This Video Reveals Just How Degrading Professional Cheerleading Really Is

Earlier today I published a timeline that chronicles the history of cheerleading, featuring everything from the debut of the Washington Redskinettes to Robin Williams’ cameo as a Denver Broncos cheerleader. But for all the confounding moments in the hundred-plus years of cheerleading, this clip of a reality TV show called Making the Team might take the cake.

Now in its ninth season on Country Music Television, the show follows candidates as they try out for the famous Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. In the clip above, from August, team director Kelli Finglass performs “uniform checks,” which she punctuates with choice comments like, “Today, we had a little bit of thigh and butt running together, so we’re calling it a ‘thutt.’ Megan had a little bit of a thutt. We can cover cankles with boots, but we can’t cover thutts.”

Keep in mind: Finglass has said that she wants her cheerleaders to be “role models” who are a “cross section of the American woman.” Also, it’s 2014.

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