TRIBECA 2019 REVIEWS: Yu Gu’s A WOMAN’S WORK: THE NFL’S CHEERLEADER PROBLEM details the fight between the NFL and the women that cheer for its teams
In the #metoo era, it has become far less of a surprise to find stories of inequitable conditions putting women at a disadvantage coming out of the woodwork. It’s well-known that men earn more on the job than women in identical positions. And misogyny has become so institutionalized, it almost feels like it’s “natural” for women to be second class citizens. All of it is stomach-turning and unjust. But when you take a look at the grim realities as portrayed in Yu Gu’s revealing documentary A Woman’s Work: The NFL’s Cheerleader Problem, such outrage balloons into maddening disbelief. After all, the NFL is worth billions upon billions of dollars. So how is it that they pay their cheerleaders about the equivalent of $4/hour? It’s a sordid tale and one which the film captures impressively.
It’s a shocking revelation of how the cheerleader system works in the NFL. There’s constant training (as rigorous as what the players go through), mandatory community and industry events, and even mandatory travel which the League doesn’t cover. Worse, the work is often outsourced to a third party. How they skirt around labor laws into paying far below minimum wage occurs through a series of dishonest and arcane accounting of work hours and sums paid. Grasping all the details of how this unbelievable scam works is anger-inducing enough. But for good measure, cheerleaders don’t even get paid regularly. Instead they get one lump sum at the end of the year. All their expenses along the way they have to float. It’s a ridiculous way to live.
Before the film exposes the culture behind this blatant mistreatment of NFL cheerleaders, we get to spend some quality time at home with a few of them. And guess what? They’re wives. They’re moms. And they love, love, love their local football team who they proudly cheer for. They work hard to be part of their communities and the football fandom. They hustle side gigs to make ends meet – which is ridiculous when you consider this is the most lucrative sports empire in the United States. And some of them are taking up arms by suing the NFL and the companies they outsource to for these services. That’s where the story focuses. We see the human faces of these women and follow their struggle. Long scenes give us a chance to spend time with them off-field and see them as people, not high-kicking sex objects. And it’s very effective.
Sadly, the gauntlet these women are running through isn’t just against a heartless multibillion-dollar operation. Interviews with fans at tailgate parties show indifference and even unabashed misogyny. And it’s heartbreaking to see them mingling with the same people as proud fans. Even as they get screwed over, these women still love their teams. Even more heartbreaking is seeing the archaic attitude of past cheerleaders. Largely unsupportive, these veterans from seasons from the 60’s through the 80’s – when women were more apt to “know their place” – actually shame today’s cheerleaders seeking justice. Accept it for what it is, they scold. You’re lucky to even be there, they are admonished. It’s amazing how these ladies playing a David and Goliath scenario persevere against such discouraging headwinds.
But it’s not all doom and gloom in A Woman’s Work: The NFL’s Cheerleader Problem. We get to see a fair bit of progress in the lawsuits and even get a glimpse of what might end up being a sort of justice after all. Small victories pile up as public awareness of this cheap exploitation by the NFL grows. In the end, this isn’t even about the NFL. It’s about how our society treats women on the whole. Indeed, it’s an indictment of the patriarchy which centuries on, women still battle against. In this way, the film is equal parts depressing and uplifting. Hopefully, it harkens better days to come just as it becomes a cheerleader for the struggle.
