Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders S2: Still The Most Toxic Series On Netflix

Netflix has just dropped the second season of America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, a documentary all about the professional dance troupe that performs in support of the iconic NFL football team. However, there’s a sinister undertone present throughout this show.

Every year, the team is refreshed, with a bunch of returning group members (veterans) and new cheerleaders (rookies) all competing for a spot on the squad. While technique, performance skills and the ability to memorise choreography are taken into consideration, other archaic factors are also scrutinised.

Trigger warning for discussions on weight, body image and eating disorders below.

I tuned in last year, naive to how these surface-level things were painfully magnified by the bosses, and sadly that’s not something that has been addressed in the latest instalment of one of Netflix’s most popular documentary series.

This is most glaring during the uniform fittings. As discussed in season 1, those cropped blouses and teeny tiny shorts are fitted exactly for every dancer there and then, with no wiggle room for alterations during the entire year. So, I’d assume that doesn’t account for things such as changes to muscle mass, or bloating after meals or during a dancer’s period.

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After season 1, Director Kelli Finglass claimed to E! that the company had “really moved away” from discussing the body types of women on the team, but episode 2 of the second season doesn’t align with that, with her commenting about rookie Abby, “She… She has… shoulders”.

Abby then reveals that she realised she “didn’t need the weight room anymore”, so she decided to stop lifting. The cameraman then questioned whether someone had told her that, or if she decided it for herself. She claimed the latter initially, but when pushed laughed nervously, replying that she “didn’t want to say”, then nodded when he again asked if somebody told her that.

Kelli then later commented on someone else that “tiny shoulders and tiny torsos always look good”, and while yes, that was meant as a compliment, it certainly seemed like a dig at Abby from before – who no doubt had started working out with weights in the first place to aid her fitness as an athlete.

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During the talking heads segment, one of the contenders for the team, Dayton, openly discusses how her body image issues started after high school when she started thinking about auditioning for the Cowboys. Earlier in the episode, she lamented her earlier eating disorder, something that was also discussed in detail by a prominent dancer from season 1, Victoria.

During the final round of auditions, we see how each competitor is assessed by a panel of judges, but not all of them are from dance or styling backgrounds. So, this year’s group include a country music singer and a broadcast meteorologist.

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At one point, the meteorologist reveals that he wrote down that one girl “needs a makeover”, and the male singer follows up with that “the back part of head was too big”.

And truly, are they pleased with themselves for picking apart these women’s appearances, on a global streaming site no less? It’s beyond cruel and solidifies why so many of the cheerleaders end up stressed, depressed or worse, and will no doubt have an impact on viewers at home.

Granted, season 2 has been praised for seeing the dancers finally getting a well-deserved 400% pay increase to actually have a livable wage… but even that took nearly the entire team banding together to demand it.

None of the negative press towards the salaries from season 1 was enough to shift the opinions of the directing board, and that seems to be the case for body image within the Cowboys Cheerleading squad, too.

It feels all the more bleak when you take into account how trends of ‘thinness’ are becoming normalised again, with the rise of things such as SkinnyTok . The discourse around appearances on America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders only adds fuel to the fire.

Watch season 2 at your discretion, but the first few episodes have left a bad taste in my mouth.

America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders is now available to stream on Netflix. You can also read why 20 years on, Brokeback Mountain remains as poignant and important as ever .

Author: Hannah Cowton-Barnes, Entertainment Editor, Tech Advisor

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders S2: Still the most toxic series on Netflix - 4

As Tech Advisor’s Entertainment Editor, Hannah is the resident expert in all things streaming, film and TV. Before joining Tech Advisor in 2019, she studied Theatre and Performance at the University of Leeds and created a website dedicated to geek culture and lifestyle. She’s also reviewed a whole range of gadgets including flagship smartphones, wearables and styling tools. Outside of Foundry, she’s written freelance pieces for Polygon, Metro and Den of Geek, and is proud to be a Women Techmakers Ambassador for Google.

Author: Hannah Cowton-Barnes, Entertainment Editor, Tech Advisor#

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