|
http://blogs.thetimes.co.za/britten/2007/10/04/is-the-daily-sun-an-insult-to-black-people/
Okay i really had a problem commenting on this person's blog but nonetheless i have made a plan. I totally agree with the comments made and the message behind this topic.
By Samantha de Villiers
Most students at Rhodes University have noticed the boy/girl ratio and the serious overpopulation of girls in Grahamstown. The question is not why there is this unbalanced ratio but more the question of what are the implications of it. In my opinion, coming from a girls perspective, the significance of this disequilibrium between genders creates a semi-hidden sexual tension among girls. There has always been an assumed 'cattiness' about the way girls treat each other, but never before has it been so blatantly approached. The more girls to one guy the more the female population of Grahamstown feel the need to elevate their association with the opposite sex. What is meant by 'elevation'? Indeed, I am referring to girls feeling they should 'put themselves out there' more, meaning that moral boundaries are a thing of the past!
Although Grahamstown, in general, has a fairly relaxed approach to life, what goes on behind closed Res room doors is no mystery. As one student said, “It's so easy to 'get laid' at Rhodes, it's all about who you know and whether they're willing”. But the behaviour is not only like this when no body's watching. The female allegiance has disappeared within Rhodes, girls feel more inclined to side with boys rather than girls, for one simple reason. Girls are threatened. A cheating boyfriend is never to blame, it was the fault of the assumed flirtatiousness of the other girl and her inability to keep her claws off her man. It's this kind of mentality that is slowly destroying the romance in the world today. I seem like a bit of an idealist, I'm sure. But realistically speaking, romance is already dead. The newest gossip on campus is about two first-year students that are engaged after a month of dating, would this ever happen a decade ago? This strikes me as a desperate cry for attention and a blunt sign of immaturity. Why would any student just beginning their independence, make one of the most sacred binding promises between two soul mates, if not for the comfort of decreasing the risk of this savage game of courtship played by students today.
The age-old game of courting and abstinence has come to a grinding halt. Men are not used to making the decisions or having to say 'no', and women are not familiar with such a lack of morality. It's almost like the world is in turmoil. Kissing means nothing and sex is meaningless, when everything is already done, what next? That is why there is such a thrill in doing what is wrong because people are becoming more and more numb to issues of the heart and the natural high it provides. How could we let something this destructive eat its way into our small Rhodes community, let alone allow ourselves to be controlled by 'the game'.
It's not about addressing the issue of abstinence or the risks sex involves, nor about the approaching the problem of morality. It's about calling back the link girls lose when they are distracted by competition. Addressing the fact that there is a code to be followed and compliance with the code is vital in every aspect of life. Because matters of the heart are the hardest subject to resolve especially when they are this out of control.
First Year Experience in UPM - Malaysia Students Blog
I have had a similar experience to you regarding the "stupidity of seniors" you have encountered in your first year at uni. My university, which is in South Africa, also has an orientation week, which is run by senior students. I also found their attitude to be negative towards the younger students and their behaviour to be similarly immature. These issues are highlighted in one of my posts, First Years Demand Your Respect, which is found on my student blog. I find this issue to be an important one in today’s society as people are told to respect those above them, even when those above them are immature and negative. Hopefully my post will entertain you regarding this issue and I am sure you will agree with my point of view. My blog is called Balancing Beams and deals with student issues and life as a first year student. I found your post to be quite relevant to how older students behave in my experience of being a first year.
tapuna: TAKE OUT YOUR CARD BLACKIE!! HERE COMES THE CPU
Reading your piece was very entertaining partly because I noticed a lot of spelling errors. It is also evident that you were emotionally charged while writing this, in the structuring of your sentences as well as the words you chose to use. I also found that the comments you made in this piece, although it is an opinion piece which highlights how you feel about security guards and the CPU, are just assumptions which you deem true. Your opinion piece is very weak because it is charged with too much emotion which ruins the potential message that could have been sent across. Although there are many important points, there are just as many mistakes. First of all the CPU uniform is navy blue not black, the security guards with the black uniform are from a private company. Secondly your main argument is centred on experiences you and your friends faced, so you can’t assume that this has happened to every black group of guys. You also assumed that the guards are always ‘wearing unsmiling faces’ and that they hate black students because they are ‘angry and jealous’ of us. I don’t think you have the authority to make such statements about people you hardly ever speak to. You don’t know what their background is so you can’t pass your judgements based on mere assumptions. You also contradict yourself by saying that you don’t think you’re better than then and yet you say "they feel threatened by us because they realise that soon they will be working for us".
Rhodes is a dangerous jungle where the opportunity for Seal clubbing is rife. The concept of seal clubbing stems from the inhumane killing of baby seals, the definition can be found at: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=seal+clubbing. The Rat and Parrot, Union and Friars are the hunting grounds for second, third and fourth year students. The result often ends in disaster with a tarnished reputation. However, the question is this: who are to blame the hunters, or the hunted?
