Few look it: most are lithe and fit from a lifetime of exercise. Now they are buzzing around a banquet hall set up in a club-seating deck on the upper level of Nissan Stadium in Nashville, home of the Tennessee Titans. There are nearly former N. There are sparkles on dresses, sparkles on earrings, sparkles on stilettos. The ex-cheerleaders have been drawn here by their shared past—a collective nostalgia for their days on the sidelines, their moment in the spotlight. But despite their giddiness at being re-united, they know there is no escaping the present. Over the past year , the N. Five former members of the Washington Redskins squad say the team flew them to Costa Rica in , stripped them of their passports, and required them to pose topless before wealthy fans.

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Possible Legal Ramifications
Professional cheerleaders are expected to make appearances at everything from tailgate parties to suites to help promote their teams, but they are being offered little protection when it comes to sexual harassment from fans. A number of cheerleaders have opened up about how the requirement to interact with fans at games and promotional events often leads to unwanted groping and offensive sexual remarks. Part of the job?
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The ongoing NFL cheerleading scandal took a turn Wednesday, when a New York Times report detailed a calendar photo shoot in Costa Rica, where Washington Redskins cheerleaders say they were required to pose topless in front of a group of invited sponsors and suite ticket holders. After the hour day, some of the women, who had been handpicked by sponsors, were ordered to escort them to a nightclub. The cheerleaders understood these dates to be mandatory and felt the team was "pimping us out. This report highlights a tension inherent in professional cheerleading: Teams use cheerleaders to sell sex appeal on the sidelines. These women will tell you they're well aware of this and that they signed up for it. What they didn't sign up for is the extracurricular ways their sexuality is used to entice sponsors and high rollers off the field. And without a union, there's no leaguewide policy providing protections for their safety.
It did surprise me that the issues with the NFL cheerleaders recently are almost identical to what we experienced. Skip navigation! In the last month, hair-raising stories about working as an NFL cheerleader have become familiar, like the Washington Redskins performers whose passports were confiscated before a destination photo shoot where they were asked to pose topless and later served as escorts. Or the lack of protection from sexual harassment and violent verbal abuse during promotional parties and events. Or the barely minimum wage pay and lack of benefits cheerleaders receive, despite extensive contracts that limit their ability to earn money elsewhere.