Disney in the Classroom
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Kim Possible is a new Disney Channel show that my children love.  Kim is a high school cheerleader who needs to earn some extra money.  So she puts up a web site that says she can do anything, meaning she'll baby-sit difficult children or wash windows.  To Kim's surprise the requests on her websites lead to confrontations with super villains intent on world domination.  Determined to live up to her website's promise Kim fights (her sidekick Ron Stoppable calls her a "freak fighting cheerleaderâ€? :o) and defeats these villains.  As you might have guessed from this clever premise, Kim Possible is a well written and entertaining show.  But what makes it an interesting, and even an important show, are the choices Kim‘s creators made when they shaped their main character.

(c) Disney

Kim is a cheerleader
People assume that young ladies become cheerleaders because they are cute and because they can't or won't play sports. People also assume cheerleaders are not very intelligent.  Other than being cute Kim doesn't fit the stereotype of a cheerleader at all.  She is very athletic and very smart.  Perhaps Kim's creators made her a cheerleader to emphasize that Kim is a girl, and that girls can be strong and smart.  Making Kim a cheerleader also highlights the fact that all kinds of girls are cheerleaders.  We shouldn't stereotype a person because of she looks like or because of what activity she chooses to participates in.  Personally I don't really care why Kim's creators made her a cheerleader.  I'm just glad that they did.  My daughter wants to be a cheerleader and I'd rather people think she is like Kim rather than think she is like the stereotype of a cheerleader I shared above.

(c) Disney