# USC basketball cheerleaders act blocked by someone who might favor burkhas **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 20, 2005, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691 "2005-01-20T06:54:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/1 "2005-01-20T06:54:35Z")
Not having been to USC to view a performance of the Coquettes, I cannot intelligently comment on the decency or lack thereof in their routine. Apparently an ‘unknown official’ has claimed that the performance is [“too sexual”.](http://www.dailygamecock.com/news/2005/01/18/News/Dance.Team.Prohibited.From.Basketball.Performance-834252.shtml) Well dog my cats, but ever since I was a wee sprat in junior high school I understood that one of the basic purposes of cheerleaders was to stir the spirit of competition, arouse teem feelings, and give us guys something to fap about. You wanna watch the computer science guys wearing wingtips perform a precision calculator toss? Gimme a break! My beef is twofold-only those with cojones to speak their names should have their challenges heard, and please get the stick out of your ass. You don’t like it, don’t watch. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/2 "2005-01-20T07:07:33Z")
While I’m big fan of pretty women in skimpy clothes, _sooooome_ of them dances are suggestive to the point of being embarrasing. To me, anyhoo. But I’ve never seen the USC girls dancin’. Need more information… ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/3 "2005-01-20T07:51:21Z")
They call their cheerleading squad “the coquettes?” A coquette is a woman who lightly makes sexual or romantic gestures or suggestions–“flirt” doesn’t quite cover it, “tease” (or a mascot-appropriate variant) comes close. The article is a mess, which might be expected of a story in which no one interviewed wants to stick their neck out, but it might have asked the questions 1) why these women allow themselves to be called that; and 2) why object to coquettes acting, well, coquettish? ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/4 "2005-01-20T13:16:45Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > While I’m big fan of pretty women in skimpy clothes, _sooooome_ of them dances are suggestive to the point of being embarrasing. > To me, anyhoo. But I’ve never seen the USC girls dancin’. Need more information… A big story like this, and no pictures so that I, too, may become offended? I ain’t feeling it without photos. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/5 "2005-01-20T13:30:38Z")
Cheerleaders are supposed to _lead cheers_. Way back in the day, cheerleaders were supposed to do call-and-response cheers. They’d prompt; the crowd would answer. They were supposed to get the crowd hyped through participation\*. I’m not sure how it evolved into precision dance routines that the crowd is only supposed to watch. See, I hesitate to criticize cheerleaders, because they do put a lot of time and effort into complex, strenuous, **athletic** (yes, it is a sport) endeavors. But I don’t like the idea of cheerleading being entertainment that’s unrelated, or only tangentially related, to the game. If it’s a distraction for whatever reason, then it’s not being true to its original purpose. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/6 "2005-01-20T14:43:30Z")
> [@The King of Soup](#): > > They call their cheerleading squad “the coquettes?” A coquette is a woman who lightly makes sexual or romantic gestures or suggestions–“flirt” doesn’t quite cover it, “tease” (or a mascot-appropriate variant) comes close. The article is a mess, which might be expected of a story in which no one interviewed wants to stick their neck out, but it might have asked the questions 1) why these women allow themselves to be called that; and 2) why object to coquettes acting, well, coquettish? The University of South Carolina’s mascot is the Gamecock. Which inspires the cry, “Go COCKS!!!”. Which also adorns lots of school paraphenalia. Coquettes is a clever(?) play on this, which is better than “Lady Cocks” or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Jammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@Jammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jammer)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/7 "2005-01-20T14:54:52Z")
I love the “You Can’t Lick our Cocks” bumper sticker I saw driving through Columbia once. The cheerleaders can’t be any worse than that. 🙂 Jammer ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/8 "2005-01-20T15:01:19Z")
