In my post yesterday on intellectual property law and The University of Tennessee’s rebranding exercise, I noted my opposition to the abandonment of the Lady Volunteer brand. Some have questioned my stand on this issue as (although not using these words) old fashioned, anti-feminist, etc. Even my husband questioned me on the matter, asking: “How would you have felt if, in playing field hockey at Brown, the team was referred to as the Lady Bears?” Of course, some team names are not meant to “go with” the moniker “Lady,” in any event . . . . :>)
Some do see this as a simple issue of shedding the “separate and unequal” status of women’s athletics at The University of Tennessee. I can see how an outsider might see things that way. But the merger of the Knoxville men’s and women’s athletic departments two years ago (I will spare you the details) was accomplished in a way that is seen by some as sweeping inequality under the rug through homogenization that falsely signals equality to the outside world. Suffice it to say, I am not persuaded that the issue is this simple.
Others have contacted me on Facebook and in
