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Parents Outraged as High School Gives ‘Big Boobie’ and ‘Big Booty’ Awards to Teen Cheerleaders
Embarrassing people because of their body size is wrong even if it is meant as a joke, and if the victims are teenagers being ridiculed by their coaches, the thing is much worse.
This must have been learned by the Tremper High School coaches after several parents and students complained about an awards ceremony, which was given to the school cheerleaders and included certain inappropriate categories.
The categories included: Big Boobie, Big Booty, and String Bean award. The insensitive awards were presented during a banquet attended by more than 100 people, including some parents of the school, according to the New York Times.
ACLU threatens to sue Kenosha school district for 'Big Boobie,' 'Big Booty' awards https://t.co/JdSnEHmsqx pic.twitter.com/GwhfUi8Mfj
— WISN 12 NEWS (@WISN12News) February 20, 2019
Apparently, at least four of the adults present at the ceremony complained directly to the principal of Tremper High School for the awards.
However, the school principal investigated the incident and then told the parents that the awards "were to be funny" and that the coaches "were just kidding". What makes us think that the coaches of this school are not the only ones lacking in empathy.
Students should be valued for their hard work, not their bodies. We demand that Tremper High School stop distributing objectifying awards that measure students' worth by their bodies. https://t.co/rXd7p9meNe
— ACLU (@ACLU) February 19, 2019
One of the people who was outraged by the awards ceremony was the school's former track coach, Patti Hupp. She wrote an email directly to the school principal expressing the sensitivity of the situation.
"I feel that I need to tell you this for the protection of these girls," Hupp said adding it was easy to see “that this is extremely degrading to women.”
I graduated from Tremper High School in 2013. Based on the culture I experienced there (and in Kenosha in general), I’m not surprised to see this come out. https://t.co/905EM7MXCh
— Kate Beckman (@Kate_Beckman) February 21, 2019
The award ceremony took place in March 2018, and although the students who won these awards did not complain, other students who were present said they were unhappy and that they would not like to have been the winners.
If anyone has any doubts about the inappropriateness of this awards ceremony, we can explain that when the Big Boobie award was given, the coach who delivered it said through the microphone that the girl in question was at risk of suffering a concussion when she ran because of her "enormous boobs".
No parents allowed, after they awarded "Big Boobie" &"Big Bootie" awards to girls at last year's banquet?! Talk about a red flag. "Tremper High will hold this year’s cheerleading banquet next month...Only cheerleaders and coaches —no parents— are invited." https://t.co/kRkZH5qy64
— Dr Kathleen Bachynski (@bachyns) February 20, 2019
One of the attendees at the ceremony remembered this very well: "When the girl went up to accept the Big Boobie award, what do you think everyone in the room was looking at? I would have died," the cheerleader told the Times.
And of course, the parents did not think it was appropriate either. "I looked around and thought, 'Did that just happen?' If my daughter would have won one of those awards, I would've been absolutely rushing the stage. It was just so wrong, in so many ways," one mother said.
Page one of the ACLU’s letter to @kusd says they have “serious concerns” over alleged sexual harassment and body shaming incidents on Tremper High School’s cheer team. They say coaches would publicly address students body parts and make them cry at practices. @WISN12News pic.twitter.com/pE6Xg0Nani
— Caroline Reinwald (@WISN_Caroline) February 20, 2019
However, the complaints took effect, as the American Civil Liberties Union issued a letter to the Kenosha Unified School District officials requesting that they take "corrective action" or face a lawsuit.
This story reminds us of a girl who throughout her whole adolescence was the victim of ridicule by her classmates, but now with her triumph, she demonstrates that everything is a matter of taste and respect.
This woman was harassed at school because of her huge breasts to the point where her parents took her out of school and she had a breast reduction.
However, after a photo session in 2014 that made her feel sexy, she became so comfortable in front of a camera that everyone would see her as a model of plus size lingerie model.
