Teen boy blames "impure thoughts" on cheerleaders' skirts, has mom file formal complaint

Impact

Ugh, boys. Teen boys, especially. Teen boys and their dirty thoughts, sometimes triggered by cheerleaders in uniform. Ugh!

One such teen boy — a student at Timpview High School in Provo, Utah — was so bothered by his "impure" thoughts that his mom got involved, emailing an administrator to register a formal complaint about the length of cheerleaders' skirts in early September, according to People.

That administrator passed along the criticism to the Timpview Thunderbirds cheerleading coach, who then asked the 44-strong squad not to wear their uniforms on the upcoming game day. The cheerleaders, according to Fox 13, were less than jazzed about the command.

"I kind of felt like it's the school almost supporting a rape culture," one told Fox 13. 

"It's giving this boy power that when he grows up and does something to a girl, he can blame it on her skirt being too short," another told People. "It really made me angry. Why should this boy have control over what we wear?"

The Provo School District maintains that the squad was never told they couldn't wear their uniforms, according to Fox 13, but the cheerleaders say differently. According to People, the administration is trying to "find out exactly what the cheerleaders were told" that kept them from donning their uniforms on game day. 

Girls encounter dress code sexism all the time: The length of school girls' shorts and skirts is apparently distracting to men the world over, and that doesn't change when those girls grow up — whether it's a low-cut blouse or a little too much leg, the way women dress appears to be a convenient scapegoat for some men's inability to focus.  

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"Isn't that the man's problem?" some readers might ask — one cheer mom certainly thinks so. 

"I was shocked when my daughter came home and told me, 'We can't wear our uniforms on game day. They're giving boys dirty thoughts,'" she told People. "I want the school to have a meeting with all of the cheerleaders and all of the parents, and I want our girls to walk out of that meeting with their heads held high. This boy's problem has nothing to do with them."