No More Booty Shakin' At TX HS Football Games!

[Ksyrup]

How ridiculously pathetic.


Texas House to cheerleaders: Don't shake it

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) -- Texas lawmakers sent a message to the state's high school cheerleaders Wednesday: no more booty-shaking at the game.

The state's House of Representatives voted 85-55 to approve a bill that would forbid sexy cheers and give the Texas Education Agency authority to punish schools that allow "overtly sexually suggestive" routines at football games and other events.

The proposal must go to the Texas Senate for consideration.

"People are calling and telling me how disgusting it is to see sexually suggestive routines on the part of marching units or cheerleaders," said State Rep. Al Edwards, a Houston Democrat who sponsored the bill.

He complained of cheerleaders "shaking their behinds, breaking it down," but the proposal does not define what constitutes suggestive cheering.

Democratic state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, also of Houston, said the bill was a waste of valuable time.

"I think the Texas Education Agency has enough to do making sure our kids are better educated, and we are wasting our time with 'one two three four, we can't shake it any more?"' Thompson told legislators.

[Ksyrup]

Hey you there! Quit breakin' it down!

[WSUCougar]

To be honest, I'm surprised this hasn't come up before.

[JeeberD]

Baptists...

[Farrah Whitworth-Rahn]

Don't these legislators have more important things to worry about?

[gstelmack]

To play a bit of Devil's Advocate here (having seen some of what passes for "cheerleading" of late), but don't they have private businesses for this sort of stuff rather than using public funds?

I agree with the sentiment that there are more important things for the Legislature to deal with, but it's also up to the cheerleading coaches to exercise some responsibility here.

[Icy]

Well done, sex without being married and to have a child is a sin, even to look at it. I'm glad that there are this kind of guys who look after our integrity, else all us would go to hell at the end of the world that will happen on 2006...or was it on 2005...or was it on 2004...

[Ben E Lou]

The problem is gutless cheerleading/dance team sponsors. I'll be the first to tell you that the Tucker drill team does some dances that belong on a platform with a pole, not at a community event.

[QuikSand]

A half hour and a half dozen responses... and nobody has asked?

[Crapshoot]

pix pls ?

[gstelmack]

A half hour and a half dozen responses... and nobody has asked?
No one wants pictures of ugly congressmen...

[QuikSand]

pix pls ?

Thank you.

[Crapshoot]

On Topic, one wonders when the puritans will stop.

[gstelmack]

On Topic, one wonders when the puritans will stop.
It doesn't take a Puritan to get upset about underage girls putting on a public display like this. I can understand the Carolina Cobras "Snake Charmers" putting on dances like this at an AFL game (everyone's an adult), but not high school cheerleaders.

[Ben E Lou]

It doesn't take a Puritan to get upset about underage girls putting on a public display like this. I can understand the Carolina Cobras "Snake Charmers" putting on dances like this at an AFL game (everyone's an adult), but not high school cheerleaders.I have a suspicion that those who are calling it puritanical either: a) haven't seen some of these halftime shows lately, or b) like watching underaged girls bump and grind for an audience.

[JPhillips]

The big problem is the open ended language in the bill. What constitutes "overtly sexually suggestive" behavior? This really has no business being legislated at the statehouse. If individual communities find their cheerleaders to be excessively sexual let them control it.

Remember, Big Jesus is watching you!

[cartman]

I went to a private high school in Fort Worth. Our cheerleaders wore skirts that went just above their knees. The cheerleaders were banned from appearing at one of the schools we played, because their skirts were too short, and they appeared to them to be "Catholic school sluts". They used their school written standards to deny the cheerleaders from appearing. However, they didn't specify any standards for the drill team or band, so we did a whole "Gidget" style beach halftime show where everyone wore swimsuits. It was awesome. That school stopped playing us altogether after that. :D

[Ksyrup]

My problem is trying to legislate something that should be dealt with on a local level. To pass a catch-all state law that accomplishes nothing is a back-asswards way of trying to deal with a legitimate issue.

[CamEdwards]

My problem is trying to legislate something that should be dealt with on a local level. To pass a catch-all state law that accomplishes nothing is a back-asswards way of trying to deal with a legitimate issue.

just a guess, but might cheeleading fall under the state athletic association guidelines already? I know it's a big damn deal in that state.

[Desnudo]

It doesn't take a Puritan to get upset about underage girls putting on a public display like this. I can understand the Carolina Cobras "Snake Charmers" putting on dances like this at an AFL game (everyone's an adult), but not high school cheerleaders.

I really need some pictures or, preferably, some videos, to understand what the hullabaloo is all about.

[duckman]

Well, my list of states I want to teach in has just gotten shorter. :D

[st.cronin]

I confess I'm a bit of a prude, but the last time I went to an NBA game I felt like I had accidentally wandered into Goldfinger's (or whatever that place used to be called).

[Farrah Whitworth-Rahn]

However, they didn't specify any standards for the drill team or band, so we did a whole "Gidget" style beach halftime show where everyone wore swimsuits. It was awesome. That school stopped playing us altogether after that. :D
Man there were some tuba players in my high school band that I really wouldn't want to see in a swimsuit.

[Klinglerware]

From the NY Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/05/national/05cheer.html

The legislation, sponsored by Representative Al Edwards, a Houston Democrat and ordained minister who once proposed a measure to amputate the fingers of drug dealers, now goes to the Senate, where it lacks a sponsor. It also lacks some of its original teeth; a provision that would have allowed a cut in state financing to schools that permit racy routines was removed.

