My Contribution

After observing my subculture I feel like I can make many contributions to the community, to my class mates, and to my own education. My contribution to the community will be to let them know the truth behind the subculture and to persuade them to keep and open mind and not to judge a subculture before getting to know it. With my classmates I hope to fill them with knowledge about the subculture and also help them keep an open mind to the beliefs and rituals behind it. The contribution that I will be giving to myself is getting to know my very own subculture from a different perspective and trying to understand and outsiders view. With an outsiders view I will have to keep an open mind and try to answer some of the questions outsiders might have about some of the rituals and beliefs behind the subculture. With doing this I am going to have a better understanding about my own subculture.

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Sources

"Cheerleading Injuries." 2008. The Gale Group. 18 Feb 2009 .

This source talks about the toughness that is needed to be a cheerleader. It tells how there a lot more injuries happen in other sports besides cheerleading, but cheerleading definitely has the most severe injuries.  The main point of this source is to let people know just how tough off a sport cheerleading is, and even though cheerleaders were skirts and primp up their hair does not mean they are tough. 

I plan on using this source to help me give people an idea of how cheerleading is a tough sport and requires a lot of skill and dedication to do it. I'm hoping that this source will help me give people a new view on cheerleaders instead of the view of being wimpy and prissy.

Fuzzylogic, Dj. "Why do we hate Cheerleaders?." Golden State of Mind. 16 Aug 2007. 18 Feb 2009 .

This source talks about some of the reasons why cheerleaders are hated or despised. While giving some of the reasons it also give explanation to them. The explanation backs up cheerleaders by giving the facts behind them. When some of the reasonings are given the writer tries to contradict them.

I plan on using this source to help me back myself up on some of the reasoning I believe some people might despise cheerleaders.  When giving some of the reasoning I hope to use some of the facts found in this source to contradict them. I want to use this source to let people know the truth about cheerleaders.

Box #18

I have came to gather a lot of information about the subculture of cheerleaders. Most of my information has come from observation at basketball games. At the games the cheerleaders never sit down and they are always cheering and smiling with tons of enthusiasm. Even when the game is at a halt from a time out or half time they still and try to get the crowd involved in the game and try to keep people from leaving their seats. During most of the time outs the cheerleaders go out onto the floor and put on a little show where they show off their skills and talents. After the show some people stand and clap and some do not. It is vary rare that people stand up and actually cheer for us, but I guess that doesn't matter because they are only there to watch the game anyway. Sometimes I feel like cheerleaders might not always get the respect they deserve because they are always cheering on other people and there is hardly anyone that is there to cheer on us. Since I am a cheerleader my perspective about this situation might be different then that of someone else's because some might think that cheerleaders are there for no reason, they do not help at all, they are just an accessory to the game.

Myrtle Beach

Last summer I went on vacation to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. The atmosphere there was exciting and fun. The days were really long and fun filled. On my first day down there it was blistering hot and I got a scorching sun burn. We happened to stay in a hotel right on the beach so we could step right outside and be there. Before we got to the beach we had to walk through the pool area. There were three pools and they were all uniquely shaped. One pool was to swim in, another on was similar to a lazy river where you would float on a tube, and the other was a kiddy pool that was about 3 feet deep. In the pool area was also a bar and right next to the bar was a stage. While me and my friends were there that stage got plenty of use. My friends and I would often get up on the stage and dance to the music that the DJ was playing and if we weren't dancing then we were singing. Everyday me and my friends did this and the DJ finally gave our little group a nickname. We were soon to be known as the "hoosier girls." This was the funniest vacation I have ever been on. There was not one second were we did nothing. We did something different everyday besides our traditional dancing and singing.

Finishing Touches

For my assignment I plan on adding in some more details about some of the rituals and beliefs my subculture has. With doing this I hope to observe my subculture more throughly. I want to give people a different perspective on the subculture so they have an open mind to it. Not only do I want to finish with some of my observation, I also want to finish with giving some answers to some of the questions I am going to be asking in my interviews. So far I have no questions about the assignments later. I feel like I have a good idea on what is wanted out of our assignments.

Box #15

My most favorite spot in the world is balcony in Naples, Florida. Everything about this place makes me a happier person. In this condo is a balcony that looks over a waterfront with some boats surrounding other lighted condos. I Especially like this place at night because after a long day out in the sun it is nice to sit out on this cool windy balcony and look over the sparking water and waving palm tress. When your skin is burnt its nice to sit by the screened in windows and let the wind easily brush upon your skin, giving it a cooling sensation. I love sitting out on the balcony and smelling the fresh air in which no other place has. 

This balcony has a wicker chair with a cushion on the seat that is comfy to sit on. When sitting in this chair looking over the balcony I tend to go in my own world of peace and relaxation. At that spot I feel no stress, all I feel is happiness. Looking at everything from this very spot makes everything look and seem more pleasant. This spot takes me to my very own place where I am able to take time and think about my life and everything else that goes with it. It is the only place that can do this for me. 

On the other side of the condo is another balcony where everybody on the floor gathers to watch the sunset. When I go to this balcony, many elderly people are anxiously awaiting the drop of the sun. While sitting out on the balcony they are drinking, smoking, and bickering in different languages. As we watch the sun go down we are so happy to be witnessing it, then when it finally disappears everyone on the balcony claps as if the sun had just put on a fabulous show.

I have a pretty good conclusion of the subculture of cheerleaders so far. In many places in the U.S. cheerleading seems to have the same rituals and beliefs. With other countries and places throughout the world cheerleading might have possible never been heard about before. Many places around the world just stick to the more general sports like; basketball, soccer, lacrosse, etc. The sport of cheerleading just seems to be popular in the United States. Though cheerleading might not have much difference geographically, there are two different types of cheerleading. There is competitive cheering and just the normal cheering for school. In competitive cheer there is a lot more difficulty that is expected with your skill in gymnastics, stunting, and also dancing. With competitive cheer a routine is made up, usually by the team or a choreographer where they combine dancing, cheering, and tumbling with a mix of music in the background. In the competitive world of cheerleading, teams come together to compete against each other to find out which team had the hardest and cleanest routine. To be in competitive cheer it requires a lot more practice and extreme skill. Cheerleading for your school also requires some skill, but with school cheering you are mainly there to show your spirit and to get the crowd involved with in the game. School cheerleading still requires gymnastics, stunting, and occasionally dancing too. The only difference between cheering for school and cheering competitively is the idea of competing.