We’re All Just Tritons

By Sawyer Labbe | Club Writer

Like most of you, I am extremely proud to be a Triton.

I remember being very impatient to become a Triton in middle school – so impatient, in fact, that I scribbled “Go Tritons!” on my 8th-grade yearbook.

Then I finally became a Triton. I put a big red T on my mom’s car. I bought an SCHS sweatshirt. And I didn’t even have to write “Go Tritons!” on my freshmen yearbook, because it was already there.

The only thing that bothered me was that people called all of the girls’ sports teams the “Lady Tritons.” Why is that? I am not a “Lady Triton,” any more than a boy at this school is a “Dude Triton” or a “Guy Triton.” Unless I’m somehow the only person at SCHS who doesn’t picture a team of white-haired old men brandishing tridents whenever someone says “Go Tritons,” I don’t see the need to be gender-specific. We’re all just Tritons.

But that made me think. I realized that all of the high school mascots in the area have one thing in common: none of them are female. They’re all either male or non-gender-specific.

We have the Tritons and the Dolphins and the Stallions and the Mustangs and the Diablos, but are there any Amazons? Any Sirens? Why is it that we’ve used up two different names for a horse (an animal that isn’t exactly native to Southern California), but we haven’t even considered using the name of a legendary tribe of fierce female warriors (whose male counterpart, the Spartans, are a widely popular mascot)?

I think it’s because, despite the tremendous social progress we’ve made toward gender equality, we still aren’t in a place where boys would feel comfortable with a female mascot – even though girls seem to be fine with male mascots. Honestly, if I were a boy, I doubt I would have been happy about being an Amazon, notwithstanding that they were powerful and feared fighters in their time. I certainly wouldn’t have written “Go Amazons!” on my 8th-grade yearbook.

However, as a girl, I am proud to represent the equivalent of a white-haired, long-bearded, trident-wielding old merman. Because I’m a Triton – but not a Lady Triton.

Do you agree/disagree? What do you think the cause or solution is? What else would make a good female mascot? Tell us in the comments!