No Booty for You

There may not be “booty shakin’ all around” for Texas high school cheerleaders much longer. The state’s House of Representatives has passed a bill 85-55 “that would forbid sexy cheers and give the Texas Education Agency authority to punish schools that allow ‘overtly sexually suggestive’ routines at football games and other events,” CNN.com reports.

Democratic state rep. Senfronia Thompson, an opponent of the bill, told legislators: “I think the Texas Education Agency has enough to do making sure our kids are better educated, and we are wasting our time with ‘one two three four, we can’t shake it any more?’”

The bill, which doesn’t define “overtly sexually suggestive,” has moved on to the Senate. Hmm... back to the pre-Elvis days I guess. Ah, pleasantville...

But wait! The sponsor of the bill says sexy cheerleading leads to pregnancy and dropouts (uh, no, that would be caused by having sex, getting poor grades, and needing an extra income at home).

I put this kind of thinking in the same category as people who say girls wearing tiny tanktops are asking to be raped and that women must cover their heads to avoid being a temptation to men. Blaming the woman for being a woman (or the girl for being a girl) is not okay. There was a day when a woman showing her ankle was considered risque. Do we really want to head in that direction again? Sure, there are some limits to the sexuality a 16 year old should exhibit at a school event, but is that worth legislating?