-->

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

I Was A Boy "Girl" Cheerleader - True or Fantasy?

Below is an incredibly long story that I found on the site "Social Phobia World".  I Googled "Boy Cheerleader" and found an account that has a ring of truth. Had it been a fantasy story I believe the outcome would have been different and with more embellishments. The only part that is not completely clear is why the parent would insist, although living up to a commitment does seem plausible.  

I have it posted in it's total length and did not want you to be teased and sent to another site to only be disappointed in the outcome. Tell me what you think. 


Here is a little trivia for you from Mental Floss: Famous men who were cheerleaders - George W. Bush, Aaron Spelling, iconic actor Jimmy Stewart, Dwight Eisenhower, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Samuel L. Jackson, Steve Martin, Mississippi senator Trent Lott, Ronald Reagan, Kirk Douglas and Michael Douglas. 
My High School 1961 Cheerleaders
Notice - Upper right 

Personal Note: Wow, would I have loved to be a cheerleader. I neither had the nerve or the coordination. While I was a freshman in high school we did have a male cheerleader that dressed in the male equivalent cheerleader outfit of the day. Sorry to say, he was talked about for years and never lived it down.  
_________________

I Was A Boy "Girl" Cheerleader
By benjameson2017

From: SocialPhobiaWorld.com > Off-Topic Forums > Personal Stories


When I was 14, and a freshman in high school, it was the mid-1990s. I also went to a small rural midwesten school. Having said that, this was before all those popular cheerleading movies such as Bring It On. Anyway, it was 1997 and I was 14. I'm in my mid 30's now. Before I tell this story, I will say that there WERE male cheerleaders back then. The concept of male cheerleaders were just simply less common at the time.

Anyway, one day in my early Freshman year, a friend of mine named Stacie tried encouraging me to join the cheerleading squad at our school. Of course being a boy, I was reluctant. I was however super-coordinated and Stacie knew it. She was the only person that saw me do different types of flips and cartwheels. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't very athletic. I was the shy nerdy type. I was surprised I had any friends at all, especially one like Stacie. I also was NOT gay, which makes what happens in my story so unique to my situation. I was open-minded however and had nothing against gay people. In fact, even though we were best friends because our moms were part of the same women's club, I even had a small crush on Stacie. I think she knew it too but she had a boyfriend at the time. Anyway, Stacie tried convincing me that joining cheerleading would not make me gay, and people were ignorant for thinking that.

I was still very nervous but after much coaxing on her behalf and the fact that I was sort of naive, she convinced me. It still seemed weird to me since the whole squad was girls and I was a boy but I went to tryouts. Stacie cheered in junior high, but after tryouts were over, she didn't get in...for junior varsity high school cheerleading. What was very bizarre is that I did! My cheerleading coach said she'd never seen a boy with my type of coordination and chose me and 12 other girls to be cheerleaders. Once again, I was nervous. I didn't know any of them. Stacie was the only friend I had and she didn't get picked so I felt alone.

Here's where the story went downhill for me. A few days after I made the squad, my cheerleading coach pulled me into her office and the principal was there. They both told me, and for all of you reading this post, I am NOT lying...totally serious...that I would be required to wear a girl's cheerleading uniform! Their argument was: I was the only boy and the squad was meant for girls. Before you all say I am a liar, I am fully aware of discrimination laws against this sort of thing, but realize, I was 14. I didn't know about it back then. Not only that, but I doubt those kind of laws were as greatly enforced before male cheerleading became a bigger thing...post "Bring It On" years.
Typical cheerleader outfit of the day 

Anyway, I even said to my cheerleading coach, "why did you pick me then if you knew I was a boy?" She said that she thought I was aware of the risk and knew I'd have to dress like a girl. Remember, I didn't know them forcing me was against the law. Certainly I would have sued the school had I known! I also think that they told me that as a way to "scare" me out of cheerleading. I think she and the principal suspected that since I was a guy, I had an ulterior motive...to join cheerleading to be a pervert and look up the girls' skirts. That wasn't the case at all. I wasn't gay but I would never treat a girl that way. 

