Being Near Rich Men is Payment Enough for Pro Cheerleaders, Newspaper Argues

The Orange County Register’s editorial board is taking some heat after making the argument that professional cheerleaders should not be entitled to minimum wage, in part, because of the “fringe benefit” of working closely with wealthy men.

The argument, which ran Monday in an editorial deriding new state laws, was quickly deleted from the newspaper’s website following outcry.

Some, including Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, found the implication that women don’t need livable wages when they have access to wealthy men offensive.

Gonzalez tweeted, “Seriously? The @ocregister ed board thinks pro-cheerleaders shouldn’t make minimum wage bc they work with rich men.”

Gonzalez included the quote from the article that has since been deleted:

“Being a cheerleader for a pro team obviously has fringe benefit lacking at other jobs, such as working closely with players making an average $1.9 million a year in the NFL and $5 million in the NBA.”

In an article on the feminist website Jezebel, The Register’s opinion editor Brian Calle made no effort to defend the argument, which he said was published while he was on vacation.

Calle promised corrective action, telling Jezebel, “To be clear though: I read the inference in the editorial as offensive and unseemly.”

Jezebel’s readers were none too impressed with the editorial.

One asked, “wait so this editorial board works near some of the richest people in the country in the OC so does this mean that they also can be paid $0.50/hour?”

Another scoffed, “This is why whenever I need to get some food, I just go to the supermarket and hang out by the checkout. I get to be in close proximity to people who have food, which is the same as having it, yourself.”

Click here for the full Jezebel article.

Here is The Orange County Register editorial.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons