Attention Whoring Is More Important To This 40-Year-Old Than Being A Mom

Kriste Lewis has been making a lot of headlines for recently making the New Orleans Saints “Saintsation” cheerleading squad. While this would not normally be Good Morning America worthy, this is an exception. Why?

Because Kriste is 40 years old and the mother of two children.

Of course, her making the team has caused plenty of discussion: what it was like competing with so many younger girls vying for the Saintsation position, as well as her battle with kidney disease:

Though Lewis said it was her lifelong dream, the biggest inspiration that motivated her to try out was a health condition she has battled daily for more than a decade.

“Fourteen years ago I was diagnosed with polysistic kidney disease. Eventually my kidneys will shut down [and] I will be in need of dialysis and in need of a transplant,” she said.

“That had a lot to do with me auditioning as well. I didn’t want to waste a day.”

While Lewis’ ability to make the squad over her younger peers, and her overall conditioning, is admirable for someone who has lived forty years on the planet, what is being lost in the hoopla is the impact it might potentially have on her husband and young children. Of course they say she has their full support, but I bet the husband will think differently when he sits down at the dinner table to a frozen pizza meal for the third time in a week.

The question that no one is asking is this: why is this mother of two more concerned about restoring her former glory days with Photoshopped airbrushing, short skirts and drunk men drooling all over her fading beauty?

“Her Lifelong Dream”

Lewis has raved about how excited *she* is for the opportunity:

“I can’t even fathom what it’s going to be like to walk out on that field in the Superdome with all those Saints fans,” she said. “I hope I don’t pass out. … If I died tomorrow, I’m good. I’m a happy girl. It’s been a blast.”

She fails to mention anything about how where this lifelong dream fits in with what I would assume was also a lifetime dream of having a family, which she has already been blessed with. Contrary to what she is saying, her lifelong dream is not to be an NFL cheerleader—it’s to have attention on her and to be famous.

If her sole dream was to be a cheerleader for an NFL squad, then she would have made the team and just shut up about it, rather than doing features with her family watching her dance by herself on a Good Morning America feature.

The Cheerleader Cost

I dated a dance team girl in college, and let me tell you—the schedule is no joke. Games, practices, photo shoots, and “fan appearances” (i.e. beta male orbiting) all take a up a significant amount of time.

You can read this article about the Raiders cheerleader who filed suit against the Raiders for her low pay and wages:

Long before Lacy’s boots ever hit the gridiron grass, “I was just hustling,” she says. “Very early on, I was spending money like crazy.” The salon visits, the makeup, the eyelashes, the tights were almost exclusively paid out of her own pocket. The finishing touch of the Raiderettes’ onboarding process was a contract requiring Lacy to attend thrice-weekly practices, dozens of public appearances, photo shoots, fittings and nine-hour shifts at Raiders home games, all in return for a lump sum of $1,250 at the conclusion of the season.

While hopefully the Saints have a better environment for their cheerleaders than the Raiders, Kriste Lewis is kidding herself if she thinks that this could somehow benefit her family with some “extra pay”.

It simply will not happen.

In all likeliness, it will add more stress to her husband. He will have to finance her upfront costs out of his own pocket (none of the articles have made mention of how much she previously made, if she worked at all), and will have to deal with either additional childcare costs in the form of daycare, or putting in those hours himself.

Meanwhile, mommy will be too busy dancing half naked in front of leering men, posing in her bathing suit for a cameraman, and participating in what will likely be mandatory “team bonding” sleepovers, much like the Raider cheerleader had to.

Before the 2013 season kicked off, the women were also required to drive up to Napa to participate in a Raiderettes minicamp, and during the season, the squad went away for its annual swimsuit calendar shoot. Lacy drove up to Napa, posed all day in a royal-blue bikini at a cold winery and was forced to stick around for a sleepover.

Though Lewis has been continuously praised in the media for her courage to tryout with her younger peers and for her battle with kidney disease, she should be shamed for terrible priorities. She should be keeping  fit and exercising consistently for her health and family, but she can do that without being nearly naked, holding pom-poms, and shaking her ass in front of the Superdome crowd.

Read More: Has Female Attention Whoring Finally Reached Its Peak?