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.

Comments

My Issues with Harry Potter: Part 4 - The Education System

Okay, maybe it's because I'm not British, but the education system in the Wizarding world makes very little sense to me (a teacher). Granted, the American system doesn't make sense to much of the rest of the world. Here in the US, we don't have college entrance exams, so I won't criticize things like OWLs or NEWTs. However, I am going to have to criticize the entire theory of education. Primary Schooling A Hogwarts letter arrives on a student's 11th birthday (sort of). What are the options for students before they are 11? Rowling says that they may either go to public schools or they are home schooled. It sure seems like most magical parents choose the latter option (most wizards know nothing of the Muggle world, which should not be the case if they attended public school for 6 years). Here we run into our first problem. What exactly are these children being taught? In the US (and from what I can tell, the UK), parents are not required to fol...

Analyzing Goertz Memes

I often find myself on the Savio meme pages. Let's take a look at a few: 1. Handbooks I do read it quite a bit. We do some massive updating each summer. 2. Airpods I'm an Android user myself. I do think of the Airpod memes everything students walk past me wearing their earbuds (against the handbook, by the way). 3. Caaaw! Dr. Garcia started the noise. I don't do it as well. 4. Let it Go Well, yes. I was the one with the microphone and tiara. 5. Blue Shirt/Gold Tie Thank you. I think I look pretty good as well. 6. Saturated Because one time I said that the grass was saturated with rainwater. 7. Lunch There's a lot of lunch memes about me. Yes, I walk up and join conversations. I'm a socially awkward person, but it's allowed when you are an administrator. 8. Doors If you go through the wrong doors, I will find you and I will stop you. 9. History I don't know. Also, apparently my name no longer has a Z. Alright! First post in years.

5 Reasons You Should Read Brandon Sanderson

You may have seen several students with enameled character pins on their blazers or backpacks. They may be from Brandon Sanderson's Dragonsteel website . Today, I'd like to convince you to read everything written by my favorite author, Brandon Sanderson. Here are 5 reasons. (Formatting is a little off. I don't know why) The print that I have was given to me by my friend Jesse Sky . You won't soon run out of things to read. While some authors make their fans wait years ( decades? ) for new books, Brandon cannot stop writing. During Covid, he secretly wrote 5 novels! Below is a sampling of some of his works. Cosmere - his main series of interconnected novels. They take place on different planets, but many characters cross over. Stormlight Archive - 5 novels, 2 novellas Mistborn - 7 novels, 3 novellas Elantris - 1 novel, 2 novellas 8 other assorted novels/novellas Here's my suggested reading order (to avoid spoilers). If you pick up a random book, you will be confuse...

Goertz Thoughts

Search This Blog