The last few weeks, the heat has been turned up in the fight to ensure that NFL Cheerleaders are given the respect they deserve. A Saints cheerleader was kicked off the Saintsations for posting a lingerie photo on Instagram and members of the Washington Redskins cheerleaders allege that they were subject to very disturbing treatment on an unpaid week-long trip to Costa Rica including the temporary confiscation of their passports while they were there, acting as escorts for male sponsors at nightclub events, and topless photo shoots to name a few.
Regarding what happened with the Saintsations, there are certain rules in place to protect the cheerleaders but at the same time, as someone who used to work closely with 2 professional cheerleading squads, sometimes the rules can seem a bit heavy-handed. This young lady's account was a personal private account not accessible by non-followers and unless she was identifying herself as a professional cheerleader on that account, this might be a case of heavy-handedness. One of the rules that some feel may be excessive is about posting photos in team gear, identifying themselves publicly as professional cheerleaders. There is a very solid reason for that in the form of stalkers. This is a very real danger and it's not like pro cheerleaders generally have the resources to hire security firms to protect them. NFL players do, however. Even before I worked closely with the Jills, I was keeping an eye out to ensure last names weren't getting published online and corresponding regularly with the Jills director in the case of any issues in that regard.
The anti-fraternization policy that exists across the NFL seems a bit one-sided in my opinion. Cheerleaders aren't to have personal relationships of any type with players but players aren't penalized for pursuing cheerleaders at all. That's something that needs to change, IMO. There are sexual harassment guidelines in every workplace and there should be those same guidelines applied to professional athletes as well. In the majority of workplaces, sexual harassment complaints can cause suspensions and terminations. While it's doubtful that an NFL team will cut a player for hitting on a cheerleader, suspensions and fines would be reasonable for a player who doesn't take it to extremes. Obviously if anyone, even a player, gets carried away, criminal charges could and should be filed.
In regards to what has happened in Washington, and Costa Rica, other Redskins cheerleaders have claimed none of that ever happened. Here's the problem with their claim...in no way, shape, or form do all cheerleaders go through all the same experiences as everyone else on their squad, whether they cheered together or not. Much was made of the "jiggle test" that was brought up in the Buffalo Jills lawsuit and a Jills cheerleader who had been on the squad from 2007-2009 said that they never went through that type of test. Rules change and what may have been the norm in 2009 might not have been in 2012. I recall when I first started working closely with the Jills and remarked about how much turnover there had been since the year before. To that, the director mentioned that the nice thing about having a lot of turnover is the lack of an uproar over rules changes.
Regarding the actual claims from the Redskins cheerleaders, they are disturbing to say the least. Confiscating their passports seems to serve no purpose other than to exert extra control over them and the toplessness serves no purpose at all. If there are photos to be taken for the calendar that will be topless, but showing nothing, the security should be strict around the shoot and obviously it has to be something that the cheerleader is completely at ease with. That means no one should be getting access to the shoot who isn't integral to the shoot. I don't care how much a sponsor is donating. In regards to being forced to escort men to nightclubs, I have to say I'm disgusted by the very idea.
With the Jills, the only escorting type stuff I'm aware of was on the golf course and while there were complaints brought up in the lawsuit, I personally never saw any issues. Groups that had gotten a Jill to join them on the course frequently had an extra golf cart with their group so there weren't issues about sitting on laps. The closest I ever saw to that was when we got a bit of a rainburst in 2011 and 2 of the Jills rode back to the clubhouse with me, with me behind the wheel and the 2 of them close together in the passenger seat.
Were there any issues when I was working with the Jills? To be honest, there were a few dance routines I was uncomfortable with because while I always treated everyone in a professional manner, I was also protective of them like family. Beyond that, I can't really say. I won't claim to know everything that everyone went through. Some girls voluntarily shared more with me about their experiences than others did but no two went through everything the same way.
In response to these and other issues, some NFL cheerleaders are looking to meet with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to have an open discussion on addressing these and other issues in regards to treatment of NFL Cheerleaders. Reportedly, the NFL is open to these discussions but whether or not Goodell will be involved is unclear at this time.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/23412045/nfl-open-discussions-cheerleaders-improving-their-working-conditions
What does this mean for the Jills? Maybe nothing, maybe a lot. It's hard to say. With 4 separate defendants in the lawsuit and also the matter of an outside company under contract to run the Jills, we could still be waiting a while longer to see the case resolved and a return to the sidelines.
