In wake of NFL cheerleader news, Prof. JoAnne Sweeny urges society to stop objectifying women

JoAnne Sweeny
JoAnne Sweeny

In a new post on the Feminist Law Professors blog, Brandeis School of Law Professor JoAnne Sweeny highlights "the ridiculous rules that cheerleaders have to follow."

She references recent news stories about the NFL and NBA's treatment of professional cheerleaders. Both leagues have made headlines in recent weeks for dictating cheerleaders' personal appearance and social media activity.

"Underpaid, controlled and devalued, cheerleaders deserve better," Sweeny writes in "Stop Treating Professional Cheerleaders (and Women in General) Like Property."

"What is more troubling to me, however, is that the way these women are treated speaks of a larger cultural issue of men feeling entitled to control women’s bodies," she writes. 

Sweeny's current scholarly interests include comparative constitutional law, freedom of expression, law and gender, and legal history.