Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Exploitation in the Name of Patriotism

You may know them as “America’s Sweethearts”, but the way they’re treated is… not so sweet. It’s time to look at the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: how they’re idolised, how they’re controlled, and how they’re exploited. 0:00 intro 05:08 a very short history of cheer 07:54 devaluation & wages 20:23 beauty standards 29:30 thinness & diet culture 34:40 sexuality 39:20 harassment 42:25 the NFL, patriotism, & exploitation Thank you to everyone who sent me their thoughts on Instagram! Extra special thank you to my bestie Rebecca as well as ‪@noahsamsen‬ for talking to me about NFL culture :-) Noah’s channels:    / @noahsamsen      / @noahtime_   Also shoutout ‪@oliSUNvia‬ and ‪@FDSignifire‬ for kindly allowing me to feature excerpts of their videos!! oliSUNvia’s video:    • makeup is oppressive...but also empowering...   FD Signifier’s video:    • How Black Athletes are Exploited   Other sources: America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Greg Whiteley, 2024 Daughters of the Sexual Revolution, Dana Shapiro, 2018 Woman’s Work: The NFL Cheerleading Problem, Yu Gu, 2019 America’s Girls podcast, Sarah Hepola, 2021 The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf, 1990 Judy Berman, “America’s Sweethearts Is a Surprisingly Infuriating Portrait of the Ultimate Pink-Collar Job”, https://time.com/6989744/americas-swe... Anne Helen Peterson’s Substack article, https://annehelen.substack.com/p/cult... Adam Kilgore, "For decades, the NFL wrapped itself in the flag. Now, that’s made business uneasy.", https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports... links: second channel:    / @experiment_elle   support me on patreon!   / elleliteracy   instagram:   / elle.literacy   letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/elleliteracy email (sponsorships): [email protected] email (general contact): [email protected] faq what's your accent? i lived in america til i was 7 and ireland since then so my accent is a mix between the two! camera: canon m50 mark ii editing: adobe premiere pro