Objectification of the Female Body in Sport Events

Professional article

Abstract

For more than a century, there has been an objectification of women in the form of cheerleading in sport events. Far from the center of those events, prurient shows of cheerleaders are a peripheral part of a sport event and contribute to the empowerment of the cult of the body in contemporary sport through its sexualization while the reason is surely a profit that goes to the organizers of those events. However, a different approach is possible and authors state an example of the basketball club Alba from Berlin, the management of which had decided, after 25 years, to stop the practice of cheerleading during the time-outs of the matches. The management stated the reason for the fact that the appearance of young attractive women cheerleaders is not convenient today because the club strives to promote women in sport as basketball players who could be a role model for the youth. A similar reason why they do not have cheerleaders could be found amongst some clubs from the National Football League in the USA. Mentioned examples should encourage a broader interest for this issue from the complex sphere of sport bioethics, permanent and normalized objectification of women through cheerleading that should not be a part of modern society.