Oakland Raiders’ handbook for cheerleaders is ridiculously sexist

In a piece published in the Los Angeles Times on Monday, Robin Abcarian revealed sections of a secret handbook given by the Oakland Raiders to cheerleaders. The advice dispensed is about as sexist as you can imagine it being.

While the section on dining etiquette is pretty deplorable, it’s the section on dating that truly takes the sexist cake (and then orders that cake to go into the kitchen to make a pie). For example, there’s a bit of advice basically saying, “Hey, so you could potentially be raped, and that would be bad for your reputation. So, uh, try not to let that happen.” Check it out for yourself:

"One such example concerns a player who gave Halloween parties every year and many of the Raiderettes attended. This same player was suspended from the team for drug use but also arrested for date rape. For you on the squad who have attended those parties, just think how narrowly you missed having your photo in all the local papers and/or being assaulted."

The sage advice continues (bold-lettering theirs):

"For this reason, RAIDERETTES ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ATTEND PARTIES AT PLAYERS’ HOMES…FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DATE A PLAYER OR FORMER PLAYER, MAKE SURE HE UNDERSTANDS THAT PLAYER PARTIES ARE OFF LIMITS TO YOU."

Yes, you read that right. The reason why cheerleaders aren’t allowed to attend parties is because bad things could occur, and it’s on the shoulders of said cheerleaders to prevent those bad things from happening. And the players? How do they factor into this? Well, they’re not responsible for bad-thing prevention. Nope, not one iota.

If you want to read more of the nauseating guide, head on over to the Times.

(The Raiders are currently being sued by a cheerleader for labor violations.)

[Source: Los Angeles Times]