(By Catherine
Rampell, Washington Post, 28 April 2014)
It’s hard to
have too much sympathy for cheerleaders. They’re pretty, perfectly proportioned
and popular. If they didn’t persecute you personally in high school, a Hollywood
facsimile probably at least bullied one of your favorite fictional
protagonists. Which perhaps explains why
such scant attention has been paid to the plight of National
Football League cheerleaders, who appear to be frequent victims of both
wage theft and other, far weirder indignities (including elaborate rules about
how to wash their vaginas; more on that later).
In the past few months, veterans of the Ben-Gals
(who cheer for the Cincinnati Bengals), Raiderettes
(Oakland Raiders) and Jills
(Buffalo Bills) have filed lawsuits alleging that teams paid the cheerleaders
less than minimum wage and subjected them to intrusive and belittling
conditions.
Some of the
allegations, like those regarding wage theft, seem pretty straightforward. Raiderettes, for example, were paid $125 per
game day but often nothing at all for the other appearances and rehearsals they
were required to attend, one suit alleges. Factoring in all those time
commitments, cheerleaders were reportedly
paid as little as $5 an hour. The
teams say the cheerleaders are “independent contractors,” a designation that
would exempt them from minimum-wage laws. The IRS
says you can classify an individual as an independent contractor rather
than an employee if you have “the right to control or direct only the result of
the work” but the worker controls “what will be done and how it will be done.”
Yet to look
at the rules and contracts required as a condition of cheerleaders’ pay, you’d
be hard-pressed to argue that these “independent contractors” had control over
anything, really. The teams set the
schedule and location for rehearsal and (often unpaid) promotional and charity
appearances. A cheerleader’s hair color, makeup and level of tan-ness are
dictated by the teams. In some cases the teams require the “contractors” to
patronize specific salons to achieve the desired cosmetological results (and
the cheerleaders have to pay for these services out of pocket, which the suits
say cost
hundreds of dollars each season). Cheerleaders say they were subjected to
weekly weigh-ins or “jiggle tests” to assess whether they jiggled too much (in
the wrong places, of course). Raiderettes deemed “too soft” could be benched
the next game without pay- but would still be
required to attend the entire game and participate in pregame and halftime
activities anyway. Then there are all the
other really bizarre, often retrograde requirements that some teams have to
regulate not only the cheerleaders’ professional appearances and performances
but their private lives as well.
Here’s a
selection of rules from the Buffalo Jills’ handbook, as published
on Deadspin. It includes an entire section titled “General hygiene and lady
body maintenance,” quoted here with typos intact:
“Do not be
overly opinionated about anything.”
“When
menstruating, use a product that right for your menstrual flow. A tampon too
big can irritate and develop fungus. A product left in too long can cause
bacteria or fungus build up. Products can be changed at least every 4 hours.
Except when sleeping, they can be left in for the night.”
“Do not
linger in restrooms having conversations and applying make up at length while
other people are using the facilities. When
you wash, remember where your hands have been while washing, do not transfer
dirt or germs to other areas of your body.”
“Intimate
area’s: Never use a deodorant or chemically enhanced product. Simple,
non-deodorant soap will help maintain the right PH balance.”
“When trying
to ‘capture’ a small piece of food onto a utensil, it is acceptable to use
another utensil for aiding it aboard. Never use your fingers.”
“Remove
make-up every night before going to bed . . . Make-up left in the creases of
your skin creates early wrinkles.”
“Don’t ask
for cash gifts as wedding gifts (in print), Rely on word of mouth instead.”
Some of the
rules read like they come from a 1950s etiquette guide; others, from Leviticus.
In any case, the organization seems to have exerted a lot of control over
cheerleaders’ lives, on and off the field, while still somehow classifying them
as “independent contractors.” I’m sure
plenty of non-opinion-expressing, right-size-tampon-using women would kill for
the chance to replace these disgruntled cheerleaders and bounce around in
crop-tops before an adoring crowd. But that doesn’t mean employers are entitled
to mistreat the lucky few ladies they do hire.
One of the points of labor law is to offer basic protections to workers
for whom the balance of power vastly favors employers: people such as migrant
farm workers, burger-flippers and, yes, pretty cheerleaders. Even workers who
face great competition deserve to be shielded from abuse and exploitation by
their bosses — perhaps especially so when those bosses come from a
taxpayer-subsidized, multibillion-dollar industry
like the NFL.
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