Anyway, after they told me I had to wear a girl's outfit, that was certainly enough of an incentive to get me to quit, so I went home and told my parents about it. Here's where it gets worse! It turns out, my cheerleading coach already called my parents and told them I made the squad and what the requirements were. Even though my Dad said he didn't like the idea of his teenage son parading around in a girl's cheerleading "mini" skirt, he didn't raise me to be a quitter either. I remember in fact those EXACT words coming from his mouth. The word "mini" skirt therefore began to haunt me and occupy my mind after he said that. When I first told my parents, I thought they'd have my side, but instead their argument was: I wrecked the opportunity for some unfortunate girl. If I tried out, the coach thought I was good enough, and some other girl didn't get the chance. They then said that it is unfair for the coach and the other cheerleaders if I quit now. Once I knew they weren't on my side, I was very bitter. My whole world collapsed. I begged them to reconsider but they said no. They said someday I'd thank them for teaching me to be honorable to my word. By the way...to this day, I don't thank them. I just thought I'd throw that in there since I'm in my mid 30s and am now the age they said I would be when I would thank them. It is now "someday" and I don't thank them. Truth be told, they were pretty religious old-fashioned people that had old-fashioned ways of thinking. They didn't condone me wearing a girl's uniform but didn't condone me backing out of my obligation either.

With that, my year of hell as a "girl" cheerleader began. The next day in school, I got my uniform. Right off the bat, as we left the gymnasium with our uniforms in bags tucked under our arms, the girls on the squad were shocked when they saw me with mine. They all thought it was cool and commended me for being brave but I remember them all crowding around me telling me wearing their version of the uniform would be fun and I would look so cute in it. It was awkward and I was embarrassed.

I didn't even pull it out of the bag until later that night when Stacie came over and told me to show her my uniform. I was real nervous but Stacie said she was proud of me for making the squad and begged me to try it on. Knowing I would be required to cheer in front of hundreds of people anyway wearing it, I figured I'd let the humiliation start early. I remember being in my parent's bathroom putting on the uniform with my hands trembling and nervous the whole time. After a moment, I stepped out of the bathroom with it on and saw the expression on Stacie's face for the first time. She gasped and said I looked adorable, but I felt so weird and exposed like I was on display or something. I'll never forget the little purple pleated mini skirt hanging from my waist exposing my legs well above the knees. To this point, being a boy, I had only worn shorts that went to my knees. My short skirt gave quite a view of even my thighs and I was very embarrassed! My top was a sleeveless top with black, purple, and white colors, purple panther paws, and purple lettering reading PANTHERS. She laughed at my hairy legs and said I needed to do something about that.

The following Friday was our first pep rally and the whole school would see me in my uniform for the first time. My Mom got me up early that morning and helped me shave my legs. She even put my hair in a ponytail. I was a boy, but had long hair, by the way. She then put a hair ribbon on me and a little makeup as well. She said when I don't wear my uniform to school, I can be a boy, but I didn't want to embarrass the squad either, so on days I went to school in my uniform, she told me I had to go as a girl to blend in with the other girls on the squad and not look misplaced. She even gave me a bra with mild padding to make it look like I had breasts under my uniform top.

Anyway, I felt weird walking around school in my uniform. By the way, on pep rally days, cheerleaders wore their uniforms the whole school day. I didn't even make it past first period and the boys in my class were all making fun of me! The girls were nice which I was thankful for but the boys were cruel. The bullying was the worse part. While in the hallway, boys were making whistling noises at me and several of them would grab the ends of my skirt and try to pull my skirt up in front of everyone so I had to bat their hands away and keep my hands on my skirt so they couldn't lift it. Several boys humiliated me and said "nice legs!" I'll never forget that. I endured endless amounts of "FAG!" and "*****!" taunts. Sorry to those of you who are gay and reading this. I don't use words like that. I'm just telling you what they said. I was shoved into lockers and boys were constantly calling me "girlie" and "babe" and "cutie pie!" Anyway, fortunately for me, the bullying quit after a few weeks.

