It appears that cheerleading remains in the same state as female higher education was 40 or 50 years ago. Back then, when a girl decided to attend college, it was universally assumed that she just wanted to find a suitable husband.

Unfortunately, most university athletic coordinators maintain a similar attitude about modern-day cheerleaders. After all, aren’t they all just the hot chicks, who only want to date the handsome quarterback?

Now, if that isn’t offensive enough to you, consider this. Kicking your ankles above your head, performing synchronized gymnastics with a hint of dancing and impressing the crowd with splits and cartwheels is apparently not “sporty” enough … at least, compared to curling. It’s true: curling has made it through the ranks and gained official accreditation as a university sport. In fact, many colleges and universities even offer curling scholarships. Go figure.

In case you haven’t familiarized yourself with curling yet, it is an official Winter Olympics sport in which a group  sweeps the ice with a broom to make an oversized puck hit a target. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to belittle curling here. Actually, I believe that every competitive activity, in which you are—at least occasionally—forced to break a sweat, should be considered a sport.

However, every reasonable person must see some sort of discrimination here. I found a solution though: let’s bring a case to your local university athletic board. Cheerleaders and their supporters should demand that the cheerleading squad be compared with the curling team on some basic athletic aptitudes and skills. And after the cheerleaders are done humiliating the curlers, politely suggest to the athletic board that it is indeed time to add the squad to their list.