Is our mascot truly as neander-enthralling enough to continue to be our mascot? Members of Girl Scout Troop 31817 contemplate the meaning of our school mascot, and whether it truly serves its purpose as a representation of our student body.
By Troop 31817 (Taylor, Vega, and Alexzya)
A mascot is a way to represent and give pride to the school it is a part of and its students. However, does the Caveman actually do this? This was a question that we thought was important to think about, as we are a part of the GPHS community. We realized that the use of the Caveman as a mascot did not really represent diversity in the student population, or create a fair and healthy example for students. To dive into this topic further, we decided to do more research, including reading outside articles and conducting a survey for the staff and students at our school.
We first asked some basic questions, such as what you identify as, and whether you are a student or a staff member. These questions were important, as they would later help identify possible trends in opinions. We then asked if interviewees were involved in sports. This was important, as the mascot is heavily involved in the sports community, and can therefore have an effect on the opinions of the mascot. Next, the survey asked about the mascot itself; for example, if you like the mascot and whether or not you feel pride when you see the mascot. This was to get a general idea on the opinions of the mascot itself. In the next question, we asked the opinion of the term “Lady Cavers'' given to female sports teams. This was an important topic to address because the term “Lady” given to female sports teams can delegitimize the team itself, and segregates them from the rest of the sports community who identify as “Cavemen”. We then asked if there were any other things that they would have liked to share about our mascot, to get a more detailed stance on one's opinion.
All three of us wrote about different topics. We researched information about our topics of choice. Using the responses from our survey and other outside articles about school mascots, we were able to form our own educated opinions about the GPHS mascot.
The Caveman originally became a town mascot in the 1920’s, when a road leading from Grants Pass to the Oregon Caves was opened and the Caveman Club was founded to promote the area. Since then, the Caveman has become a prideful representative of different town companies and even became the mascot of Grants Pass High School In 1924.
Although the Caveman is a source of pride in Grants Pass, as a high school mascot, it is not inclusive to all the students. This issue is brought up in the following article, South Eugene High School made the right call in removing gender from their mascot, by Lizzy Acker. Acker mentions the importance of the change in the South Eugene mascot, despite the fact that doing so went against their history. She brings up the point that “ 'we did something this way in the past’ isn’t a good reason to keep doing it.” Now, more than ever, there is more acceptance for students to be their own independent person, which isn’t something that was always a thing in the past. Another point that Acker mentioned was that “words matter. Names matter. What we call our mascots and our schools and our streets sends a message about what we value.” If what our school values more is history rather than a mascot that is inclusive to all students, then there is a problem. If we are calling our women’s sports teams by another name, it can show that we value a male mascot more than a large group of our students. Having a town mascot is one thing, but as a school, we need to show our students the importance of accepting and including others, and we cannot do that if our mascot is not inclusive to our students.
To start off, the Caveman is only represented as a male. This is a problem because it does not fully represent the diversity at the school and it is a gender-specific mascot. It also leads to us calling our female sports teams the “Lady Cavers,” which is not the same thing as the mascot. Other mascots, such as a hawk, are not seen as male or female mascots; the mascot is just a hawk. Mascots should not be seen as male or female. They should be inclusive to all genders. In a short survey asking about the school’s mascot and the term “lady” given to our women’s sports teams, one of the GPHS students answered, “I think it's very dumb to begin with how we have to adjust the naming of our mascot to represent such a large group of people. That alone should tell us that the choice of mascot we have is very flawed.” The Caveman is not used as the representation for the women’s sports teams, showing us that it is not accurately representing about half of the school. One staff member answered, “I feel that it is unfair to ask at least half of the athletes to use a special name that they may not identify with, while the other half get to use the mascot as is. It gives the idea that one is lesser than the other.” This response shows us that, not only does the mascot inaccurately represent the student body, but it also can give the idea that the women’s sports teams are not good enough to be represented by the mascot, which is not something a public school should want to say.
