In 2004 Meghan McCarthy, a student at William and Mary, became grossly uncomfortable with one of her sorority’s and fellow frat’s Derby Day practice: a strip tease that would be judged by an actual college professor and fraternity brothers. When she decided to do something about it, her sorority sisters told her it would be “political suicide.”
Yet, McCarthy couldn’t shake her feeling of discomfort, “The event seemed to confirm so many negative stereotypes about women and men. That women valued, above all else, being seen as sexually desirable to these men. And that men wanted and encouraged the women to perform as objects for their entertainment.”
Scared of what would happen, it was only until next year that she considered boycotting. It was then that she was told this would be political suicide because these guys were popular and powerful. The sorority’s national advisor, a woman in her thirties, tried to talk McCarthy out of the boycott. So she gave up, again. Though the fight wasn’t over. Two years later, with the help of her friends and female professors, McCarthy organized a substantial protest against the obvious sexist event.
“We argued that performing a strip tease in college housing, with a college professor as a judge, made it seem like it was a college-sanctioned contest. The administrator we met with, who is now retired, appeared outraged that the fraternity would hold such an event.” The administrator spoke with the frat and the event still took place, this time most of McCarthy’s sorority boycotted it. This time school administrators took notice.
“In response to our complaints, William and Mary’s sorority council surveyed members on their opinions and attitudes towards Derby Days. They found that three-quarters of those surveyed said Derby Days encouraged ‘inappropriate behavior.’ Nearly 70 percent said they found some parts of Derby Days events degrading to women.”
McCarthy believed her efforts may have made a difference until just a few weeks ago sexism made news again at William and Mary frats. Remember that whole “save the sluts” email we covered? That was at William and Mary. Instead of addressing the issues of blatant sexism and alcoholism the school has decided it’s up to the students to change and have absolved themselves of any accountability.
“I’ve been working on the irresponsible drinking issue for a very, very long time. And I’ve done all sorts of things here and at Princeton and my ultimate conclusion is the institution can talk about it until hell freezes over, but it’s the kids themselves who are going to have to make a decision about saying, for example, ‘You’ve had enough, stop drinking,’” William and Mary President Taylor Reveley said. But what about the degradation of women?
Reveley has basically given up and wants students to police themselves, “But in the final analysis if the peer won’t say to a peer… ‘Uh, don’t do it,’ you can only make so much progress.”
It’s one thing to have a bunch of girls strip tease for a few guys at their own volition, privately. It’s another to hold an event, largely influenced by peer pressure (as you can see, as soon as McCarthy spoke up people tried to shut her up for years) that is sanctioned by the administration that requires women to degrade themselves for the pleasure of their male peers. Especially when the incident of sexual assault and misogyny is at epidemic proportions specifically on college campuses and in this particular school. We give props to McCarthy for standing up to a political system yet we can’t shake the feeling that there is oh so much more work to be done.
[Via. The Atlantic /Shutterstock/Wallenrock]
