this week, a gentleman by the name of sacha heppel went head-to-head with more than 200 females, vying for a spot as a coveted denver bronco cheerleader. despite a lack of formal dance experience (though he reportedly performed as a sign-twirler for a local business), sacha shook what his momma's gave him, daring to achieve his dream to become the first male bronco cheerleader. so, why does young sacha want to be a bronco cheerleader? "first, i strongly respect the broncos and am a huge fan. and second, i love to dance. i love expression. i lose myself in the music. i'm not as experienced as some of the girls -- i only started hip-hop lessons a couple months ago -- but I just love it." and audition he did!
according to the broncos' director of cheerleaders, the auditions are an open call that anyone can come out for, with all final decisions based solely on the applicants dance ability. what about the females auditioning? were they upset that sacha was there? to the contrary! the females applicants were supportive and encouraged him (atta girls!). sadly, sacha didn't make it this year, but he is hopeful for next year!
interestingly, this story of a male entering what has typically been viewed as a traditionally all-girls club, comes only a few weeks after the 2012 masters where gender was a topic of discussion.
augusta national, the exclusive golf club which hosts the masters each year, has traditionally given membership to the ceos of the tournament's three corporate sponsors. the problem? since opening its doors in 1933, this private club has never granted membership to a woman and now, ibm (one of the corporate sponsors) is now lead by female ceo, ginni rometty - who by the way, does play golf. (it's worth noting that this is not the first time the club has drawn attention because of its exclusivity; they refused to admit black members until 1990 and had a former policy requiring all caddies to be black.) needless to say, declining to offer a membership to the new ceo says loud and clear "no girls allowed."
my point, and i do have one is...isn't this some world we live in when men are allowed to audition to be nfl cheeleaders, but a female ceo still can't sit at the boys table at a golf club when her company is a corporate sponsor of the masters? it was said that in 2008 hillary clinton left 18 million cracks in the country's largest glass ceiling. maybe by the time a woman is elected the leader of free world, she will also be allowed to be a member of augusta national…just sayin’. what’s your point?