Writing from a female perspective, I feel that both parties should be held accountable for their actions. However, this still does not justify the idea of taking advantage of first years simply to win a game. Phillipa Reinders commented,” I felt so uncomfortable in first term, I felt like I was just a piece of meat and no one actually cared who I was.” This is an opinion shared by many first years, however, one has to ask, why have fourth years taken such an interest in first years? This leads me to believe that, once being first years, they fell prey to the seal clubbing antics and did not maintain friendships within their year, and so the cycle continues as each group of first years arrive. However, Beckett commented, “I think that when older boys take interest in us it’s like winning a trophy when you kiss them, I also think that in some cases girls are making a point by breaking away from high school.” This is a view where the hunted may be blamed for their actions as they were aware of the repercussions.
The general consensus around campus is that the ratio to boys is outrageous and is bordering 4:1; this has lead to some cut throat competition in order to be noticed; all hopes of finding your soul mate are quickly crushed and more than often, you find yourself doing things you would never normally consider. For example, digs formals, where the object is to dress promiscuously, get drunk and in most cases kiss your partner. The idea of dressing up as an ideal fantasy and playing games that have sexual connotations is both insulting and condemning towards women; even more so when they are branded “sluts”. However, I want to raise the controversial issue of why men are labelled players, yet women are sluts when they both do the same thing. Coming from an all girl’s school, I have seen firsthand that in many cases girls are more judgmental and often are the catalyst for labelling other girls “sluts.” it is hypocritical to say that the above issue is unfair when many girls contribute to slander, furthermore, even when they are promiscuous, when it doesn’t hurt anyone else, why should that wrong? We claim to live in a liberal society; however, it is issues such as these that directly contradict our beliefs.
I believe that there is so much to learn about ourselves and that we are in fact “baby seals,” however, I think that we should take more responsibility for our actions and stop shifting most blame elsewhere. We are all individual free thinking human beings, therefore, we should be aware of the risks we take and look at our own morals and consider whether we are in fact simply continuing the cycle that we so hate.
Cruiser's Lac: taking the trip without trippin': What is all the fuss about????
I felt that the arguments you made in your opinion piece held little strength, as you do not have the authority to make the assumptions you do, such as "I do not know why alcohol consumption has become such an issue". Your argument has no authority in truth as your beliefs are based on your own personal experiences, which is one of a balanced student, which is a lucky position you find yourself in. The truth is that the majority of party-goers at Rhodes do become the "stereotypical" drunk; you have only seemed to hear about and not experience. I personally know students who have fallen into the trap of seeing their own social time more important than their academic time. As a point of reference, a Thursday morning at Rhodes University is like a ghost town in which the students are too busy sleeping the last night off instead of coming to lectures. This is an embarrassing fact about studying at Rhodes. I also cannot agree with your assumptions about peer pressure as once again you do not have the authority to make such claims, "I never felt the pressure from any others to drink" You might not have but a lot more students than you have felt this pressure and sometimes it is impossible to say no. You cannot base your experience on such a general issue, your argument needs input from thousands of students and not just one biased opinion.
Twenty years ago you could not mention the acronym “ANC” for fear of being thrown into a jail cell for threatening to over throw the government. Twenty years ago the “no-no” words were “Freedom of speech”. These days the one word that sends shivers down every politically correct yes man is “censorship”. We’ve evolved far too much since the 1980’s to possibly even utter that horrific word. Censorship does not exist in today’s society. That is at least what we are constantly reassured. This opinion piece is centred on a debate that I have heard many people arguing over the span of my short life. At University, however, one stops hearing the generic forms of the argument and instead receives some actual substance. This debate is the typical freedom of speech versus censorship argument except with a bit of a twist. Instead of the usual “I got in sh*t for spray painting ‘evil homophobe with a small penis’ on my principal’s wall, but they cannot shut me up because I have freedom of speech” style argument. In fact I want to steer clear from that angle completely and the question that I’m asking is where is the line drawn? We can all go around parading our freedom of speech bubbles but sometimes I feel like there should be a way to make someone shut the hell up.
I heard a story the other day that made me partly want to tear up at the eyes and partly walk around with a baseball bat embedded with sharp nails. A friend of mine who has a few facial piercings was walking through pick ‘n pay when a middle aged man and his two daughters passed her. The fully grown man then turns to his daughters and says something along the line of, “look at that freak”. I do not think that people like that man should be allowed to procreate let alone have the freedom to choose his own words. If I had it my way that man would have every word from now until the day he dies scripted for him. It is people like this man who make me wish that we had some sort of device that could force people to eat their own words.
The thing is that I may be coming off as a bit of a hypocrite to my friends who know as the girl who WILL get punched in the face one day. The difference is that I joke with people and people like that joke about people. I am not Miss P.C. but in the past few weeks I have started to believe that the line between freedom of speech and hate speech is often blurred. For example a columnist as popular as David Bullard gets fired from the Sunday times and the media is at full attention. An incredible racist group is created on facebook and the only way that I heard about it was through my journalism lecturer. Seems a little bit strange doesn’t it?
I am going to leave this opinion piece open ended so as to encourage debate. If you would like to comment please do so. I would also like to know how many people out there find this column by satirist Ben Trovato as humorous and how many find it revolting? I will post my own answer up next week. http://www.iol.co.za/general/other/lol_container.php?click_id=2904&art_id=vn20080408055345915C514014&set_id=40
|
|
|
|
