A Dedicated Space “For all the Hotties of Melbourne Uni to be Viewed”

12/4/2016

LAURA BLANDTHORN
Online only - 12 April 2016
Recently, the ‘Hotties of Melbourne Uni’ Facebook page popped up in my news feed...

This so called ‘community’ is an initiative of faceless people. The administrators are conveniently sheltered by the blanket of online anonymity, rendering them unaccountable for any wrongdoing. Why are the administrators anonymous? One can only speculate; I doubt it is for any noble reason. Presently, the page is liked by just over 13,000 people, including students of the Law School. MLS students do not make up a large proportion of the followers. However, the Grattan street divide does not remove us from the responsibility of addressing campus wide issues.

Both men and women are featured on the page. Noticeably the men tend to attract sarcastic comments that poke fun, whereas the females attract commentary of a far more sinister nature. Typically, a simplistic, sexual joke about the featured “Hotties” area of study is included in the headline of each post. The latest claims that a biomedical science student “will give private anatomy lessons ;)”. The commentary following a post reeks of sexual harassment, and gives one the feeling that all the creepy people lingering in bars have finally found each other. More specifically, comments refer to the type of sexual practices followers would like to engage in with the “Hottie”; speculation about the sexual practices of the “Hottie”; ratings of physical appearance of the “Hottie”; and questions regarding the relationship status of the “Hottie” featured in the post.

When I saw this page, I was angered for several reasons. The most pertinent being its perpetuation of rape culture. This is most clearly demonstrated by the way it normalises predatory behaviour and is seen in comments such as “shoot me with a tranquilliser right now before I go out to hunt!”, “Geez she'd get it” and “This bloke doesn't take no for an answer”. One post even has details of where the “Hottie” can be picked up. These ‘smaller acts of sexual violence make larger crimes possible’ (*see below) and should not be excused by those who ought to know better.

Apparently, “Hotties” can send the administrator a personal message to request the removal of a photograph. This leads to the conclusion that not all “Hotties” consent to the use of a photograph of them. It is clear from some of the comments that this is the case. Even if some do consent, their permission does not excuse the page. Claims to the contrary echo the phrase ‘she asked for it’. I sent a message to the page asking for clarification on this point and received no reply. I wonder how responsive they are to messages requesting removal?

To top it all off “Hotties” are treated as property. You don’t need a course in property law to know that. “Sold: I'll trade you 6 goats and 100 gold pieces” is the clearest example of this backwards way of thinking. These ideas are repugnant to the very basic norms of our society.

When choosing to like this page people may have thought they were engaging in a bit of fun. Perhaps, they were swept up in the whirlwind of a Facebook trend. But, if you follow this page, or like posts from other similar pages, you need to take the time to think about what your ‘like’ really means. Hiding behind the hollow gloss of false humour is a space that enables and most worryingly normalises sexism and predatory behaviour. It is a space in which people are promoted as property, commoditised as mere objects and stripped of their consent.

Every ‘like’ promotes the page, it allows the misguided ideology of the page to trickle into the newsfeed of your friends, your family and the community of this university. Every ‘like’ validates the abhorrent statements of the commenters. This space captures the casual sexism and everyday predatory behaviour that contributes to rape culture.

After viewing the page I sent a concerned e-mail to the MLS faculty. I was advised that the University was aware of the page and simply have no power to remove it because it is a private page. From all accounts they absolutely do not approve of it. The best I could do was report it to the ‘safer community program’ which yielded no remedy.

There are many things that the University can do to make our campus safer—but really—this one is on us. The success of this page comes down to the fact that it has an audience, an audience of students, students from The University of Melbourne. Goodness knows we’re keen for an online debate. We hardly shy away from grand Facebook show downs. So it’s time to get cranky and take some action. Not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because the mere presence of this page damages the purported excellence of our institution. It compromises the safety of our campus.

I have made a petition to send to the administrator, in the hope of getting the page shut down. If I do not receive a response I will comment on every post with details of the petition.

If you have 'liked' the page, now is the time to 'unlike'. If you have friends that ‘like’ the page let them know today that this is just not okay.

Let us set the standard of what behaviour will be tolerated by our community.

https://www.change.org/p/hotties-of-melbourne-uni-community-page-remove-the-hotties-of-melbourne-uni-facebook-page

Laura Blandthorn is the President of the Later Law Student Network and welcomes Law Students to come say hello at the LLSN networking evening on the 21st of April, 6.30pm at The Last Jar.

*Savage, Ellena ‘Rape culture in life and theory [online]’ Eureka Street, Vol. 22, No. 21, Nov 2012: 23-24.

This article was today published in The Age.

More De Minimis - other articles like this:

Karen Philippzig

12/4/2016 04:20:23 pm

Hi Laura,

I commend you on your stance and determination to get people thinking about their "harmless" actions.

