The word “lionesses” makes me cringe

[bottledjoyy]

I’m sorry, I know this is irrational but something about it just makes me cringe so much. I enjoyed watching the women’s football and am all for it, but for some reason the term “Lionesses” makes me shudder with cringe.
I feel like it just makes it feel a bit infantilising? I know it’s Three Lions but not like we constantly refers to the men’s team as “the lions”. I dunno it just seems patronising and cringe.

Just me? Haha

So the song “Three Lions” has been forgotten!? 1996. I don’t think it matters what the teams are called. I always have to check what tickets I’m booking for any sports now! In this house it’s men’s teams. It means more to us.

Three Lions originally represented England, Normandy and Aquitaine: all ruled by Richard I. England have always had this on their badge. They can share the lions.

Less than a week ago the president of the football association of the winning team thought it was OK to kiss a player on the lips without her consent.
Less than twenty years ago the head of FIFA suggested that the best way to increase the profile of the women's game was to for women to wear tighter, shorter shorts.
A nickname that references an apex predator in a sport where nicknames are common (almost all club sides have a nickname and many are as well know if not better known by their nickname than their full name eg Spurs) is not the problem. Any English football fan knows who the Canaries are, or the Baggies or the Hammers or the Imps or the Tractor boys so why not the Lionesses. I suspect the The Three Lions will increasingly be used for the men's team but they won't ever be the Lions as that is the British and Irish Rugby Union team, or in football Millwall.

Totally missing the point.

The men’s team are called England.
The players are referred to as England players.

The women’s team should also be called England and the players known as England players.

You don’t see Sky News referring to Harry Kane as “a lion” - it’s stupid

@ReadTheFiles do you think it is stupid when the news uses the term All Blacks?

Some people just like an argument. I’m happy that England men are England and the women have their own identity. Plus the men are Three Lions. We all know lioness team is England. Many countries differentiate their women’s team and why not? Why do they have to be the same as men? They keep saying their game isn’t the same (it’s moving towards it though) as they don’t argue! So be pleased with a separate identity.

Because the England men's football team are the Three Lions, not the Lions - that is the British/Irish rugby team. So you would have to refer to Kane as a three lion which is why it's not used that way.
Other international teams are referred to that way e.g. the Aussie men are referred to as Socceroos, male rugby players selected for GB&I are referred to Lions and male players up and down the land are referred to as their clubs nickname all the time.
My own beloved team Burnley are the Clarets and that is used in both reporting and conversation all the time. "Do you think Tella will be a Claret before the window closes?" "Weird to see Barnes as a Canary, to me he'll always be a Claret." "the Clarets are trailing 1-0 at half time" "check out this new podcast for all the latest Clarets news".
It not some plot to put the women's team down its just a short hand way to identify which team you mean. "Do you want a ticket for the Lionesses match?"
is far simpler than "do you want a ticket to the England women's football match". Just England doesn't indicate if it is football, cricket, rugby league, rugby union, netball or a dozen other sports.

@ManuelBensonsLeftBoot I think what this discussion shows is that women’s football has acquired new fans who don’t know anything about football culture. There’s a history to clubs and for some, it goes back to the 19th century. Local names are how local people describe their teams. Gunners, Hammers, Magpies and other names are universally known. Even the Kop at Anfield references the Spion Kop in the Boar War in South Africa early last century. It’s a history that cannot be removed and is understood by locals.

For the England women, lioness is a short and memorable way to describe a new phenomenon. Obviously the team isn’t that new, but they needed to harness a following by having their own identity. It’s that simple.

No one is belittling you if you want to continue calling them whatever you want, I just said it is a stupid name that was stupid 10 years ago but at least it was not used much and the 'nickname' is just planly unnecessary.

@Wouldyouguess why is a stupid name?

If you say something is stupid, and you haven't yet explained why it is stupid other than because you don't like it, then it belittles the people who do use it which is just rude.

They did need a name to differentiate them from the men. It’s that simple. It seems a name most can get behind.

I think what this discussion shows is that women’s football has acquired new fans who don’t know anything about football culture. There’s a history to clubs and for some, it goes back to the 19th century. Local names are how local people describe their teams. Gunners, Hammers, Magpies and other names are universally known. Even the Kop at Anfield references the Spion Kop in the Boar War in South Africa early last century. It’s a history that cannot be removed and is understood by locals.

It's not even football culture, it's sports culture in general ... we are all tribal about our teams, it's the point of supporting them and showing our allegiance to the team and that includes showing you're part of the gang - knowing the nicknames, the songs/chants, being able to identify a fan by just a few words alone etc - and it's easy to stand outside and mock because some people see such tribalism as childish or stupid - as evidenced by certain posters views.

Equally it's easy to mock the nicknames as many of them sound silly initially because the historical explanation of the name's origin has been lost over time (Eg Leicester City being the Foxes or Everton being the Toffees) or because there doesn't seem to be a clear connection between the team name and the nickname (eg Man Utd and Red Devils) etc but learning about why a nickname came into existence is part and parcel of becoming a fan of a team.

I've just been sitting watching the South Africa Vs New Zealand rugby world cup warm up game atm and the commentators have used SA/Springboks/boks and NZ/All Blacks interchangeably all through the game because both teams are known just as well by their nicknames (and even the SA nickname has an even shorter nickname) as they are by their official names. I'd love to see someone tell the Springboks that their nickname is stupid

Not sure supporting a football club is replicated in any other sport in the same way. Football culture is different.

I thin you are overreacting, if I say a film is stupid and you happen to like it, I am not talking about you, but the film. The name Lionesses is super corny, but this does not extend to calling fans of it such, also nothing wrong with having a corny taste really. Stop being so oversensitive.