Thursday 9th October 2025
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Deconstructing Dr Seuss: the issue of diversity in children’s literature

Beth Proctor
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Deconstructing Dr Seuss: the issue of diversity in children’s literature

CW: racism

We don’t talk about children’s books like other literature. I’ve never heard anyone claim that The Gruffalo ‘blew their mind’ or that We’re Going on a Bear Hunt ‘changed their life’, yet these stories stay with us long after we think we may have outgrown them. It is easy to look back nostalgically at the books we used to love, but in the wake of recent controversy we need to take off our rose-tinted glasses and re-examine the books we read as children. 

Early in March this year Dr Seuss Enterprises, the organisation that owns the rights to the author’s work, announced that they would withdraw the publication of six of his books containing racist illustrations. One of the books contains an image of a white man using a whip on a man of colour. Another shows a white boy standing on the heads of three Asian men, holding a large gun. It is shocking that they have only just been recalled. 

As a writer and illustrator, Dr Seuss produced hundreds of racist cartoons, comics and adverts. In 2019, a study of his work described his depictions of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) and people from other marginalized groups as ‘dehumanising and degrading.’

The report went on to reveal that many of his children’s books reflect the same racist stereotypes as his cartoons, and convey messages of Orientalism, anti-Blackness, and white supremacy.

Researchers Katie Ishizuka and Ramón Stephens found that 98% of Seuss’ human characters were white, with these characters also occupying all of the speaking and narratorial roles in his stories. In their report they noted that ‘[when] children’s books center Whiteness, erase people of color and other oppressed groups, or present people of color in stereotypical, dehumanizing, or subordinate ways, they both ingrain and reinforce internalized racism and White supremacy.’ Although children may be too young to understand why these books are racist, they are still able to internalise the message they give. As such, many feel that Dr Seuss’s work should no longer take up space on reading lists and classroom bookshelves. 

Luckily, there are many more deserving books to replace them. The best-selling author of Dear Zoo, Rod Campbell, has recently published a non-fiction book that highlights the importance of animal conservation. In Look After Us, the narrator searches for their favourite animals and discovers that many species are threatened by extinction. The book ends on a happy note with the final page showing whales living freely in the wild because “kind people are looking after them really well”- it’s a message of hope as much as anything else.  

After a report in 2020 revealed that only 5% of British children’s books featured a Black or minority ethnic main character, other titles are providing much needed representation. Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o features a young Black protagonist who wishes she looked more like her mother. The story deals with colourism as the girl is taken on a magical journey that shows her how beautiful she is. Meanwhile, Hair Love by Mathew Cherry is “an ode to your natural hair” in which an African-American father learns to help his daughter style her hair. For older readers there are books like The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Raúf, an award-winning story about the refugee crisis told from a child’s perspective. 

These titles show that children’s literature is becoming more diverse, but there is still a long way to go. From 2007 to 2017, one study showed that fewer than 2% of UK children’s authors and illustrators were people of colour. Then, in 2018 another study examining the content of children’s books featuring black and minority ethnic main characters, discovered that half of them fell into the category of ‘contemporary realism’, whilst 10% contained ‘social justice’ issues, like war and conflict. In an interview with the Guardian, the director of the project, Farrah Serroukh stated that it was all about balance. ‘Topics such as conflict and the refugee experience are valid subjects for authors to explore and unpick,’ he said, but added that it was equally important for stories to focus on normal, everyday events like ‘going to the dentist’ or ‘going to the supermarket.’

Every child deserves to see themselves represented in the books they read. New titles like Sulwe and The Boy at the Back of the Class are helping make this a reality, whilst others are tackling important issues like climate change. These are the kind of books that children will love and learn from and, ultimately, that is what reading is all about. 

Image Credit: Al Ravenna via Wikimedia Commons

Meet the Linacre student that invented new vegan leather

W A Whitten
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Meet the Linacre student that invented new vegan leather

With the ever-increasing rise of awareness of pollution, global warming, and the use of plastic the search for alternative materials becomes more urgent, Gabriel Moreno and his father Alex started Fiquetex with the aim of providing a reliable source of alternative greener materials made from the Fique plant. Gabriel and Fiquetex won best postgraduate idea at the Oxford All-Innovate competition, whose previous winners include Neurolytic Healthcare, a precision medicine company, and Genei, a system that allows AI to reduce research time. The competition is judged based on the criteria of what is the problem the idea tries to solve, how well it tackles that idea, the strength of the team, and the viability of the idea. 

Cherwell spoke with Gabriel, a master’s student at Linacre College, to discuss the importance of green materials, as well as the importance of Fiquetex for Colombia and vegan clothing.

Cherwell: Where did the initial thought for this award-winning idea come from?

GM: “It started I suppose about ten years when we realised how many plastic bags we had stored away […]. We realised this just really wasn’t very efficient and a waste of plastic. We were walking in Colombia and saw the fique plant, and were wondering what uses it could have. Currently farmers only use it for string and rope, and they do not use the small fibres, and we thought these could be used for an alternative material. So, we came up with the idea of using these fibres for package bags.”

Cherwell: How important is it that alternative materials are used to replace plastic bags and other such plastic products? Why are alternatives important?

GM: “The stats speak for themselves. The issues of global warming and plastic pollution are killing animals in the sea and on land. The issue is a serious problem, and the population is going to get bigger, by 2050 the population is going to be [almost] ten billion. It is already a major problem, the Pacific garbage patch is already bigger than France. Imagine when the population is three billion more people! The problem is only going to be worse.”

Cherwell: Is Fique and Fiquetex the solution?

GM: “Yes. I mean, they are not the only solution. They are definitely a new material people can use. It is definitely a new idea, a new patent, it has not been done before. It is a circular economy, so we use the fibres and then you use the products and once you are done with it you can bury it and it will become nutrients in the soil within 100 days. So, a fique plant or whatever you want can grow in its place.”

Cherwell: What benefits does Fique have over other such alternatives?

GM: “Firstly, the material itself is quite durable unlike paper and other vegan alternatives made from things such as apple. It is relatively cost efficient: other vegan alternatives such as mushrooms or even cotton require lighting, artificial heat, and watering to farm. Fique does not. Fique does not need chemical, pesticides, it just grows naturally. Fique saves on water and chemicals are used and then thrown away, causing their own pollution. It is not only a biodegradable alternative in use, but it is also more environmentally friendly in production. Most things which are biodegradable are only about 80% biodegradable or take four hundred years, this is completely biodegradable in 100 days.”

Cherwell: Will Fiquetex have a positive impact on Colombia and the local communities there?

GM: “Yes, one million percent. We will give a fair-trade price for fibres [that] they are not currently using; we are going to create employment in rural areas where there are not many other opportunities. The Colombian local governments are behind the idea. It will also employ a wide range of people, across several fields from agriculture and farming to accountants. It will provide an alternative to people joining gangs.”

Cherwell: How big of an impact do you think winning the competition will have?

GM: “I think it will have a big impact. People are really starting to become aware of sustainability, look at the [documentary] Seaspiracy on Netflix [becoming] so popular. The fact that these expert judges saw the potential of our company is really great, it has given me lots of confidence, and it has given the company legitimacy. No longer are we an abstract idea from Colombia but we have the legitimacy from the Oxford name. This should help, especially going into pitches.” 

Cherwell: What is the company’s plan next?

GM: “We are currently building the production line; we are hoping to have that done next month to then go on and testing and standardising production. We will then go on to local distribution in Colombia in Medellin to see what is liked. Later on in the year I would like to come to the UK, as I am based here, and would like to continue that. I would like to go to fashion designers and get it in London fashion week, or something similar, for the unveiling for Fiquetex.”

Alex Moreno standing next to a Fiquetex production line
Alex Moreno standing next to production machinery. Image: Fiquetex

Cherwell: Fique can be used as a vegan leather. Is this going to be a major part of the company’s production and image?

GM: “Yes definitely, originally our plan was to look to climate change activists, but feedback from the Vegan community showed that they were an important target market. We definitely agree with their values that we need to stop harming animals […] as well as them being mistreated in farming.”

Cherwell: What advantage does Fique have over other Vegan leathers?

GM: “The material is much lower in maintenance and in production costs. With Fique we do not have to worry about irrigation and seasonal growing patterns. Fique grows all year. Our product is also completely biodegradable unlike other Vegan leathers, which are not fully biodegradable. Our product is more durable and can take more weight. Fique leather will be affordable, which vegan leathers currently are not despite the Vegan leather market growing at 50% annually, by 2025 it is estimated to be worth 90 billion dollars. The current leathers are very expensive and are really only for designers’ brands, we hope that Fique can be used both for these but also for less expensive and independent shops.”

