Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
    • The Best of Reason Magazine
    • Why We Can't Have Nice Things
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Print Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

Brickbats

Brickbat: Mascot or Body Spray?

Charles Oliver | 5.7.2018 4:00 AM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests
Axe
Johnypan | Dreamstime.com

In Oregon, officials have renamed South Eugene High School's teams the Axe. The teams had been named the Axemen for the past 90 years. But some said that was sexist.

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NEXT: A Nobel Peace Prize for Trump?

Charles Oliver is a contributing editor at Reason.

BrickbatsPublic schoolsOregonSports
Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Hide Comments (49)

Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.

  1. JeremyR   7 years ago

    But aren’t axes traditionally considered female? “The old battleaxe” is generally a way of describing angry, hag like women

    1. Roger the Shrubber   7 years ago

      The mascot should be the hag carrying an axe in one hand and the dismembered manhood of her victim in the other. It would strike fear in the opposing teams and be a true representation of the mindset of those who complained that Axemen was sexist.

      1. Roger the Shrubber   7 years ago

        A better idea for the logo:

        goo.gl/wM2QBZ

    2. Cynical Asshole   7 years ago

      “The old battleaxe” is generally a way of describing angry, hag like women

      Now we just call them “Hillary Clintons.”

    3. mad.casual   7 years ago

      Otis?

  2. Tom Bombadil   7 years ago

    “officials have renamed South Eugene High School’s teams the Axe”

    Christ, what an axhole.

  3. SQRLSY One   7 years ago

    I must axe: Why not rename the team the axepersons? That would be non-sexist, right?

    1. Get To Da Chippah   7 years ago

      Not inclusive enough. Maybe some individuals don’t identify as people at all. I propose they be called the Axe-entities.

      1. ipsquire   7 years ago

        The committee considered “Tree-Fellers” but though that might appear sexist to the less literate (what’s an Oregon redneck called?).

        1. Leo Kovalensky II   7 years ago

          “The committee considered ‘Tree-Fellers’ ”

          And promote violence against Gaia?? I think not…

        2. SQRLSY One   7 years ago

          “Tree-Fellers” leads straight to “Smart Fellers”, and then straight on to “Fart Smellers”, which would make teenagers laugh, and we just can NOT have THAT!!!

  4. Jerryskids   7 years ago

    They’re complaining about the sexism and not the violent imagery of an assault weapon designed to maim Mother Earth? I find that hard to believe.

    1. Inigo Montoya   7 years ago

      Mother Earth is too cis-gender. Calling xher Parental Planet is preferred. Just don’t expect to live free of charge in the basement (between core and mantle?) after graduation.

  5. BigT   7 years ago

    Why not assmen??

    1. sage   7 years ago

      Because it’s not Berkely.

    2. Inigo Montoya   7 years ago

      The Asshats would work.

  6. AlmightyJB   7 years ago

    If gender is a social construct than it wouldn’t matter if they called them the axemen, axewomen, axethey, or axeze because they would all mean the same thing. It wouldn’t matter, but it does, therefore gender must be a real thing.

    1. Rich   7 years ago

      Beautiful.

    2. Cynical Asshole   7 years ago

      Surely you’re not expecting logical consistency out of these dipshits?

  7. Thomas Grant   7 years ago

    Everybody sweats: it’s an easy fact of lifestyles. The actual problem comes while everyday sweat turns in to high-quality body odor. Smelling much less than fresh can cramp your style whether you’re on a date, at a process coursework writers interview or just chilling with the men.

    The key to keeping body odor and sweat under control is using a very good antiperspirant deodorant and topping it off with a few sprays of flame spray. Use a day by day fragrance like Lynx Apollo body spray at the side of an Antiperspirant like 48HR rate up safety to odor precise and stay blanketed from sweat.

    1. Griffin3   7 years ago

      This is too high-quality to report as spam.

  8. Inigo Montoya   7 years ago

    What happens when someone attacks inside a school using an axe and suddenly they become magical talismans capable of warping the minds and wills of anyone who touches one?

    An axe is just too problematic an image! The school mascot should be something like The Garden Hoes.

    1. MatthewSlyfield   7 years ago

      “and suddenly they become magical talismans capable of warping the minds and wills of anyone who touches one?”

      That’s nothing, Guns are magical talismans capable of warping the minds and wills of anyone who looks at a reflection of an image of one.

  9. Old Smokin' Egg   7 years ago

    As a person of Judaism, I’m triggered by anything that sounds remotely like “Axis”.

    1. Leo Kovalensky II   7 years ago

      Do you know who else played for the Axe(s)?

      1. Rich   7 years ago

        Axl Rose?

      2. Leo Kovalensky II   7 years ago

        Euclid?

      3. MatthewSlyfield   7 years ago

        Vikings?

      4. Aloysious   7 years ago

        Aimee Semple McPherson?

      5. Cynical Asshole   7 years ago

        Lizzie Borden?

