Keep calm and “Bring It On!” Photo illustration courtesy of senior Avery Machamer.

  The San Luis Obispo High School cheer team is severely different from the portrayal of cheerleading in movies. Movies like “Bring It On” and Netflix’s “Senior Year” showcase unrealistic expectations of what cheerleading is actually like.

  The media tends to lean towards the idea that cheerleaders are beautiful, but not very smart.   Another harmful stereotype is that cheerleading is easy or shouldn’t be considered a sport. It’s extremely unfair to make assumptions about a group of people based on a certain activity they participate in.

  “I think movies like these often create their characters around a lot of negative stereotypes that aren’t very accurate,” said junior and varsity cheerleader Julianna Inouye.

  Myths and stereotypes regarding cheerleading are so prevalent in the media because most people are unaware of the realities of the sport. The sport has also evolved drastically since many of the popular cheerleading movies were released.

“These movies aren’t very accurate since cheerleading has developed so much since they came out in the 2000s,” said Inouye.

  Some good representations of cheerleading include the TV show “Cheer” and “Cheer Squad” on Netflix. Not all cheerleaders are blonde, skinny, and unintelligent!