If you’re an Exeter University Student and you’ve been following the news in recent months, or been avidly glued to your facebook feed, you can’t have failed to notice that Exeter has been getting a lot of attention recently. Or more specifically, Exeter’s Safer Sex Ball, has been. For the last twenty-one years SSB has been THE highlight of Exeter student’s social calendar. It has been responsible for more gym memberships and spray tans than any other known cause and is reportedly hailed by Ann Summers as more influential to their rising profits than Fifty Shades of Grey.
We all remember arriving in Exeter as innocent minded freshers and hearing stories of a mythical event where Jaeger bombs flowed freely, condoms grew on trees and students wandered seductively through a sea of aftershave, body glitter and st tropez. Recall the nervous excitement on the day of ticket release when the whole campus froze under the glow of open laptops, the tension building until vitriolic cheers could be heard littered amongst the roar of disappointed profanities. The subsequent bargaining and exchanging of golden tickets, followed by weeks of training and dieting (or more accurately weeks of talking of training and dieting whilst doing sweet nothing) and then the big shopping trip for the perfect outfit which would magically transform the wearer into a Victoria Secrets model; who could forget these delights?
But SSB was burdened with a darker side, one of controversy, scandal and arguably quite flimsy moral politics. Besides the expected criticism of the event encouraging sexualisation of university students, objectification of women and promotion of casual sex, in recent years a number of scandals have pushed the event into the national press and not in a good way. In 2011 the Guild magazine published a sexual violence joke which, rightly so, was criticised by many students and was eventually exposed in the national press. Then in 2012 the Guild received a wave of criticism over their Tribal theme, which offensive or not, was hardly the brightest idea for an event prone to controversy. But arguably the nail in the durex lined coffin came from the most recent scandal; a leaked CCTV video depicting two students engaging in sexual activity at the event itself. The video reached news rooms across the country and caused uproar.
In response the Guild has cancelled SSB, arguing that “in spite of significant efforts in recent years, the event’s association with promoting safer sex has been overshadowed with a less positive image” but promising that “the Guild and RAG are working together to formulate a way to reinvent the SSB, maintaining its strong assets”. But what do the students think of this news? We asked some of the HerCampus girls for their reactions.
· “ I think the guild probably have to be seen as having taken some form of action due to the reaction of the media, so in that sense made a good decision. However I think it’s naive of them to think that an incident like that has never happened before at Westpoint or to believe that another event won’t surface under a different name… potentially more controversial than the original.”
· “It’s essentially a naked party! It is understandable that measures have to be taken but these could be higher security or perhaps not encouraging nakedness to such a great extent. I think it’s such a shame to cancel an event that raises such large amounts of money for charity. Finally, haven’t those poor people in the video gotten enough stick and embarrassment without being the reason for SSB being cancelled.”
· “I’m not really sure what I think, although I do know that it raises a bloody huge amount for charity, (almost more than any other event?!) and as an aside, I really wanted to go in my last year of Uni as I didn’t go this year so am actually quite annoyed that’s it’s all been called off!”
· “The Daily Mail definitely has a grudge against Exeter that’s it. I don’t see why carnage isn’t in the press as the girls there wear less than we do at SSB.”
That’s the reaction of some of our HerCampus girls but what do you think? Are the Guild right for taking such strong action or should they have taken a different approach? Or are you just disappointed that you won’t be braving Streatham Campus in your skimpy glad rags next year?
Image Credits: dailymail.com, journalism.tab.co.uk