The first rule of Old Row: "No fat chicks."
In case you haven't heard of the popular college site that has increased its crowd drastically within the last few years, I'll be happy to give you all a rundown of what makes this social site famous.
Old Row classifies itself as "The Authority On Southern Collegiate/Post-Grad Life." Its site, www.oldrow.net, hosts more than 28,000 members and counting. Old Row's Facebook page has 14,000 likes, its Twitter has 166,000 followers, and its Instagram (the largest of its social platforms) has 262,000 followers.
Some of the quintessential Old Row posts include shaming of women for being "fat chicks," (their number one rule, which is proudly displayed on their merchandise, is "No Fat Chicks"), college party photos and their aftermath (ie - "shacker photos" of women and men), conservative political posts, including many involving Donald Trump and "Building the Wall," and their famous "Yeti Butt" photos, where women sit on Yeti Coolers and pose for those taking the photo. Some photos featured on the site only include photos of women's breasts in bikinis and do not even show a face. Below are some examples of Old Row's featured photos on their social media pages. (Caution: may be inappropriate for young children).
I could post many more, but I will spare all you readers. I have a huge problem with this site. It is apparent that this site is completely dehumanizing and objectifying the women that it features to its many followers. And, not only are there the images of the women posing with their backs to the camera on Yetis with flags, but there are the images that can only be assumed to be taken sneakily, with the women having no knowledge, as the last two photos above display. The site uses hashtags such as #ThongThursday and #ShackerSunday and blasts these images out to its huge fan-base. Now, I don't know about you all, but I think it seems pretty wrong that these women are being shown in an intimate situation and posted out for all to see with no knowledge. With that, the captions are even more troublesome. They boast comments such as "Git girl git" and "You can leave now." What makes me cringe is that the more rude and humiliating the captions are, the more likes and comments it receives.
This bothers me on many levels. It shows me that the more a man degrades a woman, the more praise it receives. With that, it is teaching a culture of young men entering college that it is acceptable to treat women like dirt. "Old Row says it's cool, so it must be." This is disturbing.
It also is extremely wrong to me that men can utter the words "No fat chicks" and be positively affirmed for doing so. I thought we had gotten past body-shaming in our culture, but it seems that a lack of body positivity is now on the rise. By no means am I a size zero, and to these standards, I am dubbed a "fat chick" by these men. I have actually been called such by men on my own campus, who said I broke the number one rule of Old Row. Now, quite frankly, I personally don't care what others think, but I do not condone that men should be able to get away with doing such things. Not to mention that when they do it, they are laughed at and exalted for it. Not cool.
Fellow readers, I urge you to reconsider what accounts you follow and who you model your behaviors after. While Old Row's styles may be what is trendy now on our campuses, I encourage you to look past the exterior fad and realize that these behaviors are what is wrong with our generation. Do not perpetuate these misogynistic attitudes. Instead, the next time you visit Old Row's account, hit the unfollow or unlike button and post a tweet or image glorifying body positivity and empowerment of women for their minds and inner beauty, not their body parts. Only when we all find the way to reject this negative trend will we find equality and happiness on our campuses.
