Sexism on the rise in Universities

Do you remember that scene in Mean Girls When Cady goes to Aaron Samuels’ Halloween Party?

‘Halloween is the one night of the year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.’ This rings shockingly true amongst many freshers events, where there remains this pressure for girls to objectify themselves in order to ‘fit in.’

The sexualisation of female students is on the rise

‘Slag and Drag’, ‘CEOs and Corporate Hoes’, ‘Rappers and Slappers’, ‘Tarts and Vicars’:  the list is endless and no this isn’t the x-rated section of your local Ann Summers but rather the dress code of Uni affiliated Freshers’ Week events, pressurising women to objectify themselves in order to satisfy the macho nature of Freshers’ Week. Some private parties have even had the theme of ‘rape victim fancy dress.’

Bristol universities are not exempt from these events either; Oceana holds wet t-shirt competitions (female only) and there is also Carnage, the latest one taking place yesterday with a theme of ‘Pimps and Hoes’.

It isn’t surprising these events take such a derogatory tone when the Carnage website is endorsed by the likes of Loaded and Nuts. The reoccurring trend seems to represent men in positions of high talent and power whilst women are represented merely for their sexuality.

On further research it seems that sexism and discrimination doesn’t end there. In one horrific incident, it has been reported that a group of male first years in one university, had bragged of an activity called ‘slut-dropping’.  This involves a group of male friends driving around town in the early hours, offering women they deemed ‘sluts’ lifts home.

Once the women are in the car, they drive far away as possible in the opposite direction before forcing the woman out of the car and filming her as they drive away. This is part of a disturbing new trend called ‘slut-shaming’.

Many would happily brush this all off as ‘harmless banter’ and some would argue that women have the option not to attend these events. However, as a Fresher at a vulnerable stage in life, there is pressure to attend the events to avoid the risk of having no friends or seeming ‘uncool’.

What is certain is that students, both male and female, feel that sexism is not yet dead, as The Everyday Sexism Project has proven. The project is a website that allows women and men to report their experiences of sexism. Below is a list of some of the entries over the past couple of days submitted by university students.

While waiting for the ladies rugby team to finish their practice drill on the big pitch so we (the men’s team) can start ours, coach says “Ok, we’ll wait for the lesbians to finish.”

A female tutor, during a seminar on collaborative working and awareness raising in the community suggested that ‘anything featuring a lot of pretty girls and very little clothing usually gets your message heard’ – she also added that her daughter had been involved in something of this nature recently. Without. Any. Irony. Great role model.

The student newsletter ‘Student Beans’ sent out an article explaining the ‘8 types of girl you will meet at uni’ – women are not there to be categorised! They were so stereotypical, like the anime fan and the book worm. Needless to say, I unsubscribed.

As swearing is frowned upon in my college my tutor often tells my classmates off for bad language. When a male student swore his first reaction was ‘watch your language’. When a female classmate swore he said ‘ladies don’t swear’. I told him how I felt about his choice of words in a polite way, only to be deemed by my male classmates as a ‘Feminazi’.

For more information visit everydaysexism.com.