Further information about Fiquetex can be found on their website and social media.

Featured Image: Fiquetex

8/4/21, 18:53 – this article was edited to remove a reference to Fiquitex being PETA certified. While they are certified, it is not yet fully binding

Over 100 protestors rally at ‘Kill the Bill’ protest in Oxford

Anvee Bhutani
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Over 100 protestors rally at ‘Kill the Bill’ protest in Oxford

Protesters in Oxford on Saturday April 3rd voiced their opposition against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill currently being debated by MPs. This bill includes a number of proposals on crime and justice in England and Wales, including changes to protest laws.

The protesters gathered at Bonn Square at 2pm and stood there for an hour before marching through the city centre towards the police station and crown court. Protesters were seen chanting slogans like “Kill the bill” and “No justice, no peace”. They held signs condemning fascism, racism, and political figures such as Priti Patel while supporting the right to protest.

Protesters march towards Crown County Court / Image Credit: Feng Ho

Speeches were also delivered by local organisers and community leaders. Dr Sheikh Ramzy, director at the Oxford Islamic Information Centre, spoke to the crowd at Bonn Square saying, “This is the most democratic country in the world and we are talking about people having the right to protest taken away from them. The freedom to protest is important and we should not neglect it.”

Protesters at the rally
Image Credit: Feng Ho

Lexie Turner, an undergraduate student told Cherwell, “I went because this bill has the potential to be extremely damaging and harmful to everyone, especially the marginalised communities who are already under threat from the police. When I was there, I found the speakers really inspiring and hope that we can continue to build on this momentum and spark real change.”

Protesters holding signs reading "Protest is a human right" and "Why are you protecting statues of racists over actual women?"
 Image Credit: Feng Ho

Petr Vesnovskii, a Russian student from the University of Oxford who also attended the protest commented further, “One can get this sense of deja vu, with this bill the UK is following the Russian steps in flouting civil rights. Attempts to extend the rights of the security services and make it harder to hold them to account, which we are now seeing in the UK, once led to Russia being plunged into securocracy. It is concerning to see how Western democracies have been adopting these ‘best practices’. Just look at the recent innovations in the French Republic. Fortunately, in the case of the UK, there remains hope for civil society, which is now being tested on the strength and resilience of its beliefs. With the regrettable examples before us of what the loss of control of the security forces has led to, one wants to believe that the Brits will stand up for their rights and freedoms.”

Protester holding a sign listing the warning signs of fascism
Image Credit: Feng Ho

The event, spearheaded by Oxford Anti-Fascists, was co-hosted by 17 other groups around Oxford, including Black Lives Matter, Extinction Rebellion (XR), Oxford Youth Strike and Oxford Marxists. They all “oppose the Policing, Crime, Sentencing and Courts bill, which criminalises the right to protest and other basic rights and will be used selectively against marginalised groups such as travellers and people of colour. [They also] deplore the police violence against protesters in Bristol and will stand up to defend [their] right to protest.”

Drummers from Extinction Rebellion join the protest
Image Credit: Feng Ho


There was also a presence of the Socialist Workers Party and Stand Up to Racism. These groups were not official organisers of the event and their presence was condemned by Oxford Youth Strike, who said that “inserting themselves into the press coverage of an event they had no involvement in is actively damaging to the movement as it silences the voices of queer people, people of colour, and travellers who had already provided quotes to the press and who worked to make the event happen.”

Protesters hold signs reading "Kill The Bill"
Image Credit: Feng Ho

A spokesperson for Oxford Stand Up To Racism told Cherwell: “Oxford Stand Up To Racism have been involved in organising many protests across the city – including demonstrations against Donald Trump, against racist attacks and in solidarity with refugees. We’ve also organised transport to London for demonstrations on UN anti-racism day and to oppose the far-right and fascists when they have mobilised. The Tories’ Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is a major threat to the right to protest.”

