a poorly-managed and under-edited blog not only reinforces imposed societal standards of sexism and ignorance, but glorifies activities founded in poor judgment.
A recent Post issue highlighted a student-run blog, What'd yOU Expect? as lighthearted and non-judgmental in its material.
This publication a poorly-managed and under-edited blog not only reinforces imposed societal standards of sexism and ignorance, but glorifies activities founded in poor judgment. It negatively reflects the lives of Ohio University students in its acceptance of party values as social education.
The most recent post, penned by a grammatically-challenged male freshman, describes his college nightlife as drinking excessively and bedding ladies, basically doing everything you are supposed to do during your college years. He documents an evening in which he consents to an easy lay, with a desperate grizzly bear of a girl while her three roommates are present. He bolts the next morning.
Our John Doe repeatedly mocks his one-night stand for her weight throughout the account with poorly-crafted metaphors and unoriginal humor. Example: I think she was dreaming that I was the last cupcake on earth and she was guarding me from a pack of starving Africans. Several male contributors frequently make reference to girls they dislike with sexualized terminology carrying negative connotations. This behavior toward women - embracing chauvinist discourse, most namely - is also perpetuated in one of the founders' recent Facebook messages to group members, in which the founders both refer to aforementioned fat girl in a slew of profane, misogynist terms.
The subjects appearing in What'd yOU Expect are somewhat identifiable, and the blog's moderators need to review content with heightened sensitivity. The group of readers who might recognize the grizzly bear is slim, but exists nonetheless. Though the blog's creators intended to create a nonjudgmental atmosphere, designating a stranger a grizzly bear (the most benign insult in the bunch) and publishing material referring to her in such a manner seems blatantly judgmental.
Furthermore, it is necessary for a publication of any kind to embrace some standards of consistency to ensure maximum readability. The stories ignore fundamental grammatical and spelling errors, and editors post them as humongous chunks of text.
The ladies behind What'd yOU Expect? need to recondition their submission policies. The stories posted on the blog thus far not only promote sexism, stereotyping, irresponsibility and promiscuity, but inattentiveness in its lack of filtering. In attempt to disregard playing by the rules the blog refuses to acknowledge individuals as accountable for their actions and neglects basic elements of written journalism. I'm all for publications disrupting the status quo, but the stories on this blog seem to reinforce OU's reputation as a party school dominated by deviant conformists.
Dani Purcell is a senior journalism
major who writes for ACRN.com.
4
Opinion
Letter to the Editor
