誹夢呢思的

文章中說到美國的高中啦啦隊，過去都是幫男生運動員加油，但由於性別平等法律規定，現在也必須幫女性運動員加油，結果某高中的啦啦隊員竟有半數退出。我還記得以前在美國念高中時，啦啦隊的歐地訊會有零星的男生加入，總是被視為異類，當然他們最後都不被錄取，這次啦啦隊的性別問題浮出台面

WHITNEY POINT, N.Y. — Thirty girls signed up for the cheerleading
squad this winter at Whitney Point High School in upstate New York.
But upon learning they would be waving their pompoms for the girls'
basketball team as well as the boys', more than half of the aspiring
cheerleaders dropped out.

The eight remaining cheerleaders now awkwardly adjust their routines
for whichever team is playing here on the home court — "Hands Up You
Guys" becomes "Hands Up You Girls"— to comply with a new ruling from
federal education officials interpreting Title IX, the law intended to
guarantee gender equality in student sports.

"It feels funny when we do it," said Amanda Cummings, 15, the
cheerleading co-captain, who forgot the name of a female basketball
player mid-cheer last month.

Whitney Point is one of 14 high schools in the Binghamton area that
began sending cheerleaders to girls' games in late November, after the
mother of a female basketball player in Johnson City, N.Y., filed a
discrimination complaint with the United States Department of
Education. She said the lack of official sideline support made the
girls seem like second-string, and violated Title IX's promise of
equal playing fields for both sexes.

But the ruling has left many people here and across the New York
region booing, as dozens of schools have chosen to stop sending
cheerleaders to away games, as part of an effort to squeeze all the
home girls' games into the cheerleading schedule.

Boys' basketball boosters say something is missing in the stands at
away games, cheerleaders resent not being able to meet their rivals on
the road, and even female basketball players being hurrahed are
unhappy.

In Johnson City, students and parents say they have accepted the
change even as they question the need for it.

Several cheerleaders there recalled a game two years ago, long before
the complaint, when the squad decided at the last minute to cheer for
the girls' team because a boys' game was canceled.

The cheers drowned out directions from the girls' coach, frustrated
the players, and created so much tension that the cheerleaders left
before halftime.

"They asked, 'Why are you here?' " recalled Joquina Spence, 18, a
senior cheerleader. "We told them, 'We're here to support you,' and it
was a problem because they kept yelling at us."

But, as the New York State Public High School Athletic Association
warned in a letter to its 768 members in November, the education
department determined that cheerleaders should be provided "regardless
of whether the girls' basketball teams wanted and/or asked for" them.

The ruling followed a similar one in September in the Philadelphia
suburbs, and comes as high schools nationwide are redefining the role
of cheerleaders in response to parental and legal pressures as well as
growing sensitivity to sexism among athletic directors, especially as
more women step into those roles.

Federal education officials would not specify how many Title IX
complaints concerning cheerleading the Office for Civil Rights is
investigating. But a spokesman said the department received 64
complaints nationwide last year concerning unequal levels of publicity
given to girls' and boys' teams — which includes the issue of
cheerleading — most from New York state. That compares with a total of
28 such complaints over the previous four years.

In September, the Prince George's County, Md., public schools agreed
to provide publicity equally for its male and female athletes,
including cheerleaders at competitive events, as part of a lengthy
list of changes after the National Women's Law Center raised Title IX
complaints against the 134,000-student district.

Last February, a statewide group of physical education teachers in
California called for cheerleaders to attend girls' and boys' games
"in the same number, and with equal enthusiasm" as part of its
five-year goals.