Defining Offensiveness

I’ve noticed a strange trend taking place here at Dickinson College. People are beginning to protest events that previously never caused any problem. For some reason, certain traditional school events are now offending people. It all started a while back when the annual crush auction was held in the dining hall. As usual, people bid on the services of individuals and groups to benefit charity. But this time there were a group of people sitting at a table near the auctioneer holding placards that said things like, “People at this table are against the crush auction,” and “Slavery is bad,” or something to that effect. At first, I honestly thought it was a joke. I chuckled to myself thinking that this must have been something dreamed up by the wacky dining hall staff. I realized it was serious when I found one of the leaflets distributed by the protesters. It basically outlined that the crush auction was sexist and was making fun of important issues like slavery and human trafficking. I got the point they were trying to make, but I really didn’t feel that the crush auction was offensive and warranted a protest. I would have to say pretty much everyone in attendance agreed due to the enthusiasm for the event and the large amount of money it raised for charity.

The most recent of these occurrences occurred at the “Mr. Dickinson” mock beauty pageant. I was not there because of my current bitterness towards talent shows, this started when I was not aloud to perform my lurid stand up routine at the Apollo night talent show. All I really know is that some people protested the very principle of the show while at least one other person felt the material of the show was offensive.

So what is causing this discontent? Most of the arguments against these events seem to be focused on an allegedly sexist nature. I recall receiving a mysterious and cryptic e-mail from the head of the Women’s studies department telling us that something happened that offended some people, (we were never told what happened or how people were offended) and that there was hostility towards various groups of people on campus. To stop this hostility, the e-mail instructed us to ask ourselves how our environment affirms us. Although the vague nature of the e-mail made me dubious to the referred hostilities actual existence, I certainly felt that it should be addressed if it is actually a problem. However, the idea of our environment affirming us is pretty ridiculous. If you think that people are going to tell you you’re a good person for being yourself, you’re going to have a very tough time outside of college.

So do we live in a sexist environment? Although I am a man and can’t be certain how women here actually feel, I’m going to have to go out on a limb here and say no, this is not a sexist environment. The events being protested have been around for a long time and only recently have been declared sexist. I certainly support people’s right to protest these things, but I have to say it’s not very effective. The reason events like these continue to happen is because people like them. The alleged sexist nature obviously doesn’t seem to bother the vast majority of people here. Just because you may find something offensive doesn’t mean that everyone else does. So say what you want about these things protesters, but don’t expect there to be any serious changes, and don’t you dare try to use this as an excuse to bring about censorship.