Feb
17
Last week I wrote a post about the UCC Tramps ball after receiving an email from a UCC student branding the event sexist.
Opening the feminist.ie email yesterday, I was delighted to find the below email from the UCC equality officer (whom I sent a link to the blog post):
“Please see below the reply from the Entertainments Manager and Officer.
“I am writing to reply to the issues raised with regards to the UCC Students Union Tramps Ball 2011. Having reviewed the text and tenure of the advertising for this event the Students Union has decided to cease all association with Tramps Ball in the Savoy 17-02-11.
We are in the process of having the Facebook page promoting the event closed down. We have asked the Deputy President of the SU to have all references to the Tramps Ball in the Savoy removed from the www.collegeroad.ie website.
We are removing the event from the Raise and Give Week entertainments itinerary. We expect to have all of these measures completed by close of business today ( Feb 15th).
We deeply regret any offence or upset caused and will do all in our power that there will not be a recurrence of this.”
It’s brilliant to see that the issue has been raised and dealt with. A decision Trinity could definitely learn from.
Tagged: naked for charity, Sexism, sexist college events, Sexualised society, Trinity College, University College Cork
Jan
19
This year’s Trinity students can kick off the year with the Gumball Challenge.
If you’re a guy, this might include drinking from a water gun.
If you’re a girl however, you can be challenged to take of your pants, pin a Playboy bunny tail to your underpants and have some red-handed guy grab you while a photographer is taking a close-up of your ass.
Or you can have your picture taken while you’re having a tattoo done. Somehow the picture might turn out looking like you’re posing for a lads’ mag rather than actually having an impromptu tattoo made though.
Alternatively, you can drink from a tube, but have a picture taken making it look like you were actually making out with your friend.
And then all these pictures can be used to sex up a poster for next year’s event. Brilliant!
For a university still operating with rule books from the 16th century, they’re pretty liberal when it comes to allowing their students to spread sexism and contribute to the sexualisation of society.
It didn’t take many months living in Dublin before I lost count of how many sexist posters I’d seen in there.
For some reason, it seems to be okay with staff, students and board members of Trinity college that every person walking through campus, including students’ potential future employers and thousands of tourists, is greeted with breasts and half-naked asses promoting the next event organised by the agricultural society or something similarly irrelevant.
If anyone wondered how it came about that senior associates at PwC, a highly regarded financial company in Dublin, sent around sexist emails rating female staff members last year, the tolerance for such culture in top educational institutions possibly accounts for some of it.
If the gender equality society is still active, I suggest they gather all the sexist posters over the next term and make an official complaint.
If Trinity is half the brilliant educational institution breeding the country’s next elite they like to promote themselves as, they should demand that their students come up with something better than an ass the next time they want to promote an event.
Tagged: Sexism, Sexualised society, Students, Trinity College
