No, we don’t have a lad ‘crisis’ on campus

Love them or loathe them – “lads” are everywhere.

On Saturday The Times published an article “Crisis on campus: the rise of the uni lad,” warning how a plague of lad culture was on the rise in universities across the country.

Highlighting the spread as a national epidemic, the infamous label applies to you if you “probably play a sport and will not be squeamish about misogyny”.

If so read no further – go and grab your latest copy of Nuts, take residence outside your house and feel free to shout out “slag” at every female that walks by.

Yes, fuckwits like this do exist, but does it mean the majority of boys should be labelled with this unfair stereotype?

Of course not. In reality, it applies to a select few.

We all know someone who always goes too far with the “banter”, managing to offend every boy, girl and cat insight. It’s not like they’re a new species, recently introduced to your unay life.

Probably referred to as “the one you should avoid at all costs” by your mum at the beginning of Year 7, this fool has been around forever and apparently he’s on the rise.

However not everyone chooses to live this thug life. The irony of the word “lad” has even changed over time. Now we’re more likely to say it to someone as a sarcastic remark rather than a genuine compliment.

Reinforcing this stereotype which many work to get rid of is not only damaging to the image of male university students, it’s scaremongering too.

You reckon boys think it acceptable to sexually harass girls at uni because they are “threatened by equality”? What a gross generalisation.

With Exeter launching their #NeverOK campaign at the start of the year, it highlighted the need to address such issues. The number of reported rapes is fewer in some student-heavy cities than in many other parts of the country.

Exeter and Leeds combined have an average of 3 incidents per 100 people of violent and sexual incidents compared to London for example, where the number is nearly double. Saying lad culture, and therefore assault, is exclusive to the “lads” is unfair and false.

While true of some, the vast majority of boys do not deserve this harsh and frankly absurd stereotype. However, this is in no way suggesting that sexual harassment is not on the rise or the number of non-reported rapes has risen.

But telling The Times “we could all be that guy”, as one student does, reinforces yet another gender stereotype.

Nobody wants to shed light on “the rise of the loose uni girl”…

In a report by the NUS in 2013 “laddism” was a form of masculinity. So what about girls, eh?

Hello

Casual sex and one-night stands (aka ONSs) are somehow sold as being a male privilege. This may shock you – but girls do it too.

You’ll call a boy disgusting or a misogynist when they play “pull the pig” or “harpooning” but what about when girls do it?

In Timepiece last term, a friend overheard two girls saying “mate, by the time I leave uni, I want to have slept with at least one boy from every sports team”, followed by an enthusiastic high five.

If a guy had said this, there would be uproar. Feminists across the country would be ranting on their social media platforms with the said boy in fear for his life. But this kind of behaviour from girls results in either:

1. being called a slag
2. being praised for being such a lad, or God forbid, a “lad-ette”

Double standards aye

We’ve all encountered a group of drunken idiots on a night out, and admittedly they sometimes belong to a sport society or two. But unknown to some, the “uni lad” is no new phenomenon, or infectious disease. It shouldn’t matter whether you’re on a sports team or not, a boy or a girl.

Maybe things will change if we reclaim the word to reflect people who are genuinely funny and respected, rather than idiots who think that downing a pint in less than 2 seconds will guarantee them a pull at the end of a night.

So surely the real “crisis” here is stereotyping half of the uni population in such a derogatory and unjust way when in actual fact, most boys are simply half-decent guys.