed against hooters by their waitresses, and then compare those to any of those filed by the female employees of Denny's.

"That doesn't change the fact that Cheerleaders and Hooters girls serve essentially the same function for the spectator."

I can't control what you may think that their purposes are. And as I noted before, there is a difference between a Reiterate or one of the 49er's cheerleaders (who never do anything physically demanding, gyrate, and wear the equivalent of a bikini outside when it is winter) and an NCAA cheerleader. Why ever learn to do tumbling or attempt to execute a three tier mount? Because they are physically demanding--just plain hard--and good high school squads and most NCAA squads are judged based on difficulty and creativity of their endeavors. That is a meme that I wish that would get into the public consciousness.

"If it were about sports then it would be a full-out gymnastics competition, like at the olympics."

Watch a competition on ESPN 2 sometime. I think that you'll be surprised. Although they aren't very interesting--or sexy, imho.

"Why don't schools spend money on gymnastics teams instead of cute cheer leading uniforms?"

False dichotomy. They spend them on both, and both are equally intensive these days--in time and commitment on the part of the girls/guys and parents, as well as the school.

"I think the attempt to play up cheer leading as a sport is a rationalization for the participants and the parents who turn their teenage daughters into public sex objects. The comparison you make to the pageant circuit reinforces my view."

I think that you will find, on the second point, that I was using it as a contrast, not a comparison. On your point about sexualization, see rebuttal one above.

Look, in many cases, I think you are right--Cheer leading is not a sport--it's more of a social thing. It, traditionally, has been cheer leading. In high school, I would never have even gone out for it if my friends hadn't put me up to it. Socially, it sucked for me. There is way too much emphasis on conformity, and I was an athlete and book nerd.

However, one of my fellow karate instructors at the school where I trained for many years now owns a cheer leading training center. They have all of the equipment that the gymnasts use, because gymnastics is integral to what they do. We use her place when we are getting ready for karate shows. It's pretty nifty.

Look. Like I said at the beginning, I'm not defending it as much as I am playing devil's advocate. Defending cheer unilaterally as an institution or sport would be sort of pointless because there are many aspects and approaches to it. Some use the female body as a marketing tool as major league sports teams (and hooters,) and others see it as a hardcore sport where team members have to be able to make weight and achieve certain jumps, mounts, and tumbling maneuvers.

Personally, having hind site, I would no more go out for cheer than join a sorority, and if I had a daughter, I would tell her to join computer club. She would get more out of it.

[SOteric]

10. Colour me boggled. I can't understand why this would be an issue.

Is it possible that the coach is misinformed about the nature of Hooters? I mean, one kind of bouncing around scantily clad trying to look sexy is not much different than another kind of bouncing around scantily clad trying to look sexy. I mean, if she were going to a Miss American pageant or something, maybe I could understand it.

:shrug:

[Benfea]

23. I've never set foot in a Hooters and never will but...

…how can anyone conceivably insist that working at Hooters is somehow more degrading to women than being a cheerleader? Kicking her out was highly hypocritical.

[leftofthedial]

11. YES!!

Else what are cheerleaders for?

[NMMNG]

12. For crying out loud

She's a cheerleader, not a nun!

[JVS]

13. I think that Cheerleading, working at Hooters, and Classes are too much...

for her.

From article "Sams said although she initially did well in her classes at ETSU, her grades went south over the course of the semester and she wound up failing some classes. Cheerleaders are required to maintain at least a 2.0 grade-point average. Sams said freshmen, however, were not held to that standard, and her grades were not cited in her dismissal.

Sams said she had hoped to bring up her grades this semester, but her academic status was in limbo because of a dispute regarding the return of her uniforms and money owed her for warm-up gear."

If she's not able to make a 2.0 something's got to give

[madeline_con]

14. ".. tight-fitting, scanty uniforms ..."

Do the cheerleaders wear baggy warm-ups? :shrug:

[laheina]

17. Generally they are like a track suit. nt

[obxhead]

15. ummm... What are cheerleaders for?

oh, thats right we were watching the skill with which they twirl those batons and such.

[Robeson]

18. It is East Tennessee, which is a Repubican stronghold in this state...

...so I'm not surprised. But to answer you question, yes she shoud be allowed to work there. I, normally, would be amazed that this was even an issue, but then I have to remember, it IS East Tennessee where that is happening.

[fleabert]

19. if the team can eat there, she can work there, well said.

who gives a shit what she does on her own time anyway? not breaking any laws, no problemo with me.

I hate hooters, btw. Shitty food.

[rucky]

20. Why endager Hooter's good name? n/t