It looks like this bill was sponsored by someone with a history for engaging in a little legislative extremism...

[Cringer]

a provision that would have allowed a cut in state financing to schools that permit racy routines was removed.

This was my original prolem with this bill when I heard about it a while back. Glad to know it has been taken out.

[cartman]

Also, this bill has only pass in the Texas House. It has little, if any, chance of being passed by the Texas Senate.

[Ragone]

They've been served

[MrBigglesworth]

Who is it that is going to determine what constitutes a 'racy routine'? Or what 'overtly sexual' means? (Surely they won't leave that up to 'activist judges', will they?) Will a cheerleading coach have to call up the Texas House of Reps every time he or she wants to change his or her routine?

[sterlingice]

No one wants pictures of ugly congressmen...
:D

SI

[Abe Sargent]

Occasionally I see a girl's dance routine 6-9 year old girls performing at parades and shows from teh local dance studio - and they do suggestive moves. It's part of an ethic that pervades our society, sadly.

-Anxiety

[Karlifornia]

Being 21, am I too old to say "Please continue to 'break it down' babydolls"?

[Farrah Whitworth-Rahn]

Looks like this bill isn't going to get out of the TX senate.

Linky (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0513cheer-legislate13-ON.html)

Bill to ban sexy cheerleading fizzles

Jack Douglas Jr.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
May. 13, 2005 06:55 PM <!--______START TEXT OF STORY________--> AUSTIN, Texas - Texas' cheerleading reform bill - the one lampooned on late-night comedy shows as governmental lunacy - appears to be benched for good in the state Senate, with nary a yell or a jump.

The measure was approved in the Texas House on May 3, with supportive lawmakers waving pompoms as the bill moved over to the Senate's Education Committee, where the cheering abruptly stopped.

"We will not be hearing it," state Sen. Florence Shapiro, commission chairwoman, said Friday.<!-- BOXAD TABLE --> <table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="50"> <tbody><tr><td>
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"We have some very important work to do in the next two weeks, and that's not one of them," said Shapiro, R-Plano.

Rather than being a "mandate from the state," she said, the problem of students performing lewd acts should be addressed by parents and local school districts.

Nicknamed the "booty bill," the proposal would have given the state, and the school districts, more power to punish drill teams, dance squads and cheerleaders who, during school-sponsored events, performed sexually suggestive acts and dressed overly provocatively.

The bill said that if a district determined that an act was conducted in an "overtly sexually suggestive manner," school officials would be required to take "appropriate action" against the performers and their sponsor.

The measure passed the House by a nine-vote margin. But since going to the Senate, not one senator has offered to be its water boy.

The author of the bill, state Rep. Al Edwards, D-Houston, said he will fight for an identical meausure in the future, if this year's version dies.

"If there's anybody who thinks there's not a problem with the way our young folks are performing - overly sexy on school campuses at some of the schools in this state - then they've been somewhere with their head in the sand," said Edwards, an associate pastor at a Baptist church in Houston.

He said he is not upset that his bill has caused some prime-time ribbing at his expense.

"The bill did get the comedy folks to talk about it. It still got the message out," Edwards said, adding: "We don't have to be in a graveyard just because we're talking about legislation."

"We can talk about legislation in a joyful way," he said.

[JW]

It is interesting that some think the Texas bill is puritanism. Frankly I think the bill is silly and will be impossible to enforce. The definition will be the bigget problem. But the problem is a real one.

As a high school teacher I know that it is a constant battle to draw the line because the students will try to go over the line no matter where you draw it, including no matter how liberally you draw the line. (And, yes, I do remember my high school days.) Even at my own school I've seen dance team members decide that they had to add extra sequences of hip rotations and pelvic thrusts that aren't even part of the planned dance at all but more like someone demonstrating pelvic thrusts. Of course the students love it. However, it just gets tiring, frankly. Seeing Jasmine, who already has a baby at home, for example, demonstrate pelvic thrusts for the boys is not particularly entertaining but seems to pass for 'dance' and 'entertainment' in some quarters.

It is rather like telling teenage boys not to hold their crotches while they walk down the hall. I use the public embarassment technique myself for this chore, as in, "Renaldo, you don't have to hold it. It isn't going to fall off." This leads to laughter and ridicule from Renaldo's friends, and he lets go of his crotch. This is particularly effective when Renaldo is giving a presentation in front of the class. Thank goodness that fad seems to be fading and has been replaced by big belt buckles, which cannot be seen when you are holding your crotch.

I agree with the sentiments that the law is ridiculous, but if principals and dance team directors controlled their students, this would not be a problem.

[Senator]

I go every year to Texas Stadium. For 10 dollars you get to watch 3 games. Usually it is the semi-final of the 5A, 4A, and 3A games, and sometimes the state finals themselves. It is great football. So anyway, a few years ago, my brother and I are sitting next to a guy with alot of camera equipment. Video, SLR cameras, all high dollar stuff. I thought maybe he was a newspaper guy or something. My brother and I noticed that he never seemed to be taking pictures of the game. We started watching him, and my brother decides to reel him in. My brother says, "Man, these girls get older looking every year," and the guy goes into a whispering story about how much money he makes just filming the sexual dances, and getting crotch shots of the cheerleaders for a website he makes. My brother and I went and reported him to the Stadium police. They came and got him, but I am not sure what happened. I just never forgot what he told my brother.
"You have no idea how many people pay me to get off to underage Texas cheerleaders." Every year I go back I look for that creepy guy.

(and the follow up FOFC repsponse would probably be - "Did you get a free password to his site?)