Kentucky High School To Change Mascots Because 'Stallions' Is Offensive To Women

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In a healthy society, nobody would have any issue with this. "Stallions" is a fairly common mascot name, and given that it's neither a human nor ethnic group, I'm willing to bet that the school district thought they had chosen a relatively inoffensive choice. Not so, according to Diane Cahill of Lexington, who started a petition saying that the mascot was inappropriate because a stallion is a male horse that is used for breeding.

According to Cahill, this does not represent the women of the school and does not make them feel included.

Here's the text of the petition:

This is inappropriate and sexist when you consider the definition from "YourDictionary" ..."The definition of a stallion is a male horse that has not been castrated, used for breeding or is slang for a powerful and virile man who has a lot of lovers" and from Wikipedia..."because of their instincts as herd animals, they may be prone to aggressive behavior, particularly toward other stallions, and thus require careful management by knowledgeable handlers. However, with proper training and management, stallions are effective equine athletes at the highest levels of many disciplines."

What message does this send to our daughters and granddaughters? Our sons and grandsons?

We demand that the name be changed to something more gender neutral and more indicative of Douglass' brilliant mind, successful career and vision for equality and to send a message to all students that they are respected and valued.

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