Not much emphasis in this thread of the fact that plenty of women regard cheerleading as a very high-status activity. It certifies you as beautiful, popular and in-the-limelight, desirable by most men and envied by many women.
Among other things, this explains why the pay for NFL cheerleaders is low.
Ahem!
Yes, you were on it.
My daughter trains at a dance academy. She has done so since she was 3. The academy is fairly prestigious and many of the dancers are pretty successful. I occasionally recognize people who were at her dance academy on TV, in music videos, on Disney specials, and so on. On the last season of the competition show World of Dance, a pair of students from her school (that I was acquainted with) were in the finals.
A few dancers who graduated from her academy are competing in the NCAA cheerleading competition this year (from Washington State University). These are women with serious dance training. Ballet, tap, tumbling, jazz, lyrical, hip hop. These aren’t strippers in costumes.