Cheerleading has been a popular activity for many years, but there is a noticeable gender gap, with most participants being female. The pervasive stereotype that cheer is only for girls has led to a significant disparity in gender within high school cheer teams in the US, including at DP, where historically, the cheerleaders have been exclusively female. However, in recent years, there has been a shift in this trend.

Sophomore Minh Phan and freshman Johnny Mendez recently joined DP’s Cheer team. Johnny, who has a background in dance, expressed his desire to try something new that would connect more to dance and go against gender norms.

“I’m more than just what guys are expected to do here, especially because I know there is a lot of toxic masculinity,” he said.

Johnny acknowledged that there has been negativity due to stereotypes associated with dance and cheer.

“There’s definitely been some backlash to it, like others saying, ‘Oh, he’s gay,’ for joining cheer or just doing dance in general because people stereotype dance as only a feminine thing,” he said.

Mendez also pointed out that there are actually many male dancers in the world, far more than people may think.

Minh, on the other hand, initially believed that cheer was only for girls. However, after seeing varsity cheerleader senior Miguel Lopez on the DP cheer team, he realized that cheer is for everyone.

“A lot of people say cheer is only for girls because there’s a majority of girls who do cheer. But actually, it’s for anyone who’s interested,” he said.

Despite the stigma and potential judgment, Minh believes that boys can excel in cheerleading as long as they put effort into it. He emphasized that the fear of being judged by others is one of the main factors that may stop boys from joining the cheer team.

Johnny shared his initial concerns about people’s opinions when joining cheer. He admitted that it was scary, but he was willing to try it. Despite facing racial slurs and homophobia for pursuing his passion in dance, Johnny continues to be involved in the dancing world.

“That’s the whole thing about joining cheer, it’s risky to do something you love and know you’re probably gonna get some hate for it. But what’s the point of not trying in life?” Johnny said.

Both Minh and Johnny’s experiences have demonstrated that attitudes toward these gender norms are changing since many people were encouraging and supportive of the idea of them joining the cheer team.

Johnny offers advice to anyone interested in joining dance but hesitant due to the stereotypes surrounding masculine individuals participating in dance.

“Living life is for taking risks, even though you know it might be rough on the way there. But I think it’d be best to just go on your journey and not let anybody tell you what you have to be,” he said.