Is cheerleading in schools sexist?

More than 40% of UK schools now offer cheerleading, according to the UK Cheerleading Association. Of those taking part in its competitions, 96% are female. Is cheerleading a good way to get girls excited about PE, or is it setting a bad example?
Girls practice before taking part in a cheerleading competition.
Girls practice before taking part in a cheerleading competition. Photograph: Bethany Clarke/Getty Images

Dr Jean Williams, senior research fellow at the International Centre for Sports History and Culture

Cheerleading isn't an easy answer to getting girls interested in sport. I used to go and watch Leicester City with my nieces, when they were 12 and 10, and it was always uncomfortable seeing cheerleaders performing in skimpy outfits in front of a mainly male crowd. Cheerleading is a symptom of the wider sexualisation of female athletes, not a cause. But it's a huge sport worldwide, with its own Japanese Oendan form. It's spectacular and I respect its leading athletes.

Professor Gary Stidder, principal lecturer in physical education at Brighton University

It's been known for a long time that the PE curriculum is out of touch with girls' interests. Girls today are very different from their mothers 20 years ago yet they still have a staple diet of competitive sports, including netball, hockey and rounders. Girls want to participate in alternative sports, whether it's cheerleading, skipping or street surfing. At the moment, in an academic year of 38 weeks – with two hours of PE a week – unfortunately about three-quarters of that time is still devoted to teaching traditional team sports.

Lisa Fathers, deputy head at Flixton girls school in Manchester, which offers cheerleading as an after-school club

I think it can be great for girls who aren't traditionally sporty. Dancing to music is fun, and they might have seen it on the television. Our cheerleading outfits are more covered-up than some you might see because we wouldn't want our girls to dress in a way that's too grown-up. It's a challenging sport that requires strength, flexibility and coordination and teamwork – all of which are valuable.

Dr Elizabeth Pike, chair of the Anita White Foundation at the University of Chichester

What cheerleading has to offer is that it is a highly skilled, physically demanding sport that enables competition, self-expression and teamwork. However, when girls do such sports, the emphasis tends to be on their feminine appearance and they are portrayed as playing a supporting role to males rather than as athletes in their own right.

There is evidence that girls perform better in single-sex spaces, free from male dominance, and cheerleading may provide such an environment. However, there is a danger that it reinforces a perception of female inferiority, and if it is (wrongly) seen as only for girls, it could be perceived as second class to traditional male sports.

Darren Padgett, chair of the Association for Physical Education

There's no reason why cheerleading shouldn't be offered in PE, but it should be offered to girls and boys. It's true that there are barriers to getting boys to take part, but we have boys doing dance, so there's no reason why it can't happen. The earlier children are introduced to different activities, the more likely they are to try them. If we get people into sport from an early age in primary schools, then it just becomes a natural progression when they move to secondary school.

Jim Lavin, former PE teacher and author of Creative Approaches to Physical Education

Some people feel cheerleading is sexist because they see American cheerleaders who are young, pretty girls doing some kind of gymnastic routine. In fact, when I went to the US – to work as professor of health and physical education at Eastern Connecticut State University – it opened my eyes to the fact that cheerleading does involves men and women. It's taught to boys as well as girls their schools. There's an element of sexism in the traditional PE syllabus where girls and boys are given different traditional sports.