Shiftless2
Well-known member
It doesn't just happen at Cornell and not only in the US
A sign displayed outside an off-campus house during St. Francis Xavier University's homecoming weekend has sparked outrage in Nova Scotia, raising uncomfortable questions about misogyny, sexual violence and the culture surrounding university campuses.
The banner read: "Drop-off zone: Acadia girlfriends."
Some might dismiss it as a joke. But for women who have experienced sexual harassment or assault, the message carries a different weight.
St. FX mathematics professor Tara Taylor photographed the sign after seeing it while driving with her child.
"I don't want to contribute to the silence around it," she told CBC News.
Taylor, who has taught at St. FX for 22 years, says students regularly confide in her about experiences of sexual assault and the devastating effects on their personal and academic lives.
She argues that the sign reflects a much larger problem that women at the university have been raising for decades.
Both St. FX and Acadia University have condemned the display.
Acadia said the sign encouraged sexual violence against its students and described the incident as part of a society-wide problem.
After initially describing the sign as offensive, St. FX issued a stronger statement explicitly rejecting misogyny, gender-based violence and attitudes that contribute to rape culture.
The university says it intervened twice to remove the banner after it was reposted and has referred the matter to its disciplinary process.
CBC's reporting highlights the concerns of women working and studying in university communities, where institutional promises about consent and safety must be reflected in everyday campus culture.
And Taylor raises an important point: university leaders, coaches, team captains and other influential men need to participate in challenging these attitudes.
Because when women are routinely reduced to sexual objects, and that behaviour is defended as harmless humour, it becomes harder to build environments where everyone feels respected and safe.
How do we change campus cultures where degrading women is still treated as entertainment? And what responsibility do universities and student leaders have to confront it?
SOURCE with comments
Have to see what the school's disciplinary process leads to
A sign displayed outside an off-campus house during St. Francis Xavier University's homecoming weekend has sparked outrage in Nova Scotia, raising uncomfortable questions about misogyny, sexual violence and the culture surrounding university campuses.
The banner read: "Drop-off zone: Acadia girlfriends."
Some might dismiss it as a joke. But for women who have experienced sexual harassment or assault, the message carries a different weight.
St. FX mathematics professor Tara Taylor photographed the sign after seeing it while driving with her child.
"I don't want to contribute to the silence around it," she told CBC News.
Taylor, who has taught at St. FX for 22 years, says students regularly confide in her about experiences of sexual assault and the devastating effects on their personal and academic lives.
She argues that the sign reflects a much larger problem that women at the university have been raising for decades.
Both St. FX and Acadia University have condemned the display.
Acadia said the sign encouraged sexual violence against its students and described the incident as part of a society-wide problem.
After initially describing the sign as offensive, St. FX issued a stronger statement explicitly rejecting misogyny, gender-based violence and attitudes that contribute to rape culture.
The university says it intervened twice to remove the banner after it was reposted and has referred the matter to its disciplinary process.
CBC's reporting highlights the concerns of women working and studying in university communities, where institutional promises about consent and safety must be reflected in everyday campus culture.
And Taylor raises an important point: university leaders, coaches, team captains and other influential men need to participate in challenging these attitudes.
Because when women are routinely reduced to sexual objects, and that behaviour is defended as harmless humour, it becomes harder to build environments where everyone feels respected and safe.
How do we change campus cultures where degrading women is still treated as entertainment? And what responsibility do universities and student leaders have to confront it?
SOURCE with comments
Have to see what the school's disciplinary process leads to
