Ask a foreigner

[Lost in the Woods]

I guess so, I have never been very good at moderation. That said, the tar and feathers look is required.

 

[Rose White]

Birthday spankings were a weird custom in the 70s and 80s in America. Did that happen in other countries?

 

[Teasel]

Never heard of that!

Done jokily?

A thing we did was give someone the bumps.

Looking up a description online it sounds as awful as the spankings!

I don't remember it seemingly so bad. Not that it's ever happened to me. But it always seemed like fun when others did it. I wasn't aware of any hitting them on the floor or anything.

Birthday customs and celebrations - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

involves the friends and family of the person whose birthday it is taking him or her by the arms and legs, and "bumping" him/her up into the air and down onto the floor.[1][5] The number of "bumps" given equals the age of the person in years plus one "for luck".[1][5] Usually "the Bumps" are administered only to children, in part because as people grow up they become too heavy for the process

 

[enough]

that was a weird thing, but it was acceptable and very common to get smacked on the butt every year, one whack per year of age followed by “a pinch to grow an inch”and you were good for another year. it was never intended to hurt anyone but it was supposed to be a little humiliating, like wearing a funny hat but worse,

 

[Rose White]

Done jokily?

Yeah, similar to how you describe the bumps (which i never heard of)—kind of in a joking, not hurting way (but maybe @enough remembers a proper smack?!).

Am seeing a theme of humiliating people on their birthdays! Spankings, bumps, goofy hats (except it seems usually everyone wears those) and smashing their face into cake. Maybe there’s a sense that they’re getting all these presents and attention that we can’t let them sit too high on the horse!

 

[notsurewheretoturn]

When I was a kid we had the bumps. It involved someone standing behind the birthday kid, holding their arms firmly so they couldn't escape and raising you knee to hit them in the bum, one bump for every year.

 

[Teasel]

For some reason I've found myself watching one or two of these most nights before bed. I'd never seen anything like this till I watched the tv series Cheer. Have these little women been chucked about like this for years or is this a more modern thing?

 

[Rose White]

@Teasel kind of modern? “Cheer” is now a sport with competitions (not just for rooting the team). So they are always upping the ante… is kind of like group gymnastics. I think it’s become more popular over the last 30 years. They tossed people around prior to that when cheerleading for the sake of team sports, but with the focus on cheer competitions it’s more … frequent and elaborate.

There was a series of movies about cheer competitions… Bring It On.

 

[Friday]

Have these little women been chucked about like this for years or is this a more modern thing?

A couple few decades, at least.

Gymnasts who are no longer competitive (usually happens at puberty) &/or have hit their ceiling (are just never going to get any better than they already are) are snatched up by various other sports; cheer, freestyle skating, springboard & platform diving, freestyle snowboarding, mountain climbing, etc. As gymnastics is much like ballet, in that only a teeny tiny minority of people have both the talent AND the body type to compete successfully. But a very wide swath of gymnasts & dancers who can be competitive in other/related sports.

When I was in school, in the early 90s, a prerequisite for cheer was a tryout in either the gymnastics or dance side of the squad. Our school was big enough they also added an AP or Honor student requirement. Still had a few hundred girls trying out for 30 spots, each year.

Wasn’t enough to just be pretty. In the 80s they added athletic talent, and in the 90s they added academic talent. And my school was sooooooo not cutting edge, but slagging around behind what “everyone else” is doing. So I have to assume what was in the 80s & 90s for a mediocre institution would be 70s & 80s (or earlier) for outstanding ones.

 

[Teasel]

they also added an AP or Honor student requirement.

What's an AP?

 

[PlainJane]

Advanced Placement, potential to get university credit along with high school credit.

 

[somerandomguy]

What's an AP?

Advanced Placement for the smarties.