My friends are well accustomed to my feminist rants by now. But last week when I asked if anyone else had seen the “Colonial Mansion” party signs with the playboy bunny logo, none of us could believe that it was actually happening. (At least not at Colonial.) But sure enough, over the next few days more and more posters popped up around campus.
I'm not arguing that Playboy is the most sexist party theme that’s sprung up on this campus or on others. Just Google “sexist party themes” — people really come up with “creative” excuses to encourage women (and men) to wear as little clothing as possible or to highlight the belittlement of women. (The second link of that Google search actually leads to a Men’s Health Magazine article entitled “The 10 Sexiest College Party Themes” and includes themes such as “Bros and Hos,” which unsurprisingly also makes it on the most sexist lists the search brings up.)
But Playboy is just so overtly sexist that these posters stood out to me. Playboy earned its reputation as a magazine selling photos of nude and semi-nude women, often in an extremely objectifying manner, under the slogan of “entertainment for men.” Even Playboy’s current staff has realized how wrong these previous practices have been, as its editors recently announced that the magazine would no longer include fully nude photos, with a top editor saying, “It’s the right thing to do.”
None of these party themes ever explicitly require students to wear or not to wear certain apparel, but themes like “Capmandu” (essentially strippers) or “2 articles of clothing night” send a pretty strong signal of what is expected.
I don’t want to pass judgment on what women, or men, decide to wear out to the street. That is their prerogative, and every individual should be free to wear whatever they please. That being said, the reality is that social life at night here heavily revolves around the street. In order to fit in, it is understandable that students may feel compelled to dress in accordance with spoken or unspoken expectations, whether people truly feel comfortable dressing that way or not. We shouldn’t be encouraging situations through party themes that pressure students into wearing less clothing than they otherwise might choose to wear in public. This sort of pressure, especially if unequally placed on women, is problematic. Moreover, such themes often degrade and objectify women and their bodies. There isn’t anything fun or funny about them.
I understand that not every woman might feel trivialized or degraded when dressing up for these parties. In fact, some may even feel empowered by their sexuality, and that’s totally fine. But the reality is that some, if not many, women, and men too, both feel objectified and likely are objectified when they dress for these themes. We are all more than our bodies, and no one should be pressured into a situation where they feel like they aren’t respected for more than that.
Of course, there is an easy fix for this problem. There are infinite party themes out there; eating clubs don’t need to pick ones that explicitly objectify and insult people. Unfortunately some social pressures will inevitably still exist, but hopefully with different themes there will be less pressure to dress a particular way. Students are then free to wear whatever they please out to the street. This choice without undue social pressure is essential. Club leadership should be making a conscious effort not to select overtly sexist themes that create this undue pressure on women (or men). This same rule applies to racist or classist themes as well. Students should demand this from club leadership and refuse to attend parties that cross the line.
These sexist party themes are only the tip of the iceberg of a much larger problem of pervasive sexism on campus. A compilation of many little slights goes a long way to creating a hostile environment for women. I’ve had male students cut me off in seminar numerous times and never even notice it. Nor do most professors. Or if the professors do notice it, they do nothing about it, which perhaps is even worse. And this hasn’t just happened to me, but to many other women as well. And I see the eyes rolling when I or other students mention an interest in gender studies issues.
And while people might think all this behavior is harmless, it contributes to a larger problem on campus: an environment where we have fewer women leaders as the 2011 Sterling Committee on Undergraduate Women's Leadershipnotes and an increased prevalence of sexual misconduct. This linkage was briefly discussed at the Council of the Princeton University Community meeting after the We Speak survey results were released. Granted, none of these incidents on their own is the cause of these problems and addressing one of them won’t solve everything. But students, professors and administrators alike must put forth a conscious effort to create a more equal and friendly environment. Perhaps reexamining our party themes is one place to start.
Marni Morse is a junior from Washington, D.C. She can be reached at mlmorse@princeton.edu.
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