Deck 28: Men Who Cheer

Question 1

The following research methods apply to Bemiller's study of cheerleading

A) a participant observation study of one public university's entire athletic season including attendance and observation of cheerleaders at all sporting events.
B) subjects recruited from several public universities' cheerleading squads using a snowball sampling technique, focus groups, and interviews.
C) subjects recruited from one public university's cheerleading squad using convenience sampling, focus groups, and interviews.
D) a national sample of university cheerleading squads using random sampling techniques and a survey questionnaire.

Answer 1

subjects recruited from one public university's cheerleading squad using convenience sampling, focus groups, and interviews.

Question 2

Bemiller reports the following two themes from her study of men who cheer

A) society's rejection of cheerleading as a "real" sport and issues of sexual identity.
B) stigma from being a male cheerleader and face-saving strategies.
C) face-saving techniques and problems learning the physical skills of cheerleading.
D) stigma from being a male cheerleader and problems of sexual identity and orientation.

Answer 2

stigma from being a male cheerleader and face-saving strategies.

Question 3

Men who cheer possess a potentially "discreditable" identity because of the

A) realization that due to little prior training they may not be able to measure up to the high standards of the sport.
B) fact that not all sports are considered equal.
C) huge time demands required for successful performance in cheerleading.
D) stigma connected with participation in a female sport.

Answer 3

stigma connected with participation in a female sport.

Question 4

Men who participate in cheerleading are likely to encounter stigma for all of the following reasons EXCEPT

A) confusion about one's sexual identity, poor academic performance, social isolation from peers.
B) challenge to heterosexual identity due to external labels of "homosexuality" applied to male cheerleaders.
C) participation in a female sport.
D) challenge to heterosexual identity due to internalized stereotypes of men who cheer as gay.

Question 5

Bemiller reports that the men in his study engaged in face-saving behavior because

A) they do not perform proper cheerleading techniques correctly.
B) they cannot "put on" the same game faces or expressions as women do when they cheer.
C) they do not possess the requisite cheerleading skills acquired by females through their long years of practice.
D) they don't "do gender" correctly due to participation in a female-dominated sport.

Question 6

Men who cheer engage in all of the following hypermasculine face-saving techniques EXCEPT

A) emphasize masculine nature of the sport: aggression and toughness.
B) territoriality.
C) "doing" male gender roles by having masculine hobbies.
D) sexual objectification of female cheerleaders.

Question 7

Discuss the reasons Bemiller offers that men who participate in cheerleading face stigma from others (and themselves!). What are some of the ways that men respond to such challenges through hypermasculine face-saving techniques? Do you think the climate for more diverse gender role participation is changing in contemporary society (for example, discussion and support for gay/lesbian rights such as marriage or civil unions) or would be different for men on your college campus? Why or why not?

Question 8

An interesting "sub-finding" to Bemiller's study is that women cheerleaders seem to not only recognize the stigma faced by their male counterparts but in fact actively cooperate and provide support (unacknowledged?) to their male colleagues in their face-saving responses. Discuss the implications of this for understanding "doing gender" for mean and women.

Question 9

Describe and discuss how the construction of masculinity is achieved the sexual objectification by men who cheer. Give examples and explain fully.