It’s a campy escapade. 

T he Minnesota Vikings have decided to allow a couple of guys to dance along with their cheerleaders, and if you are surprised and displeased, you are only revealing your ignorance.

The team released a statement after there was online blowback, explaining that there was nothing new here:

While many fans may be seeing male cheerleaders for the first time at Vikings games, male cheerleaders have been part of previous Vikings teams and have long been associated with collegiate and professional cheerleading.

Why, then, fans might wonder, had they never noticed this happening on the field before?

And why had the Vikings touted it as “next generation” cheerleading in an introductory Instagram video?

The Vikings are doing a classic two-step that is a common feature of such controversies — something is deemed important and groundbreaking, or completely inconsequential, depending on convenience.

For instance, when progressives thought they were on the march on the trans issue, males competing in female sports was portrayed as a great, historic advance; then, after the rebuke of the 2024 election, it suddenly was portrayed as a rarity not worth trifling over.

The Vikings are, in effect, saying that their male cheerleaders are a breakthrough and utterly conventional.

It’s certainly true that there have been guys in football cheer squads forever, obviously in the collegiate game, and also in recent years for a few NFL teams. But their role in routines is to provide the muscle — throwing, catching, and holding their female counterparts in the air — not to dance like their female counterparts.

The Vikings’ innovation is to have the guys dance like the girls. Since these dance routines aren’t exactly wrought by George Balanchine and are meant to maximize the feminine appeal of the cheerleaders, seeing men do it is inherently a little ridiculous and quite campy.

Sure, there are plenty of men who could join the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders for their iconic pre-game “Thunderstruck” routine. But all the prancing, shaking, hair flips, and — especially — jump splits weren’t designed with guys in mind.

This is why a male joining in would feel like a fraternity prank. Campy escapades like this can be amusing, as Robin Williams proved long ago and as the Man-Nanas demonstrate — to everyone’s delight — at Savannah Bananas games.

The Vikings, though, don’t think there’s a joke (or, if they do, aren’t admitting it).

Perhaps Vikings fans will embrace their new cheerleaders as harmless fun, but it’s unlikely that gender-bending frolics are what NFL fans are looking for in their cheerleading.