The Orange County Otters unveiled their new mascot today and she goes by the name of Ophelia. When asked for comment on the decision Orange County Otters owner Andreas Hearst had this to say:
“Obviously the decision on what type of mascot to use was obvious. We believe the otter is a great mascot, as it displays the qualities we strive to match here in Orange County. As far as the name, I was always a great fan of Shakespeare, and the name Ophelia has stayed with me through the years. It seems really fitting to me to use this name.”
Historically mascots don't necessarily identify with a particular gender, but generally people default to applying the male “he/him” to a mascot. However, the Otters owner was very adamant that Ophelia is in fact a female otter, and cited the decision was made to make a statement. For whatever reason the Otters owner wants everyone to know that they are clearly not a sexist organization because of this, despite what stories may leak to the media.
“Obviously the decision on what type of mascot to use was obvious. We believe the otter is a great mascot, as it displays the qualities we strive to match here in Orange County. As far as the name, I was always a great fan of Shakespeare, and the name Ophelia has stayed with me through the years. It seems really fitting to me to use this name.”
Historically mascots don't necessarily identify with a particular gender, but generally people default to applying the male “he/him” to a mascot. However, the Otters owner was very adamant that Ophelia is in fact a female otter, and cited the decision was made to make a statement. For whatever reason the Otters owner wants everyone to know that they are clearly not a sexist organization because of this, despite what stories may leak to the media.
![[Image: wy5G3iI.png]](https://i.imgur.com/wy5G3iI.png)
![[Image: NyFlRc1.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/NyFlRc1.jpg)
![[Image: LWhJhPh.png]](http://i.imgur.com/LWhJhPh.png)
![[Image: ajPIy7x.png]](https://i.imgur.com/ajPIy7x.png)