Well, they might’ve said they can. * * * > [@](#): > > Springs and Widdle said initially that the athletic department thought their dancing was “too sexual,” but Widdle later said that she wasn’t sure why they had been asked to stay off the floor. > > Widdle said she was surprised that the team’s previous performances might have offended anyone. She said that the team had learned most of its choreography from the National Dance Association. > > “The majority of it was something, actually, that the national chapter made up, and we just performed it.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/9 "2005-01-20T15:10:38Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Cheerleaders are supposed to _lead cheers_. > > Way back in the day, cheerleaders were supposed to do call-and-response cheers. They’d prompt; the crowd would answer. They were supposed to get the crowd hyped through participation\*. I’m not sure how it evolved into precision dance routines that the crowd is only supposed to watch. You can relax. As a point of information, the Coquettes are **not** cheerleaders. They are a dance team that performs at halftime of basketball games and other events, some athletic events, some not. The cheerleading squad is an entirely different group. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/10 "2005-01-20T15:21:37Z")
\*"She emphasized that the Coquettes were not part of the athletic department, and that its administrators were doing them a kindness in allowing them to perform at all. “We try really hard and it just seems like nobody really cares,” she said."\* ☹☹☹☹☹ :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/11 "2005-01-20T15:24:14Z")
What the heck is an “exercise science” major? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/12 "2005-01-20T15:27:58Z")
> [@Ukulele Ike](#): > > What the heck is an “exercise science” major? That leads you to a career as a ‘fitness celebrity’. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/13 "2005-01-20T16:28:23Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > You wanna watch the computer science guys wearing wingtips perform a precision calculator toss? Gimme a break! Actually, that sounds kinda hot. ---
**Author:** ![GomiBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@GomiBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GomiBoy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/14 "2005-01-20T17:13:43Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Actually, that sounds kinda hot. You’re truly round the bend. I would say exercise science majors, but hygiene-impaired exercise-lacking computer nerds? Scary to think of them dancing. ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/15 "2005-01-20T17:46:31Z")
> [@Ukulele Ike](#): > > What the heck is an “exercise science” major? Could it be something like kinesiology or sports medicine, but just with a dumb name? ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/16 "2005-01-20T17:49:59Z")
Coquettes as the squad’s name is _so_ anchored in the shovanist early days of the esteemed history of the University of South Carolina, and it’s nigh time that some forward thinking Carolinians step up with a new name. Let me be the first to suggest strap-ons. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/17 "2005-01-20T17:50:48Z")
I don’t see what all the fuss is about. From the website, their uniforms appear quite modest. If we survived Elvis bumping and grinding I think we can take whatever these girls are doing. ---
**Author:** ![sorrel554](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@sorrel554](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sorrel554)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/18 "2005-01-20T17:54:27Z")
Updated story [here](http://www.dailygamecock.com/news/2005/01/19/News/Usc-Cheerleaders.To.Fill.In.For.Dancers-835282.shtml). > [@](#): > > Some dancers had raised concerns that the decision came because the athletics department perceived the team’s performance as “too sexual,” but Sports Information Director Kerry Tharp suggested the possibility of miscommunication, explaining that the Coquettes were sidelined to make way for USC cheerleaders. > > “It was not the intent to tell them they couldn’t dance, just to make sure the cheerleaders kind of took the lead,” he said. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/19 "2005-01-20T17:59:19Z")
> [@AwSnappity](#): > > Could it be something like kinesiology or sports medicine, but just with a dumb name? This sounds about right. My wife got her degree in “excercise physiology” or some such major from PSU. She worked as a sports rehab person (I don’t know what they called them) for a few years before following her dumbass first husband to NJ and becoming a waitress.\* \*Nothing against waitresses, that was a shot against her dumbass ex-husband. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691/20 "2005-01-20T18:02:34Z")
So it sounds like a turf war between the cheerleaders and the dance squad. If there is ever a fight that will lead to the best Sports Center ever! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usc-basketball-cheerleaders-act-blocked-by-someone-who-might-favor-burkhas/285691.md?page=2)