“But more than that – the bill seeks to increase police powers to harass and jail Black and Asian people and to further criminalise Gypsy Roma and Traveller communities. So, of course Oxford Stand Up To Racism was involved in promoting, publicising and calling on supporters and activists to join Saturday’s Kill the Bill protest. And when asked by the press, we’ll condemn the Bill in the strongest possible terms. It was fantastic to see so many people and so many different organisations represented on the protest on Saturday – it’s that kind of unity that can finish off this bill.”

A group of protesters hold signs reading "Kill The Bill"
Image Credit: Feng Ho

Ian McKendrick, on behalf of Oxford and Thames Valley Socialist Workers Party, told Cherwell: “The SWP believes the Crime, Police, Sentencing and Courts bill is a threat to everyone’s right to protest, and that to defeat it we will need the broadest unity possible.  We must not let the campaign be divided by poor reporting, or attempts to set groups against each other. The SWP was involved in building the demonstrations around the UK last weekend, using its local and national online resources, national newspaper, and street stalls to build the biggest unified mobilisations possible against the bill. This included sending the details of the protest to over 1000 contacts in Oxford, and sharing it on our social media platforms, and urging our own members to join the protests.


“The decision by the Oxford Mail to seek out and quote the SWP and not use quotes provided by other groups was not a decision taken by the SWP, but by the editors of the Oxford Mail.  The SWP has a long tradition of mobilising in defence of the right to protest and speaking out against all forms of oppression, including LGBT+ oppressions and racism, and this is widely recognised across the labour movement.”

Protester holding a sign reading "#KillTheBill. No one is born a 'thug'. Racism breeds thugs."
 Image Credit: Feng Ho

The protest in Oxford was part of a network of over 25 demonstrations across the country including in Aberystwyth, Bath, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Brighton, Cambridge, Cardiff, Derby, Exeter, Folkestone, Kendal, Lancaster, Lincoln, Liverpool, London, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle, Northampton, Norwich, Nottingham, Plymouth and Portsmouth.

‘Protest is a democratic and human right’ chalked on the footpath
Image Credit: Feng Ho

The Oxford Mail has been contacted for comment.

Featured Image: Feng Ho

The Masters 2021 Preview

Matthew Cogan
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The Masters 2021 Preview

Only five months on from the 2020 edition of the Masters, it is time now for the 2021 version. Back in its usual slot of April, it is the first chance that golfers have to get their hands on one of the four majors this year. Last year it was won by Dustin Johnson — his first green jacket — shooting a record 20 under par to win relatively comfortably by five shots. The question therefore is who is going to win this year? Johnson is at the time of writing the bookies favourite, but will he be able to defend his title or will someone else be wearing the green jacket on Sunday evening?

The course at Augusta national is one of the most famous in the world. The Masters is the only golf major to be held at the same course every year and this year marks the 85th edition and hopefully it will provide just as much excitement and as many surprises as those that have preceded it. Bubba Watson is the only man to win more than one Masters title between 2007 and 2020, underlining the difficulty to pick a winner of this prestigious event each year. Whether it was Danny Willet’s shock victory in 2016, or Tiger Wood’s return winning his 15th major and first for over a decade in 2019, the Masters in recent years has not disappointed. We are hoping that when they come through Amen corner for the final time on Sunday, this edition of the Masters will live up to those that have come before.

Dustin Johnson is the favourite for this year. His stunning performance to win in 2020 by a dominant margin must be the driving factor behind that. However, his 2021 form has not been anywhere near the same level. Since the Masters in November, he has a solitary top 10 finish to his name and in the biggest tournament of the year so far, The Players Championship, he finished a disappointing tied 48th, 13 shots behind the winner. However, the Masters is a tournament unto itself. In recent years the winners have often performed well in previous years before going on to win the green jacket. Therefore, with Johnson’s shown pedigree around the course at Augusta National, that might play a more important role than his current form when he steps out on the course to defend his title.

One of the biggest question marks for this year’s tournament is Brooks Koepka. His last tournament was WGC Workday Championship in Florida on 28th February, where he finished tied second, but since then he has had surgery on his right knee. The surgery took place only three weeks ago, although Koepka himself has stated that he will be fit to play at the Masters this week. He is quoted by the BBC after some practice holes at Augusta as saying: “If I knew I was going to finish second, I wouldn’t have shown up.” A former world number one, Koepka has four major titles to his name and a best finish at Augusta of tied second in 2019, so cannot be discounted, but with surgery only three weeks ago, I cannot help but feel that the Masters has just come too soon.

