Letter to the editor: a case for campus party innovation
February 25, 2022
To the Editor:
As Shakespeare would say: what’s in a name? That which we call a handcuff party by any other name would still perpetuate unsafe power dynamics.
Sitting in my new seat of community-level sexual violence prevention work, I opened The Bowdoin Orient and was chagrined to see that “champagne shackles” has resurfaced. While I appreciate folks’ intentionality in how this particular event was planned, it is a great example of trying to fit a square peg of outdated party ideas into a round hole of the positive atmosphere you’re trying so hard to achieve. It’s particularly important to remember that social pressure to ‘consent’ to something is often actually ‘assent,’ and one must keep a critical eye on how power shows up and limits people’s agency to freely choose.
I encourage all of us to pause and question what we’ve been taught about party culture. Movies and shows, college alumni before you and other messages would have you believe that fun necessitates the discomfort of some partygoers, and that the good time of some should come at the expense of others. Those messages would try to silence those who worry how these ideas shape culture. There is an incredible opportunity to examine how sexism, racism, heterosexism, ableism and other oppressions permeate event planning at each stage. Many of the social gathering expectations we’ve inherited are deeply steeped in maintaining inequity; so, rather than taking broken themes and trying to amend them, start with a blank slate. Consider how you want folks to experience the party, and plan from there.
I know that Bowdoin students care deeply about creating safety and comfort at their events. In my experience, students hope to create events that are memorable, encourage folks to talk to new people and allow people to relax and have fun. So start there, be creative and if you find yourself developing complicated measures to maintain safety, trust your gut that you might be in a square peg and round hole situation, and begin anew.
When you flip through the archives of old Bowdoin parties, you see Bowdoin men with local women on their arms—their presence on campus only welcome as dates to social functions—a notable absence of faces of color and overwhelming markers of class wealth. When some folks grumble that parties aren’t what they used to be, these are the parties of yore that they’re venerating. Now that you’re the ones planning events, what do you want them to be?
To really illustrate what I mean, I’d love to close with an analogy. Historically, many buildings were constructed without the needs of folks with mobility concerns in mind. When designing a new building, it would make little sense to construct stairs and then lay a ramp over them for wheelchair users. You would ideally take a universal design approach and create a flat, ground-level entrance that everyone can use. So the next time you’re planning a party, don’t think about what has been, think about what could be and what works for everyone. Simply put, when people don’t feel safe, they aren’t having fun. A universally fun design evenly distributes power and centers safety and respect from the initial planning stages.
Sincerely,
Lisa Rävar
Lisa Rävar was a member of the Class of 2007. She served as Director of Gender Violence Prevention and Education at Bowdoin from 2015 to 2021.
Comments
Before submitting a comment, please review our comment policy. Some key points from the policy:
- No hate speech, profanity, disrespectful or threatening comments.
- No personal attacks on reporters.
- Comments must be under 200 words.
- You are strongly encouraged to use a real name or identifier ("Class of '92").
- Any comments made with an email address that does not belong to you will get removed.
Uncle Lester here. Wish I didn’t have to take time away from my afternoon of baking cinnamon bread and watching Jerry Springer reruns, but again I must speak up for generations of Bowdoin grads who read things like this and are left scratching our (fashionably salt-and-pepper) heads.
I’m not even going to address the article’s buzzword diarrhea that makes my head hurt and my gout flare up. That’s a generational thing (I guess?), and one I can’t address in 200 or fewer profanity-free words.
But what really gets me is the sense of fear that any current Bowdoin student must have when they want to have any sort of fun. Can you name one activity that would satisfy your definition of “universal fun” that couldn’t possibly be deemed as “unfun” by someone or some group? Handcuff party offends you? Don’t go. Cinco de Mayo party that you feel isn’t inclusive? Steal the tequila and leave. Love poetry readings? Knock yourself out.
Once you leave Bowdoin, you’ll no longer have the chance to police the world based on your feelings. You don’t like something? Don’t do it. Move on. Instead focus on things you do like – you’ll thank me someday.
Fine points, but the school seems to be dead set on eliminating college houses to turn them into other college functions. So there may not even be that many opportunities to throw innovative parties in the future. I feel sorry for current students.