As many Ohio University students do, I tend to save my homework for Sunday afternoons, but this week my Sunday homework plan was somewhat disrupted when I opened up my computer and discovered a rather unsavory tweet.
@NickEXPLODEeon: “Driving through Athens at 8:30 on Sunday morning is hilarious. I want to stop every girl I see and say ‘your dress is a little wrinkly’.”
I thought to myself, “there’s no way that the Ohio University Student Senate President would say something so blatantly offensive about the female gender”—a group which comprises about half of the student body he was elected to represent just four months ago. But no, Mr. Southall really did put this thought on social media. And when several different groups of students called him out on his inappropriate behavior, he responded by deleting the first tweet and putting up a wonderfully classy apology:
@NickEXPLODEeon: “I publicly apologize for my tweet this morning. I forgot like, 6 people care about my tweets.”
Herein lies the majority of the problem, my fellow Bobcats. The issue isn’t that Mr. Southall uses Twitter, or that he uses Twitter for personal use. The problem is that Mr. Southall publicly disrespected about half of OU’s student body, and displayed little to no remorse over his actions.
If a woman wants to spend the night at an apartment or dorm room that isn’t hers, she is allowed to do so. If a woman chooses to have consenting sex and then walk home the morning after, she should not be shamed for doing so.
Notice that Mr. Southall says nothing about the other half of the equation: the woman’s partner. His disrespectful attitude is directed solely at women and this blatant slut shaming is an abhorrent behavior in any person, let alone the Student Senate President. As a person in a position of responsibility, it's important to remember that the Student Senate President is in a visible position; a position that people look up to and could potentially use as a model for their own behavior.
I’m sure, or at least hope, that Mr. Southall would not describe himself as misogynistic. However, he did not take the students’ concerns or feelings of offense to heart. In writing off the very real concerns that were created by his tweet as the mere worries of six overly concerned people, Mr. Southall suggested that he does not care if his actions bother those who he represent.
Shame on you, President Southall (as his twitter handle reminds us all is his title). It makes me extremely uncomfortable that this president has such a poor view of women. How can I trust him to be a good representative or to truly have OU students’ best interests at heart when his words make me feel
completely disrespected?
Rebekah Rittenberg is a senior studying Integrated Language Arts AYA.