This story is getting long, I realize, and I'm sorry about that, so I am going to wrap it up. I spent the rest of the year cheering with the girls as a girl. I can't imagine what the public thought of me at games and stuff and what judges and the audience at cheerleading competitions thought either. I already knew what the school thought. The only good that came from this whole event was the friends I made with the girls on the squad and the enjoyment of the actual cheering itself. When the year was over, however, I did NOT try out for cheerleading the following year even though that disappointed some of the girls on the squad and my coach too. They let me keep my uniform but I was never more grateful when my mom donated it a few years later to a clothing donation. I never saw that little purple mini skirt again. Good riddance! Anyway, that's my story. Thanks for taking time to read it. If you choose to believe it or don't, that's up to you, but it is a TRUE story. I figured being a "social phobia" website and me being quite a bit older now, I'd get this off my chest. But I'll never forget it. It will always be a part of me. Thank you and good night.

_________________

Where do you think - True or Fantasy? 

10 comments:

  1. Velma aint buying it. Stories like this would be in common media, even in 1997, and an easy google search to correlate and link. A nice fantasy projection by a tg/cd person.
    But, then again, in this day and age...
    https://motherwellmag.com/2017/06/12/my-son-wants-to-be-a-cheerleader/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Velma, thanks so much for the comment - The link is fantastic and does ring true - Love it! Thanks again.

      Delete
  2. I don't believe the story, either. It was also poorly written, and it seemed as though it had been written by a 14-year-old boy - not an adult recalling something.

    I used to be teased by the cheerleaders from the sidelines while I was out on the football field, trying my best to "prove" what a macho guy I was. I would put black-out under my eyes to reduce the glare, and the girls would always yell out to me that my mascara was running. Little did they know that I would be applying my mascara as soon as I got home. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. It would be a bit more believable if the author had given his name and a picture ---and if the parents were so conservatively religious would they have pushed their SON to go forward in becoming a GIRL cheerleader?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Reminded me of the time I had to enter the witness protection program as a girl, then there was the time I lost my passport and had to travel using my sisters, not to mention the summer I was grounded and sent to work in my Aunts bridal shop, where I ended being a model. The there was the school play and the only one who fit into the Juliette costume was me oh yes and that kiss...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OMG Paula - I had the exactly the same experiences. What are the chances....

      Delete
    2. We all grew up reading those Sandy Thomas novelettes.

      Delete
    3. Memorizing them - Our secret life....

      Delete
  5. I was wondering if you still had the cheerleader uniform from way back then? I like your story!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Now personally i would believe this story if the person involved had the schools name, address, city, state location, along with the name of the parents, now personally it does seem far fetched but it seems more like a 34 yr old fantasy wished for this story to have happened but in reality it didn't though some people would say if you don't believe me it's up to you, but if you want proof in todays day and age they have to provide said proof if not then it's a falsified story no matter what without photographic evidence to back it up, that includes, a cheerleading club photo, all the person had to do was get their yearbook of that year, go to the library use the scanner email the photo to himself and save it on a backup file to begin with and make sure it had a true masculine name, that would make sense for a boy but not for a girl and one that can't easily be turned from feminine to masculine or vice versa as well, too, so if they don't provide photographic proof it is not a real thing.

    However, i can see this is a fantasy because of two things, one it would be over the news, two the court records of the parents being sued for childhood neglect(this is a life time with no statute of limitation) would be publically available to all, no matter what. Since the child didn't sue the parents nor the school itself, it's a false story. Most people who grow up in the midwestern, or southern us of a have shall we have say a more child aspect of writing stories to begin with.

    ReplyDelete