Cheerleading: misunderstood, overlooked, maligned, ridiculed—and as popular as ever. All-Star cheerleading gyms are booming; cheerleading competitions can be found on every continent (except Antarctica), and high school and college “cheerlebrities” attract millions of Instagram followers. The 2020 blockbuster hit Cheer was one of Netflix’s most popular shows, sparking a renewed interest in this 160-year-old American institution. Cheer, as the sport is called in many other countries, has found a worldwide audience. The International Cheer Union now includes 114 national federations and more than 7 million athletes globally. In 2028, we may even see cheerleading in the Olympics. While ubiquitous in American culture, cheerleading is noticeably absent in scholarly research. Cheer Matters: Gender, Race, Sex and Belonging in an American Institution (University of Texas Press, 2026) addresses this omission by bringing together an interdisciplinary group of scholars who provide a critical and nuanced analysis of the myriad meanings of cheer. Edited by Natalie Adams, co-author of Cheerleader! An American Icon (2003), this new book about cheerleading takes the reader on a deep dive into the multifaceted world of cheerleading. We provide an inside look into Cheer World, its lingo, its “rules,” its rituals (have you ever heard of a Spirit Stick?), and its problems, never losing sight of the joy it brings to millions worldwide. At other times, we play the role of the cultural pundit to explore cheerleading’s captivating and complicated place in society. Why did the Supreme Court in 2021 use the case of the “foul-mouthed cheerleader” to define students’ free speech rights in school? Why is the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders’ iconic (and patented) uniform preserved in the Smithsonian? Why do we continue to see cheerleaders in adult movies, hit TV shows, B-rated movies, and comedy sketches? We also dive into the salacious and the serious (including the recent accusations about rampant sexual abuse within the industry) to illustrate how debates within and about cheerleading reflect larger legal, social, economic, and cultural issues important to us all. Employing the lens of history, sociology, cultural studies, law, media studies, theatre and film, and critical sports studies, these authors undo the simplicity with which cheerleading has been approached in popular discourse to illuminate how the conflicts, crises, and contradictions inherent in this beloved and vilified American institution have significance far beyond the mat.