Washington Redskins Cheerleaders: All work, (almost) no pay

[misters]

At a Sterling, Va., Gold’s Gym one March afternoon, a few dozen young women have assembled for “Project Cheerleader,” a three-hour seminar that lays the track to the sidelines of FedExField. Inside, cheer director Stephanie Jojokian leads a stable of current and former cheerleaders, makeup artists, hairstylists, and spray-tanners in airing their

Comments

[roseofjuly]

I'm not judging them, personally. I'm judging the hell out of the football team that seems to be exploiting them. Sure, maybe it's a hobby and they enjoy it, and maybe they knew what they were getting into when they did it. That doesn't make it any less exploitative.

The football players probably practice just as much as the cheerleaders, and they certainly require similar types of athleticism. Yet these guys sign multi-year contracts for hundreds of thousands, or millions, of dollars. The women have to try out every year and get paid $75 a game? And they have to pay for all of their associated costs?

Let's also not forget that the franchise is making tons of money from these young women's appearances. They don't get paid for those experiences when the men get to set their OWN fees. There is a clear gender disparity there, and I'm not willing to chalk it up to it just being a hobby - just because they like to do it doesn't mean they can't get compensated for it. I'm sure all of the football players were playing football as a hobby before they started doing it seriously.

Most of the comments have been directed at the team for exploiting the women. I'm not going to pretend that I'm not baffled at why they would take such low pay for something that is so much work, especially when in their own words on the profiles they see it as work. But I'm not judging them for doing so. I just think their teams should be fair to them.