Sexism at Edinburgh University: a male perspective

Are universities letting students get away with sexism? An article by Laura Bates published in the Guardian shows that this might be the case.

The article refers to research by the National Union of Students which describes the horrifying experiences that some students have to endure in their everyday life to accommodate a sexist society which pushes them to spend ‘hours “getting ready” due to pressure to look “effortlessly good” in the classroom or lecture hall.’ The article also describes how ‘joining a sports team requires stringent, often sexual initiations and events’, an unprecedented phenomenon in the history of higher education societies and sports teams.

The national awakening to the issue has thankfully brought many students to be able to talk about their experiences, and to open up on how they deal with having to endure sexism on a daily basis.

Nalin, 19, is a first-year student at the University of Edinburgh. Just last Friday, he was refused entry to an Edinburgh nightclub because he wasn’t with a girl. When he protested, he was told firmly that if he carried on questioning the bouncer’s decision he would be barred. Nalin was forced to end his night at the Hive.

Will, also a student, says that he too has been discriminated in Edinburgh. “My friends and I, all guys, were negotiating for a 3 person flat for next year. We were convinced that we fit the requirements and were confident that we would get it. In the end, however, the landlord signed with a group of three girls.” This is a common phenomenon: males are denied flats because landlords usually consider girls to be cleaner and more organized.

The last student that we interviewed, Pedro, has been living a nightmare since October when, as he reports, he slept with a fellow student. When, in the morning Pedro tried to find her on Facebook he found a post by the girl he’d taken home: “Slept with Pedro X last night: biggest penis I’ve ever seen. #pedrotheimpaler” Since then, girls will not leave him alone until he sleeps with them. “I can’t meet deadlines anymore. I am being forced to have sex 24/7.” Choking back tears, he manages to add: “I’m not taken seriously anymore. Women only want to have sex with me because of my humungous penis. But I’m more than that. I’m more than just my unnaturally large penis.”

How many males will think twice, in a society which objectifies them and limits their opportunities, before having a Cosmopolitan, wearing a bra or renting Love Actually for the night? How many women will go out into the world thinking that they can just sleep with a man only for his enormous penis (which, by the way, has been described as “bigger than the Eiffel Tower”)? How many more Pedros and Nalins and Wills will it take before we wake up and say no? No to discrimination, no to sexism and no to objectification?