Twice a week, a group of women aged 49 to 73, called Nice Ladies, gather at the sports hall of the Kharkiv University: together they are preparing a strong show for the European Cheerleading Championship. They belong to the category of Masters 25+, facing much younger competitors. However, the pressure of complying with their social roles of passive babushkas, caretakers, obedient wives, conforming colleagues, and women at the “sunset of their lives,” alongside with the country’s weak social security and challenging economic situation, biases and ageism, loneliness and health constraints, seem like an even stronger enemy for them. Will the Nice Ladies pick up the battle?
