CANADA
Huffington Post
[with video]
Toula Foscolos
“SMU boys, we like them young…
Y is for your sister…
O is for oh so tight…
U is for underage…
N is for no consent…
G is for grab that ass..”
Offended, ladies?
Oh, you shouldn’t be. It was all just “in good fun.” Just a silly chant that, has apparently, been going on for years during frosh week activities at St. Mary’s University in Halifax. What’s that you say? Derogatory to women? Nonsense! Lighten up…
For as long as feminists have been complaining about sexism, they’ve been accused of not having a sense of humour. Of not getting that “it’s just a joke.” It’s the easiest — and frankly, the laziest — way for someone to dismiss an actual concern, because, saying that something wasn’t meant to be “intentionally offensive” doesn’t, of course, prevent it from being so. That’s just wishful thinking.
Listen… I get it. I was a university student once, too. I remember the excitement and newness of it all. Rare is a frosh week that goes by without some sort of controversy and displays of bad taste. Mix young, excitable students with peer pressure, the desperate need to fit in, and loads and loads of alcohol, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for all sorts of unacceptable behaviour, and inevitably some sort of PR fiasco. But there are limits to what one considers acceptable, even during a week specifically designed to cross the line.
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