Some people like having the Caveman as our mascot because it represents our town and its past, but the past is not always the best place to live in. We need to learn how to evolve with the times. One student mentioned, “The art done for our mascot (that is shown on many school papers, websites, apparel, etc.) is very dated, old, and looks bad.” This art is how our mascot is represented, and it is in dire need of an upgrade. Another student said, “The mask and outfit could use a bit of an upgrade. The mask is creepy and the outfit is really falling apart…” The Caveman is not represented the way that a mascot should be, and the fact that it doesn’t represent the student body makes it worse. The Caveman does represent the history of Grants Pass, but if it is going to be the mascot for our school, it needs to be able to evolve so it can represent the students.
School mascots are generally supposed to represent the school population. However, the thing about our mascot is, in my opinion, how singular and specific it is. Since the Caveman is only seen as male, this leaves out the majority of students in the school. It does not give women, or any other gender or minority, a chance at representation, which puts students on unequal footing of importance in the school, whether or not it is intentional. The best example of this is the sports teams. We refer to the male sports teams as the “Cavemen” but the female sports teams as “Lady Cavers”. This, as many may argue, is the way we are inclusive to women in sports. However, the fact is that we should not have to be “inclusive” to women in sports. They already belong there, and the very fact that we have to give them a separate title de-legitimizes the women's sports teams themselves. The title does not even mention our actual mascot to begin with.
The mascot also portrays crude, outdated stereotypes. It is aggressive to the point where it comes off as more uncomfortable than peppy. It is really unattractive and a little creepy when shown in videos; but the worst problem is how it creates a double standard for the dress code. The dress code states, “Shirts and dresses must have fabric in the front, back and on the sides to their underarms and there must not be any skin showing between shirt/top and the pants, skirt, shorts whether the student is standing or sitting” (Student Handbook 24). However, the person who wears the mascot costume clearly violates this statement, and is allowed to get away with it. This was most recently shown in the school parking video (Link), where the Caveman is showing behavior that would not be acceptable in a regular school environment.
It is no secret that there is a gap between men and women in our society. An example of this is the pay gap. This can also be seen in the sports world. Women's sports teams are not as recognized as men’s teams, and it is not for lack of skill. A deep-rooted issue like this can seem normal because it starts early on. The separation based on gender can start as early as elementary school, and is definitely prevalent in high schools. Female sports teams being given different names than their male counterparts, despite representing the same school and mascot, is a big example of this.
From high schools to universities, schools all around the country have used the term Lady--and other forms of gendering a team--when referring to women's sports teams. While, at first, this may not seem like an issue to most, it can actually be a serious problem. In his article, ‘Lady’ Interrupted, Paul Steinbach states,"The University of Southern California calls its men Trojans and its women the Women of Troy." This not only causes a separation from the men and women's teams, but also excludes the women's teams from the school’s mascot. The mascot is the Trojans, not the Women of Troy. Women's sports teams are outshined by their male counterparts, and this gendering of their team name does not help.
A school’s mascot also contributes to the change in team names. At our school, the mascot is the Caveman. The boys and co-ed teams are all referred to as Cavemen while the girl only teams are referred to as Lady Cavers. In our survey, we asked what people thought of this. There were ultimately two different overall answers. “I like it because it is inclusive to women” was what a male student said, and most other responses we got that shared a similar view were also from male students. On the other side, we got responses like this: “I think that it definitely isolates us from the rest of our school teams. I don't really understand why they had to change it. It gives off that we aren’t strong enough to be cavemen or something.” This response was from a student who is a "Lady Caver;" many other responses from female students echoed this idea. It is important to look at the thoughts of those students who are a part of these teams.
In closing, the Caveman may be a beloved mascot for many, but it does not accurately represent the school and its students. Although the Caveman is part of our town’s history, it has become outdated for a school mascot. It promotes behavior that is not acceptable in school, and it separates the student body, especially in sports. This might not seem like a big issue, but if we continue promoting this behavior through a mascot, we are also promoting such behavior in our students. There are more staff members and students finding issues with our mascot, showing that our choice of mascot should be re-evaluated. Even a small change, such as the name of our mascot, could create a better representation of our school and make a big difference.