It reminds me of a relevant article published earlier this year of a small study at a university in America that found that 1 in 3 men would force a woman in to sex if they knew no one would find out and there would be no consequences. This number dropped when researchers added the word 'rape' in to the question, suggesting that the men didn't equate forcing a woman in to sex as rape. (Read full article here http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/01/11/3610327/college-men-forcible-sex-study/ )

As the mother of a teenage boy, I am familiar with the comment "It doesn't mean anything," but I am very aware that it does, otherwise the sexual assault of women would simply not exist. I am trying to teach him that women are to be respected and treated in the same way he would expect to treat a female member of family. Pages like this do not help teach young men this lesson.

Thank you for being a part of the right lessons.

Karen

Stirling

19/4/2016 09:24:10 pm

I wonder Karen, if you agree with the recent 'study' that explores British Muslims and their beliefs on Homosexuality, Polygamy and their desire for a separate 'Islamic Life"
(http://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/04/why-do-we-pretend-that-all-muslims-are-sweet-smiley-and-integrated/)

Do you believe everything you read on the internet or see on your social media pages?

How about an article discussing the very 'small study' you cite concerning the '1 in 3 men would force a woman into sex" called "Exaggerating With Statistics (About Rape)
( https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/pop-psych/201601/exaggerating-statistics-about-rape)

"There's already something of a bait-and-switch taking place, then, but this is far from the only methodological issue involved in deriving that scary-sounding 1-in-3 figure. Specifically, Edwards et al (2014) asked their 86 male participants to fill out part of the "attraction to sexual aggression" scale (Malamuth, 1989). On this scale, participants are asked to indicate, from 1 to 5, how likely they would be to engage in a variety of behaviors, with a "1" corresponding to "not likely at all", while "5" corresponds to "very likely". Included on this scale are two questions, one concerning whether the respondent would "rape" a woman, and another asking about whether he would "force her to do something she did not want to do" in a sexual setting. The participants in question were asked about their likelihood of engaging in such behaviors "if nobody would ever know and there wouldn't be any consequences". Edwards et al (2014) report that, if such criteria were met, 31% of the men would force a woman to do something sexually, whereas only 13% would rape a woman.

If you're perceptive, you might have noticed something strange already: that 1-in-3 figure cannot be straightforwardly derived from the sexual aggression scale, as the scale is a 5-point measure, whereas the 1-in-3 statistic is clearly dichotomous..."

1 in 3 men would NOT 'force a woman into sex if they knew that no one would find out.'

To say so is disingenuous.

As a mother of a teenage boy you should be more concerned about statistics such as the gender imbalance at our Universities.

As the Father of young girls, I hope that I can bring them up to be mindful and discerning enough to intelligently navigate their way through the complex discussions that take place in a rapidly evolving information age and not get caught up in petty blame shifting and false propagations of circumstances such as 'rape culture' that are arguably blown out of all proportion.

Liz O'Neill

12/4/2016 04:20:54 pm

Hi Laura
I saw your petition and was one of the first to sign it. It worries me greatly that this is happening, it feels very much like the culture of USA colleges is creeping into our system, then again we have such a violent misogynistic culture in Australia. The thing that worries me even more is misogyny and the privilege and expectation that they can have anything they want and go what they want that bothers me so much.
Keep up the great work.

Thanks
Liz O'Neill

Sam

12/4/2016 07:28:20 pm

The "page" you talk about has only had a single solitary post in 8 months.

All you've done is reignited a page that no one has used for the better part of a year.

So your article has now got tens of thousands of people interested in the page rather than letting it disappear into the ether.

So well done!

Next time perhaps try addressing a bigger issue that affects more people than a historic page which not even the owners have recently used.

Liz

12/4/2016 08:10:41 pm

Because ignoring misogynistic, entitled behaviour makes it go away, does it?? This is an issue that affects all women....if that's not a "big" enough issue for you, you're part of the problem.

Ashley

13/4/2016 01:29:12 pm

Well, the page was being ignored and did seem to be going away mostly on its own.

Unless you can have Facebook itself pull it down, it's more likely you've just made a useless gesture which may even have the opposite effect than what you intended.

I'm not saying the page is ok, but I'm not sure this is helpful. But I guess that just makes me part of the problem.

13/4/2016 01:35:38 pm

I suppose I should clarify, if you do get Facebook to take down the page, that's great, but I'm skeptical that they will do so.

Amelia Eddy

12/4/2016 07:43:55 pm

Laura - important article. That page is trash.

It's so disappointing to see so many people engaging with it. Thanks for bringing it to attention.

Duncan McPherson

12/4/2016 09:03:46 pm

If "The "page" you talk about has only had a single solitary post in 8 months." is true then you have fallen foul of the Streisand Effect - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect. Oh dear.

John Wigg; M.A. (Melb.)

12/4/2016 09:30:17 pm

You are entirely justified, Laura, in exposing a shameful side of university student culture for what it is: I had hoped that the abominable custom of wenching amongst the male student populations of universities died out with the admission of women to the halls of higher learning... Sadly, some learned men's intelligence is matched only by their folly, and their moral bankruptcy...

