Recently, an article written for Odyssey by fellow writer, Leah Grace Thompson titled, "College Is Not An Excuse To Lose Your Self-Respect" has caught a lot of attention. In the article, Thompson argues that just because college students are thrown into a culture where drinking and partying are so acceptable doesn't mean they should throw away their self-respect by acting "trashy". Some are praising the article for putting into words what some of us see every weekend, but others are lashing out at the sexist and condescending nature of the article. Although I do not wish to denounce her opinions, I think it is extremely important to look at some key quotes in the article and understand why the article is causing so much uproar.
1. "What is a boy with a mind shaped from social media and society, supposed to call a girl who throws herself at every guy every weekend, throws up all over at every party, and her clothes are half off her body by the end of the night, every time. Certainly not a grown woman."
So what is a boy supposed to call a girl that acts like that? A girl that lost control. That's it. I think the point that Thompson was trying to make here, was that the way you act on the weekend can have serious repercussions in both the academic and social spheres of one's life. While those repercussions should not be ignored, it doesn't make anyone less of a woman for partying. And some random boys' judgement of a girl at a party is not what defines her as a grown woman.
2. "Because let me tell you something, boys notice when you have self-respect. They love a girl with confidence and a girl that knows she's worth it. "
Thompson's point here is that confidence and self-respect are great qualities to have, but to generalize all boys was wrong of her. Also, placing more value on boys' opinions of a girl rather than the girls' opinion herself was out of line. This happens throughout the article, where the girls' values are judged by boys' opinions of her and that idea alone is very sexist.
3. "Because when you respect yourself you are more open to the respect of others. She's face down on the couch and your friend tells you to go hit that? You're better than that, go find the girl that managed to stay upright throughout the night. "
This is the most offensive and disgusting line in the whole article, but I don't think Thompson is condoning rape, like most comments on her article suggest. I think she is trying to get across the point that if girls respect themselves and keep control over their bodies then boys will see that and find it very attractive, however, using the image of a girl face down on a couch was the wrong way to drive this point home. Not only does this dehumanize the girl on the couch and praise the girl that kept herself "upright throughout the night", but it is telling a potential rapist that he deserves more than the sloppy drunk girl.
Essentially, the problem with this article is not the opinions it conveys, it is the language that is used that makes it sexist and condescending. If Thompson thinks that girls should respect themselves, that's her opinion and props to her for expressing it, but doing so in the context of "boys" and "parties" was wrong.
