Hi friends,
This week, I'd like to share with you the latest episode of my podcast, Girlfriends of a Certain Age, where we discuss how to speak truth to power within a high-control group.
We talked about the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in Season 2 of the Netflix docuseries America’s Sweethearts.
At first, I found the show to be binge-worthy fluff. But underneath the self-tan veneer is a much more powerful story of young women learning how to speak up in a system designed to keep them quiet.
Watching America’s Sweethearts brought up mixed feelings. As someone who has struggled with diet culture, it was triggering to watch young women conform to a very retro and impossible beauty standard.
As a California feminist with a rebel streak, the acquiescent, “Yes, Ma’am”, southern culture was hard to understand, yet somehow universal.
What drew me in was the young women demanding higher pay in their DCC contract. For decades, the cheerleaders were paid $15 a game. Not an hour, $15 for an entire game day!
They finally got a raise to $400 a game, but with no paid practice or healthcare, they had to work multiple jobs or balance an outside career with the demanding practice schedule.
Despite pushback and a divided team, they managed to negotiate a significant victory and a 400% pay raise, with young women of color leading the effort!
My takeaway from America’s Sweethearts is that if these young women can find their voice in a traditional, high-control culture where women are encouraged to smile more and speak less, we can also use our voice for positive change in our careers and communities.
Let me know what you thought of America’s Sweethearts—loved it? Hated it? Mixed like me?
Share your thoughts in the comments, I’d love to know.
Stay Calm & Cheer On,
Jessica (and Flesche)
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