Powderpuff Gender Norms

GENDER NORMS

Dissecting the stereotypical and exclusive concept of powderpuff

TANVEE SAI

writer

Cupertino High School strives to be a community that is inclusive for all. Despite this vision, certain traditions at CHS hinder progress towards this goal. One tradition in particular that still has room for improvement is powderpuff. Powderpuff is a yearly class competition at Tino where girls play flag football and boys cheer them on. According to History Teacher Wes Morse, powderpuff at CHS started in 1962. Initially, games were held only between Cupertino students, but as time went on, CHS began competing in powderpuff games against other nearby schools. Historically, only juniors and seniors competed in powderpuff, but Principal Kami Tomberlain expanded it to include all grades. The name powderpuff comes from the common name for a soft cloth pad used to apply face powder, a common cosmetic. Including a makeup product in the name itself pushes the gender-conforming stereotype that women are hyperfeminine and obsessed with their appearances. More than just the name, though, powderpuff is entirely based on gender norms that women are supposed to cheer for men as they play football and that the fun part of powderpuff is the reversal of these stereotypes. However, these stereotypes remain unchanged and unchallenged because these reversals only occur during this one week. While role reversals are widely accepted and celebrated within powderpuff, they are not continued after the week ends. Additionally, powderpuff is predicated on a two-gender system: students choose between a masculine or feminine activity. Students who do not fit in the gender binary may feel uncomfortable participating in either position of powderpuff and are consequently implicitly excluded.

An anonymous student council member, Y, shares similar concerns about powderpuff and, as a result, has chosen not to participate in the event. Said Y, “ T h e prem ise of the game [...] felt weird for me to see [because of] the activity being heavily focused on gender.” Despite these issues concerning some students, other students who participated have gained positive experiences. When asked why the Associated Student Body is not removing powderpuff, an anonymous athletics commissioner from ASB, X, said, “It really just comes down to providing a fun environment to compete and bond with your classmates and just have fun.”

ASB is aware of the problematic origins of powderpuff and has posted an infographic on social media to acknowledge its toxic history, and its promotion of unhealthy gender norms. ASB will also prohibit mockery and stereotyping, such as the usage of bras or tutus by the cheerleaders. The athletics commissioners also considered renaming powderpuff but ultimately decided not to. Said X , “This year we were think ing about changing [powderpuff] to powerpuff [...] I think we felt like by changing the name and not changing the event itself, we’re kind of running away from history.”

This year, the powderpuff signup forms did not explicitly state that males would cheerlead and females would play football. The athletics commissioners chose to eliminate gender norms, but they have not widely publicized this change. They believe that if the change were too widely known, cisgender participants would abuse the new rule. Said X, “What we don’t want to happen is football players and people who [have played] football their entire life [being] like ‘Oh I’m gonna play football, let me just go play football.’”

Although opening up the categories to everyone is a step in the right direction, it does not make powderpuff inclusive for all. Since the policy change is not widely known, members of the genderqueer community who would like to participate in powderpuff are left to question whether they are eligible or not. The concern that cisgender students might abuse the rule has resulted in gen - derqueer people being marginalized, just like in previous years. The

ambiguity of the powderpuff rules concerning gender confuses many people who do not fall in the gen“ THE PREMISE OF THE GAME [...] FELT WEIRD FOR ME TO SEE der binary. As a result, people are less motivated to participate. Said an anonymous nonbinary student, Z, “some nonbinary students would [assume that they] have to conform to what they were [BECAUSE OF THE ACTIVassigned as at birth, and then feel super uncomfortable doing that.” ITY] BEING HEAVILY FO- One way for powderpuff to be CUSED ON GENDER ” inclusive of all genders is by switching the sports rather than the genders. “Football players who are on the football team should do cheerleading, [and] cheerleaders on the cheer leading team should play football “ THE AMBIGUITY OF THE POWDERPUFF RULES CONCERNING GENDER CONFUSES [...] You MANY PEOPLE WHO should j u s t switch t h e sport,” said Z. Although ASB is moving in the right direction towards total inclusivDO NOT FALL IN THE GENDER BINARY ” ity in this event, there is still room for improvement. A good way to start this is by renaming the event and making sure that it is clear that people of any gender can participate in either category. This way, the event’s name does not perpetu ate misogyny, and the rules can minimize confusion or discomfort from the genderqueer community. Overall, for CHS to fully support all genders, we have to remove harmful, stereotypical practices from school-wide activities like powderpuff and replace them with new premises that reflect inclusive ideals OPINIONS | 11