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Despite a 400% increase in their salary, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders still face an uphill battle when it comes to the sport’s outdated misogyny.
The first season of ‘America’s Sweethearts’, a Netflix docuseries following the lives and dance routines of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, was a huge hit when it launched last summer.
Viewers watched as young women from across the US navigated a gruelling audition process (followed by an equally gruelling professional schedule) in order to become a member of the NFLs most famous cheerleading squad.
Each girl was effortlessly charming in her passion and dedication to this dream – some of them granting the cameras access to their personal lives as they found love, moved away from home, or returned to their desk jobs after failing to make the team.
But the show also faced backlash at the time over what many considered to be outdated practices – including low pay for DCC members, skimpy outfits, and stringent attitudes toward each girl’s appearance (including, but not limited to, their weight and height).
In a scathing review for the Huff Post, Paige Skinner unpacked the deep-rooted misogyny that still shapes the DCC institution – using cheerleader Victoria Kalina’s story as a springboard for wider issues raised within the Netflix show.
‘Kalina was opening up about her yearslong battle with disordered eating alongside anxiety and depression,’ writes Skinner. ‘All [of these things] flared during her time on the squad.’
Kalina’s belief that cheering for DCC was both her biggest dream and ‘the thing that hurts me,’ struck a chord with viewers, who rallied in support of the young woman following the show’s release.
The discussion around body image was only briefly touched on during the course of several episodes, but it festered beneath the surface.
‘Experiences with the Cowboys included all the pitfalls that generations of cheerleaders have faced since the cheer squad’s inception in its current form in the ‘70s: body and weight issues, disordered eating, sexual harassment, and low pay,’ says Skinner.
It’s true that besides more elaborate dance routines little had changed over the course of DCC’s run.
‘While NFL players can make millions, cheerleaders who perform at games have no base salary, and some teams pay only minimum wage,’ reported Elizabeth Logan and Sam Reed in 2024. ‘Lack of pay and other issues have led to a number of lawsuits against NFL teams in recent years.’
But now, as a second season of ‘America’s Sweethearts’ hits our screens, the cheerleaders have announced a 400% salary increase.
