Gentlemen and Ladies

So, I was listening to the announcements at the end of the school day yesterday. It mentioned something about the Lady Eagles volleyball team playing the Panthers (or some such team). Why does it need to be the "Lady Eagles"? The volleyball team is exclusively women. We don't say the "Gentleman Eagles" football team. We say Savio baseball, not Savio Boy's baseball.

A gentleman eagle

I can see some cases where a distinction might need to be drawn between teams (soccer, swimming, track, etc). However, we should then use both modifiers (Gentlemen and Ladies). I know that the problem is bigger than just Savio. It often bothered me while I was at UT as well.

Many of my students accuse me of overthinking things like this. I think that as a society, we don't consider them enough. What is the micro-message of this disparity? That male sports are "normal"? That you need to be warned that you're going to see women play sports? This is symptomatic of a larger problem in our society, particularly where sports are concerned.

As an added bonus, Mrs. Goertz points out that referring to male athletes as "gentlemen" might inspire them to aspire to the moniker.

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