Watching Netflix’s new Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders docuseries, “America’s Sweethearts,” is like diving under the water to check out what a swan’s feet are doing as she glides elegantly across a glassy pond. The frantic but hidden exertion underneath, all in service of creating an apparently effortless movement forward, becomes suddenly, jarringly visible once you peer under the surface of the water. That’s the ultimate challenge of meeting the traditional high-feminine ideal: The work, no matter how demanding, must expand to include the work of making itself invisible. A Dallas Cowboys cheerleader is an elite athlete, a brand ambassador, a pageant-ready beauty, a sex symbol and an ever-ready helping hand. She works tirelessly and accepts the meager pay as an honor. She also makes it all look easy. It’s part of the job.

As non-cheerleaders and American football heretics, we were both seduced into an unfamiliar world by this series, which goes deep into the 2023 season of the DCC from audition tapes to the post-playoffs banquet. In the process, it exposes the tension between the seamless conformity and perfection expected of the cheerleaders, and the herculean physical exertions, mental discipline, and authoritarian leadership that are necessary to produce them.

Showing how much is asked of these women, of course, only deepens their allure. We fell in love with so many of the cheerleaders — legacy veteran Victoria, whose tragedy is caring too much; effervescent and God-fearing rookie Reece; seasoned leader Kelcey, who is back for her last season before retirement. We wept with incredible performers like Anisha, an orthodontist who practices her moves between patients, and Ari, who moved to Dallas to train all year after getting cut in 2022, when they narrowly miss making the final squad. Their artistry and athleticism is enrapturing; their pursuit of excellence is inspiring.

And yet it also left us troubled. “America’s Sweethearts” shows what an immense toll this work takes on the women, whose bodies are shredded by the physical demands of the job and who are under relentless pressure to perform emotional labor and care work in the role — and who are making, when all is said and done, very little money. It also shows the blasé attitude of the Dallas Cowboys organization, which is making plenty of money from the cheerleaders, toward this inequity. (Charlotte Jones, the daughter of Jerry Jones and the EVP and chief brand officer of the Cowboys, appears in the series pointing out that the women don’t have many other opportunities to dance at a high level, apparently justifying their low wages.)

In this episode, we dug into the labor exploitation of it all, focusing on the devaluation of women’s work and the expectation that women will demonstrate their virtue through a willingness to donate time and effort. We also discuss the rigid beauty standards and casual objectification faced by the cheerleaders, and the upholding of a very specific feminine ideal through this brand. Hope you enjoy! xo

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