John Ford

13/4/2016 12:00:08 am

Thanks! I didn't know that page existed before your insightful article.
Streisand effect it's going to be awesome.

John Roket link

13/4/2016 02:08:56 am

Slow day at 'Collective HQ'.

At least you have become a member of the soap box mafia!

Great story brah...

Bushy

13/4/2016 09:00:53 am

didn't know it existed.

ha ha ha

Buck

13/4/2016 11:05:24 am

Have any of the people who have actually been pictured on that page since 2014 complained? If not, how about you try minding your own business, you insufferable busybody.

Paul

13/4/2016 07:26:18 pm

Minding your own business? Just like you are doing now Buck. Good one.

Matthew

14/4/2016 11:33:25 am

Congratulations on the campaign. The purpose and behaviors and language of the site is wrong and culturally backward.

I can't help but notice the tone of those who oppose what is an understandable request to lift standards and in doing so advance our culture.

This is important to society more broadly so good luck and keep going.

Harriet

14/4/2016 02:08:03 pm

Thanks Laura for bring this despicable page to our attention. I applaud your bravery. Could you also start a petition to shut down porn sites? They demean women and perpetuate rape culture. We cannot quantify whether something is more sexist than another, as all rape culture is equally bad! That's like saying making lewd sexist comments is not as bad as rape itself, as both are part of the same rape culture. Notwithstanding that, I believe porn sites are more sexist and more culpable in their normalising of rape culture than that Facebook page.

Madeleine

14/4/2016 10:02:24 pm

Thanks Laura for bravely speaking out against the Facebook page. It is just one manifestation of a broader culture which exists powerfully on campus and beyond.

In publicly articulating what is wrong with the "Hotties" page, you empower others to vocalise and challenge these behaviours and attitudes elsewhere, to claim back spaces of respect, dignity, consent.

Unfortunately some prefer to cling to their so-called entitlements and freedoms rather than face the beast in the mirror.

Thanks again, and all the best!

J Lee

15/4/2016 01:38:36 pm

Saw an article on this petition on the Facebook ABC feed and was shocked at how many so-called men were trolling comments and inflicting even more offensive and defamatory comments and responses.

Facebook itself seems to adopt an automated fifty-fifty approach to removing posts that violate 'Community Standards' - in some cases an unacceptable comment has been made multiple times but where one is removed for violating those rules, the other(s) isn't because it doesn't!

Worse, many trolls actually use the reporting procedure to help stalk and bully their victims, the multitude of 'men's rights groups' targeting women and domestic violence posts being a good example. Anyone who accomplishes what Laura Blandthorn did, or even makes the effort to do so, deserves some kind of award for services to the community.

My wife and have three daughters, and if she (and other people like her) are willing to make the effort to expose the kind of vile, reprehensible behaviour of gutless cowards who stalk, harass, bully and intimidate women, and do something to stop it, then this world will be a better place and she's got my support.

Laura has reminded us all of the price we pay for complacency, and what happens when bigots use their right to free speech to deny their victims the same and other basic human rights. Those who are silent may be said to condone, but those who force others to remain silent are complicit.

She and those like her are fighting against a culture of corruption that is at the heart of discrimination and domestic violence, and the worst part of that culture is that it isn't limited to sick sub-cultures in our society, but has been entrenched in the public service itself for decades.

Victims of offensive and criminal behaviours should not be subjected to indifference, apathy, incompetence, negligence, idleness, insensitivity, insults, mockery, unfounded and defamatory accusations, and intimidation at the hands of those who are supposed to help.

It's a shame my own petition to establish Independent Oversight to help victims of crimes like child abuse and domestic violence that the public service ignores (often for decades) has so little support. The aim there is to expose and purge the culture of corruption in the public services.

If only someone like Laura - a law student no less - got behind it. The law, policies and procedures is too often used to circumvent justice, and reduced to a commodity the most disadvantaged cannot even access let alone afford. It's law students like her that could help end this failure.

Unfortunately, what Laura managed to expose and eradicate was just one example of the sociopathic culture of corruption in our society, the tip of the brimstone. I just hope enough people like Laura keep fighting the good fight, and maintain the empathy throughout their lives to continue speaking for those denied a voice.

https://www.change.org/p/australian-federal-state-governments-establish-an-ongoing-independent-oversight-committee-to-investigate-expose-and-discourage-the-culture-of-corruption-in-the-public-service-5ce45995-7e52-4764-a593-935677782079

Dave

18/4/2016 09:58:41 am

It's usually only the 'uglies' who object to being left out of the 'hotties' lists. Has anyone bothered asking the said hotties how they feel about their inclusion as being part of the lovely hotty totties list? I doubt it.

Noneedforaname

18/4/2016 01:33:42 pm

I really hope that one day all of you feminazis cease to exist. when that day comes, hopefully soon, society will continue going forward and not backwards!

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