Submitted by cdthomas23 on Wed, 2007/04/04 - 2:28pm.
It sounds like they want to be called the Lady Vols. It is a differentiating term and not a condescending one, at least in their case. They are clearly dominant and until the last couple years I'm sure they WANTED to be differentiated from the pathetic men's team.
I hate "Lady" anythings. I also hate (even more) "-ettes."
There's no way to get around that yes, it is a "condescending" term.
And yeah, it makes as much sense to call the men "gentlemen Vols." And everyone sees how silly THAT is.
Nobody is confused by the fact that we have a Volunteer football, a Volunteer baseball, a Volunteer basketball team. Adding "men's" and "women's" when necessary to differentiate wouldn't confuse anyone either.
Back in my sportswriting days, I worked at a small paper where our sports editor banned the use of "lady" whatever when refering to girls teams (or women's teams; we mostly covered high schools). I'm not sure what we would have done if presented with a team that insisted on being called the Lady Vols or what have you.
Submitted by Bbeanster on Wed, 2007/04/04 - 2:48pm.
I dabble at some sportswriting -- LV basketball, sometimes HS girls, and my boss (who will probably chime in here) has an absolute BAN on the word Lady. Makes it tough to cover the Lady Vols without ever mentioning their name -- What I'm forced to do is use synonyms -- Tennessee women, women in orange, roundballers -- throughout the story.
Interestingly, I've never had a reader ask why we don't call the team by its name.
Pat Summitt and Gloria Ray came up with "Lady Vols" -- before that, they were called "Volettes." Both Pat and Gloria feel they came up with the best option, considering that among the alternatives were names like the "Vol Chicks."
Whatever the cultural significance of the "Lady" prefix, UT has done marketing research, and it's a very powerful brand. Joan Cronan told me that it's the most recognized women's athletics brand-name in the world. I don't doubt it.
Submitted by Sandra Clark on Thu, 2007/04/05 - 10:37am.
Bean says: "I dabble at some sportswriting -- LV basketball, sometimes HS girls, and my boss (who will probably chime in here) has an absolute BAN on the word Lady. Makes it tough to cover the Lady Vols without ever mentioning their name -- What I'm forced to do is use synonyms -- Tennessee women, women in orange, roundballers -- throughout the story.
Interestingly, I've never had a reader ask why we don't call the team by its name."
The reason Bean's never had a comment is that her use of synonyms is tortured. I simply change them to "Tennessee" or "UT." Same way with high school. We just say "Halls" instead of "Lady Red Devils."
Nobody notices.
Now, ask me sometime how I feel about "girls" bikes. -- s.
It sounds like they want to be called the Lady Vols. It is a differentiating term and not a condescending one, at least in their case. They are clearly dominant and until the last couple years I'm sure they WANTED to be differentiated from the pathetic men's team.
Craig Thomas
Link...
I hate "Lady" anythings. I also hate (even more) "-ettes."
There's no way to get around that yes, it is a "condescending" term.
And yeah, it makes as much sense to call the men "gentlemen Vols." And everyone sees how silly THAT is.
Nobody is confused by the fact that we have a Volunteer football, a Volunteer baseball, a Volunteer basketball team. Adding "men's" and "women's" when necessary to differentiate wouldn't confuse anyone either.
Back in my sportswriting days, I worked at a small paper where our sports editor banned the use of "lady" whatever when refering to girls teams (or women's teams; we mostly covered high schools). I'm not sure what we would have done if presented with a team that insisted on being called the Lady Vols or what have you.
Or the Lady Cocks. Or Cockettes.
The mind reels.
____________________________
People getting rich. Some people saying "Markets!" More death. Neil Young. Death.
I dabble at some sportswriting -- LV basketball, sometimes HS girls, and my boss (who will probably chime in here) has an absolute BAN on the word Lady. Makes it tough to cover the Lady Vols without ever mentioning their name -- What I'm forced to do is use synonyms -- Tennessee women, women in orange, roundballers -- throughout the story.
Interestingly, I've never had a reader ask why we don't call the team by its name.
Pat Summitt and Gloria Ray came up with "Lady Vols" -- before that, they were called "Volettes." Both Pat and Gloria feel they came up with the best option, considering that among the alternatives were names like the "Vol Chicks."
Whatever the cultural significance of the "Lady" prefix, UT has done marketing research, and it's a very powerful brand. Joan Cronan told me that it's the most recognized women's athletics brand-name in the world. I don't doubt it.
I will grant you that it would be difficult to change "Lady Vols" now because it really is a brand.
That said, I still hate "Lady" anything. Good for Vivien Stringer.
Bean says: "I dabble at some sportswriting -- LV basketball, sometimes HS girls, and my boss (who will probably chime in here) has an absolute BAN on the word Lady. Makes it tough to cover the Lady Vols without ever mentioning their name -- What I'm forced to do is use synonyms -- Tennessee women, women in orange, roundballers -- throughout the story.
Interestingly, I've never had a reader ask why we don't call the team by its name."
The reason Bean's never had a comment is that her use of synonyms is tortured. I simply change them to "Tennessee" or "UT." Same way with high school. We just say "Halls" instead of "Lady Red Devils."
Nobody notices.
Now, ask me sometime how I feel about "girls" bikes. -- s.
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