There are always some obvious slimeballs behind us: IPL cheerleader

IPL cheerleaders in action

An IPL cheerleader took to Reddit in trying to share her experience with pom-poms in the cash-rich cricket league in India. The questions she answered highlighted the kind of harassment that many of these women face in corners of foreign fields in the midst of all the glitz.

The woman, who went by the name of ‘IPL cheerleader’ in place of her real name, said she has enjoyed the Indian summer, but that the objectification of her profession by males is putting off.

"I've only cheered in India and one other western country. The men in the crowd in India are much more intrusive. But you'll find pigs wherever you go.

“The mass majority of cheerleaders I’ve worked with are perfectly respectable women, not sluts.”

Mostly cannot hear what is shouted: Cheerleader

On how she deals with the harassment, the woman said, “For the most part I can't hear them. The music is loud enough and the accents are thick enough; I'm mostly oblivious to the words.

“This doesn't mean I can't tell that there are some obvious slimeballs behind me. I try my best to ignore them. And I've made a personal rule for myself not to take pictures with fans unless they're women or children. I'm not keen on becoming someone's fap bait for the night.”

"The games are always so much more fun if we're winning. It's much more boring to sit in a chair than it is to dance,” said the woman. “I wasn't a cricket fan before this, but I am now.”

Cheerleaders with pom-poms have been an inseparable part of the Indian Premier League ever since the league’s inception. In a bid to engage the modern audience of short attention spans, cricket has integrated elements such as bursts of music after boundaries, and such dancing girls imported from abroad. Whether the sport would be better off without these is a null question; the sport has changed, and so has the paraphernalia surrounding it.

Team of cheerleaders 99% white

The unnamed woman also raised the issue of why Indian females were seldom seen on the dias, and talked about her mental frame when at work.

“I hate the racism. Why is my team made up of 99% white girls? Why do Indians feel it's ok to dress white girls up in skimpy outfits but they won't let their fellow Indian women do it? It's messed up.

On the demands of her profession, she said, “It's not really a fake smile. I mean, when I get on the stand, I might put a smile on when there might not have been one a moment ago, but it's still genuine. It's tiring to smile constantly, plus who does that in real life anyway?"