Sleepy Saturday 11/8

How many of you watch reality shows? I watch a few of them.One happens to be Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team.

It just finished up its 9^th season and first let me say the women on the show are beyond talented. The show is similar to American Idol in the sense a ton of women show up to audition and the show airs horrible auditions as well as great one. It makes for great TV right? Once we get past the auditions and down to the training camp the women start to shine and in my opinion put the 'airhead' stereotype associated with cheerleaders to shame.

Many of the women are in college or have degrees such as psychology, biochemical engineering and other degrees that take a lot of brain power. These women are role models in the sense they are showing the young girls watching they have beauty, talent and brains. The coaches also hold the women to high standards and have cut many women over the 9 seasons after finding topless/nude photos online or other scandals. In a time when so many celebrities pull off stunts like nude photo leaks, getting out of the car without underwear or accidental sex tapes trying to boost their popularity it's a breath of fresh air that those stunts aren't allowed with DCC.

So whats the downside? The show is horrible when it comes to how the girls look and how they handle the situation. I completely understand there is an expected look to fit in the tiny uniforms and to have the stamina to perform the routines. No complaints from me there but most of these women are thin and if not thin they are healthy but they are the furthest thing from fat. Yet this past season one woman got cut for being 'overweight', another was criticized nearly every single episode for her size. It wasn't subtle or polite either. Not like "your uniform is snug" "you gained a few extra pounds" no it was more along the lines of hushed whispers to one another "Oh my what happened to her? She got so big" "She is huge!" "She got fat". It didn't matter that she could do the routines flawlessly, it was all focused on the fact she wasn't thin. Actually, the picture I posted above, the woman with dark hair on the left is the one that was considered to be huge.

One woman that auditioned this past season was told for her height she should be around 112lbs. because that is what the other girls on the team that height weighed. The woman laughed and said she had never been that small in her entire life. Its unrealistic to tell someone you need to weigh this exact weight because everyone else does.

Some girls were told to lose 4lbs. Something that honestly, barely makes a difference on most bodies and depending how much water you drink, how often you go to the bathroom may lose that much in a single day.

A girl in a past season was on a juice only diet so she could fit into her uniform. She was told by a trainer that wasn't healthy but that is what unhealthy, unrealistic expectations and pressure do to these women.

Again, I understand needing to have a certain look but it can be handled better than it is. I am sure some of the harshness is for TV and to draw in viewers, similar to the attitude doled out by Simon Cowell on American Idol.

I just think in a world where young girls are already self-conscious, with no self-esteem and aim to be beautiful this is giving a distorted view of what beauty is. Basically the show is saying regardless of how beautiful you are, how smart you are, how talented you are.....you're 5lbs too heavy and not good enough.