  10. sarcasmic   7 years ago

    That’s cultural appropriation! They’re stealing from the Norsemen!

    1. Quo Usque Tandem   7 years ago

      The Norsemen were Northern European shitlords and as such they receive no cultural consideration. You can appropriate and stereotype Viking stuff without reservation.

      1. sarcasmic   7 years ago

        Oh yeah. I forgot that it’s only cultural appropriation if the culture is non-white.

        1. Leo Kovalensky II   7 years ago

          You’re so wrong. It’s only if it’s not cis-male white.

  11. Rich   7 years ago

    How about “the Acks”?

    As in “We Acknowledge your sensitivity.”

  12. Vernon Depner   7 years ago

    Axes are violent. How ’bout The Sporkpersons?

    1. sarcasmic   7 years ago

      They use sporks at KFC. KFC was founded by a white guy, but sells fried chicken. Fried chicken is cultural appropriation from black people. That makes sporks racist.

    2. Leo Kovalensky II   7 years ago

      We don’t like to spoon.
      We don’t give no forks.
      Knife your way right through that line.
      Rick’em rack’em SPORKS!

      1. Longtobefree   7 years ago

        You are under arrest for advocating violence at a school event. No knives!

        Oh, wait. Axes – – – – – –

    3. Zebra Jr.   7 years ago

      I carve your heart out with a spoon. I think that’s from a movie. Maybe they could be cheap plastic spoons, the kind that break?

      1. Bramblyspam   7 years ago

        Here’s the clip!

  13. Will Nonya   7 years ago

    Isn’t denying the masculine version also sexist?

    Just the right kind of sexist.

  14. JuanQPublic   7 years ago

    This is intellectual vacancy. It represents the wider loss of meaning going on, and yes, women are also casualties of it.

    This huge overemphasis of the apparent (“***men”) is merely topical, but somehow, it’s being regarded as important in this instance. It sends the message, “stop thinking” right past the shallowest depths.

  15. Longtobefree   7 years ago

    Major objective; modify the english language to make political thought of the right impossible. Accomplished.
    Minor objective; ridicule maleness at all times. Accomplished.
    Minor objective; disparage the past at all times. Accomplished.

    So in the claimed interest of helping females (and anything else considered female this week), we conclude that they are too fragile to deal with the fact that the English language has two genders; male and neuter. In addition, we replace the image of rugged individualist loggers with the unquestionably violent image of a weapon of war. Somehow this is a uniting action that will bring all students, parents, and administrators together. Well, except for the men, the individualists, and the literature scholars.

    I forget, in what part of California is Oregon?

    1. sarcasmic   7 years ago

      rugged individualist loggers

  16. This Machine Chips Fascists   7 years ago

    Tonight the Axe takes on crosstown rivals the Tree in the annual Neil Peart Classic.

  17. mad.casual   7 years ago

    Women’s sports teams with axes?

    Just think of all the nasty gashes and bloodletting!

    1. Fuck you, Shikha (Nunya)   7 years ago

      That’s what I’m always thinking of. Always.

  18. PaulTheBeav   7 years ago

    The word woman is sexist because it has “man” in it.

    1. Longtobefree   7 years ago

      Good on so many levels; thank you for the post.

  19. Colossal Douchebag   7 years ago

    Their mascot is an electric guitar?

    1. Longtobefree   7 years ago

      It would be, but electricity is based on carbon fuels, even battery electricity, so unless an acoustic guitar identifies as electric, no.

Please log in to post comments

Mute this user?

  • Mute User
  • Cancel

Ban this user?

  • Ban User
  • Cancel

Un-ban this user?

  • Un-ban User
  • Cancel

Nuke this user?

  • Nuke User
  • Cancel

Un-nuke this user?

  • Un-nuke User
  • Cancel

Flag this comment?

  • Flag Comment
  • Cancel

Un-flag this comment?

  • Un-flag Comment
  • Cancel

Latest

How Tariffs Are Breaking the Manufacturing Industries Trump Says He Wants To Protect

Eric Boehm | From the July 2025 issue

The Latest Escalation Between Russia and Ukraine Isn't Changing the Course of the War

Matthew Petti | 6.6.2025 4:28 PM

Marsha Blackburn Wants Secret Police

C.J. Ciaramella | 6.6.2025 3:55 PM

This Small Business Is in Limbo As Owner Sues To Stop Trump's Tariffs

Eric Boehm | 6.6.2025 3:30 PM

A Runner Was Prosecuted for Unapproved Trail Use After the Referring Agency Called It 'Overcriminalization'

Jacob Sullum | 6.6.2025 2:50 PM

Recommended

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS

© 2024 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

r

Do you care about free minds and free markets? Sign up to get the biggest stories from Reason in your inbox every afternoon.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

This modal will close in 10

Reason Plus

Special Offer!

  • Full digital edition access
  • No ads
  • Commenting privileges

Just $25 per year

Join Today!