By Robin Bruno
Every football fan knows of the Dallas Cowboys, and a lot of people know about their Cheerleaders, but not everyone knows about the dark secrets that are kept behind closed doors.
Cheerleading is one of the most iconic sports in the world, and it takes a lot of physical and mental discipline to get good at the sport. A lot of abuse allegations were brought up when investigating ballet schools, as well as when investigating cheerleaders.
There was a documentary made that focused on the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, and the abuse that they had to go through, “From eating disorders, body dysmorphia, insecurities about looks, ‘mandatory makeovers’, lack of diversity, and plenty of injuries,” a quote from the documentary.
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders aren’t allowed to gain weight. There was a rule book that states that the girls can’t gain weight, and unfortunately not much has changed.
To ensure that they weren’t gaining weight, the cheerleaders had to go through tests, such as jumping and running. “If a cheerleader’s body is deemed insufficiently firm, they could face penalties, such as fines or suspension from performance,” was also said in the documentary.
The cheerleaders would suffer from constant body shaming from their coaches, and anxiety of being too heavy and performing good enough. Former cheerleaders have developed serious conditions like anorexia and long-term mental health issues.
The girls would also have to perform very dangerous tricks, such as the famous kickline and jumpsplit. The trick gives the illusion of a single and unified movement, jumping into the air and landing into the splits.
For the tricks to be attempted safely, the timing and technique has to be perfect, but both tricks have caused a lot of injuries.
Some of the injuries that occur are ankle sprains, knee and hip injuries, and stress fractures at the feet and lower back.
One cheerleader, Valentia Gaytan, was the captain of the Dazzlers. She had been hurt for an entire football season. She had such horrible back pain that she “Couldn’t stand or sit without her back in a lot of pain,” because she had a stress fracture in her lower back.
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