The first ever cheerleader — according to USA Cheer, the governing body of American sport cheering — was a man from Minnesota. The sport was born in 1898, when a male student at the University of Minnesota spontaneously got up and led the crowd in a cheer for the football team. Men have always been a part of cheerleading; multiple US presidents, including Ronald Reagan, were cheerleaders in college, and male cheerleaders have been a part of the NFL sidelines for decades.

So how is it that Blaize Shiek and Louie Conn, the two male cheerleaders added to the Minnesota Vikings’ squad last May, have received such widespread backlash? After a recent social media promo, the range of people who spoke out against the Vikings for adding the duo to their squad included a former Viking, a senator, and plenty of Fox News commentators. Suddenly, the Vikings were being blamed for helping perpetuate, as one Instagram commenter put it, “the sissification of America.”

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The team has also received plenty of support from Vikings fans and other members of the public, as well as other men on NFL cheer squads. Some NFL teams have seized the moment to brag about their own mixed-gender dance squads. The backlash seems to be coming from a minority here, and isn’t likely to change the NFL’s embrace of all-gender sidelines. But what’s interesting here is the timing. Men have been on NFL cheerleading teams for years. Why is this sudden groundswell of anger happening now?

Alongside the Vikings backlash, social media users have also been touting viral clips of sorority rush dances, claiming them as “wins” for conservative America and traditional values. How is it, exactly, that choreographed, celebratory group dance has become a front line, so to speak, of the culture wars around gender and sexuality?

This movement to impose rigid gender standards and assumptions on groups of people who shake might be ahistorical, but it exemplifies the shifting boundaries of the culture wars. Conservative commentators have been in conflict with the NFL — which the Heritage Foundation declared “woke” last year — and the universities that house these sororities. Now, they’re looking to reclaim the sidelines — and the line dancers.

Men have already been cheerleading in the NFL for decades

The Vikings inadvertently kickstarted the brouhaha on August 9 by posting a lively clip of their new dance squad on Instagram. The video featured Conn front and center, smiling and doing a backflip before joining the rest of the squad in their routine. Both men are dedicated dancers. Shiek has been

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