Actually leading cheers?

[OMMF]

I don't know how this story has slipped by all of our watchful eyes. I've been following it for a bit but then I got distracted by the Texas government mascot.

Pity the cheerleaders. After all that enthusiasm, and decades of striving to be recognized as dedicated athletes, an old stereotype is back:

They're just too sexy.

Or so says Al Edwards, a Democrat in the Texas House of Representatives. His bill would have the state regulate sexually suggestive moves by public-school cheerleading squads. It has passed the House but is languishing sponsorless in the Senate.

No matter. The damage is done, and the headline writers can't resist: "Whole Lotta Shakin's Gonna Stop in Texas," "Bill Bumps, Grinds Through the House," "House to Cheerleaders: Hooray, But No Hip Hips."

"It's very sad to see the negative light on cheerleading," said Linda Rae Chappell, who has been cheering or coaching for more than 30 years. "We've been trying to keep the focus on these young role models, these athletes. There's so much more to it."

Indeed, much more than in the 1880s, when the first organized cheer was supposedly yelled at Princeton University, heralding the beginning of the sport.

Now, girls don't even have to cheer for athletic teams. Tens of thousands opt to join private cheer groups across the country that exist solely to hone skills and compete.

But has cheerleading drifted too far from its pep-squad roots? Is it too influenced by outside factors such as racy music videos and hip-hop music? Cheerleading professionals differ.

"We truly believe that this is not a major problem," said Karen Halterman, vice president of the National Cheerleaders Association in Dallas.

Founded in 1948, it trains cheerleaders and coaches as well as sponsoring annual championships. It also issues conduct guidelines.

"This addresses inappropriate choreography, music, uniforms and costumes," Halterman said. "We absolutely self-police and always have."

The National Federation of State High School Associations also is updating its "Guidelines for Spirit Competition," starting with the 2006-07 school year. New will be this: "When standing at attention, apparel must cover the midriff."

The Christian Cheerleaders of America has been so busy answering news-media queries on the topic that its president, Rose Clevenger, issued a statement.

It said, in part: "There are some school districts ... in which bare midriffs, very short skirts, bump-and-grind music with vulgar lyrics, authority-abusive lyrics and totally inappropriate moves with sexual implications are part of cheer routines. This happens even in elementary and middle school as well as high school. I do feel that this is NOT indicative of the majority of cheerleading in schools today."

But Crystal Hughes of San Diego supports limitations.

A former cheerleader, Hughes founded Unlimited Cheer All-Stars two years ago and now trains about 35 girls.

"Unfortunately, people are trying to get away with too much," Hughes said. "Some of the dance moves are inappropriate. It just reinforces bad stereotypes."

Her girls are ages 4 to 16. "During competition, my little ones stay with the big girls, so there are 4-year-olds watching older girls compete. They're seeing this racy stuff. It's getting out of hand."

Chappell theorized that girls doing their own choreography might create the problems. "They are imitating the whole MTV genre ? they're going to try to get away with what they can."

Elizabeth Rossetti, a former Ohio State University cheerleader and founder of AmeriCheer Inc., said: "The cheerleaders seeing those [music] videos and those entertainers dancing. That can be quite provocative. If those are their role models, maybe they think this is OK. Their coaches need to step in. Someone should."

But not, she said, a state legislature. "Where's the adult supervision?" she asked. "It's called common sense."