BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER...

            From a young age I have had a fascination with cheerleaders. They represented this polished, popular, all American teenager. With America being this magical far away place; and as a pre-teen desperately wanting to turn 13, they seemed to encompass everything I wanted to grow up to be.

            Grease was my favourite movie at the time and I would have come close to wearing out the VHS tape with the amount of times I watched it. Frenchie has taken over as my most loved character but at 8 years of age I wanted nothing more than to be Sandy.  Think bouncy ponytail tied with a bow, not a hair out of place, fitted sweaters, full skirts and bobby socks. When not in cheerleader attire, the preppy, pastel outfits had me in fashion heaven.

            The traditional cheerleader style is what I find most appealing and there are some fantastic pieces on Etsy:

Vintage "Ivon" Varsity Cheerleader Letterman Jacket in Black & Orange

 

Vtg Pleated Teal Tennis Cheerleader Skirt

Vintage Letter Sweater V Neck Black Pullover Cheerleader Sweater Made by Brentwood 100% Wool Size Small 1950s

80s Kittens Team Cheerleader Shell / Vest / Tank / Johanna

Vintage 80s Gold Cheerleader Sweater with Varsity Patch

Vintage Handmade Cheerleader Costume size Small

Red and White Cheerleader supply Made in USA

Vintage Cheerleaders Sweater Diane

I would have been about 11 when I first saw the 1992 movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For those who haven’t seen this classic, you are introduced to the main character Buffy, a typical Valley girl played by the ultimate 90’s babe Kristy Swanson. Buffy’s life goals including going to Europe and marrying Christian Slater. She leads a care free existence with her biggest responsibilities being cheerleading practice and what to buy at the mall. She is the head cheerleader with the dreamy footballer boyfriend, the popular airhead clique, the clueless-esque colloquial and a fantastic daisy covered, brightly coloured wardrobe. Buffy’s ultimate teen dream life is thrown into disarray when she discovers that she is the chosen one, the vampire slayer. Queue one of my favourites scenes of the movie, the slayer training montage which was my introduction to the brilliant band The Divinyls, their track ‘Ain’t gonna eat out my heart anymore’ plays in the background.

Buffy evolves into more than just a stereotypical, ditzy and perfect cheerleader and becomes empowered, angry, sassy and self-reliant, which shifted my cheerleader view to something more than an aesthetically flawless pin up.  At the end of the movie there is a school dance that Buffy attends in a fairytale white, tulle dress with a sweetheart neckline that is prom queen meets Madonna’s  ‘Like a Virgin’. When  vampires crash the dance and Buffy is forced to go outside to battle them, her dress gets accidentally ripped to a shorter length and Pike (Luke Perry) gives her his jacket to wear. The contrast of the delicate dress with the hard edged, rebellious leather jacket complement each other in an ultimate fashion fusion that is almost representative of the sides of her style that I relate to so much. 

When I hit high school there wasn’t the cheerleader/jock culture that I had seen on the screens, it just didn’t exist at my high school. If anything, the sporty kids were considered uncool and the alternative kids weren’t seen as rejects, being at an all-girls high school may have been a factor and being in Australia certainly was. I was in my army pants and band shirt phases attempting to keep my awkwardly changing body as covered as possible but was still transfixed with the magical image of the cheerleader that was appearing in music film clips of the bands I love like Nirvana ‘Smells like Teen Spirit’ and Nada Surf ‘Popular’. 

The cheerleader played a part in most of the teen movies that came out at that time, always with great fashion but generally being the bitchy, vapid character until Bring It On was released in 2000. There may have been bitchiness but there characters weren’t stupid. Although the movie was obviously poking fun and highlighting the sexualisation that went along with cheerleading, for me it was exposure to how strong these women are. Athletically amazing, hardworking, skilled, committed and with such a strong desire to succeed, I couldn’t help but feel like their chants were actually a subtle fuck you to the people who weren’t taking them seriously because they were cute and wearing short skirts.