There are plenty of other names that could potentially be in a position to challenge by the fourth round on Sunday. Bryson DeChambeau is the current leader of the FedEx Cup Standings, and as one of the biggest hitters on tour, his pure power should suit the course at Augusta well, where traditionally bigger hitters have done better. Then come the names of Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth. Both major champions with proven pedigree at Augusta National and both in good form going into the event. Thomas with a couple of top 10s at big tournaments already this year, the most notable being a victory at The Players Championship, sometimes called the fifth major. Spieth too is hitting form at the right time. After a disappointing few years that saw him slip down the world rankings, 4 top 10 finishes already this year, including victory last week at the Valero Texas Open, means that he cannot be ruled out of contention.

What the about British hopes this year? Rory McIlroy is continuing his search for a Masters victory, the only major that continues to elude him, but he comes into this year’s event in no sort of form at all, failing to make the cut at the two biggest tournaments of the year so far. Lee Westwood has shown glimpses of his best at times this year, but for him to go on to challenge at the very top again seems unlikely. This could be the time for Tommy Fleetwood to win a major, something he has been threatening to do since his stellar Ryder Cup performance back in 2018. Then there are Justin Rose and Danny Willet. Two men in no form at all, but with pedigree in majors and more specifically the Masters itself they cannot be completely discounted. It seems unlikely that the champion this year will be a British one, but greater shocks have certainly been seen at the Masters.

The 85th edition of the Masters looks as though it has all the ingredients to be a great one. On Thursday 88 players will take to the first tee at Augusta National all with dreams of winning the Masters. 72 holes and a whole lot of ups and downs later, by Sunday evening we will have our champion. At this point it looks as though Dustin Johnson is the most likely after his dominant performance around the same course only five months ago, but as we know anything can happen at the Masters and it promises to be a thrilling weekend of golf.

Image credit: pocketwiley via Wikimedia Commons

Society Spotlight: Oxford Social Impact

Scott Hextall and Henry Grandage
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Society Spotlight: Oxford Social Impact

An update from Oxford Social Impact, 28/04/2021:

After the publication of this article, we became aware of two main concerns which we would like to address:

  • Clarifying the views of organisations we were inspired by, 80,000 Hours and Effective Altruism.
  • Providing a more balanced view of consulting.

Despite being inspired by the work of 80,000 Hours and Effective Altruism, we have no affiliation to either. We would never wish to misrepresent their views on topics such as careers in consulting and their opinions can be found here. 80,000 Hours does not include consulting in their current list of priority career paths.

In this interview we talk about consulting as our upcoming Social Impact Programme is at the core of what we offer – pro bono consulting for nonprofit organisations.

We have presented consulting positively, but we recognise that this does not reflect the full breadth of opinions. A quick Google search will return controversies surrounding various management consulting firms, and it’s important to evaluate this before deciding on a career in consulting, or any other career for that matter.

As a full-time consultant, you will be paid to spend the majority of your time working for corporate clients who are primarily concerned with increasing efficiency and profit. For example, consultants may recommend downsizing or reducing wages to cut costs. This has a negative social impact and can further issues such as socio-economic inequality.

While a consultant may wish to bring socially impactful decisions to the table or work exclusively on pro bono projects for nonprofit clients – this is not always possible, especially early in one’s career.

We hosted speaker events to talk about impact investing and pro bono consulting in Hilary. We recognise that many corporate organisations have had their share of controversies in the past, but we support organisations taking steps to increase their social impact without endorsing everything they do or have done.

Moving forward, we are continuing to place an emphasis on promoting positively impactful nonprofits with a reliable track record. We conducted our Social Impact Programme with an organisation providing grants to refugee-led organisations in sub-Saharan Africa in MT20. It is one of our priorities to give organisations such as these a platform to speak at Oxford, as well as continuing to work on similar projects.

Oxford Social Impact is a society founded in 2020 by Oxford students Alfie Bullus, Scott Hextall, Naa Odoley Ntodi, Henry Grandage, and Conor O’Sullivan. As part of our Society Spotlight series, we spoke to two of the founders, Hextall and Grandage, about what exactly OSI is, what it offers students, and how it can achieve a wider social positive impact.

What is OSI?

Oxford Social Impact is a new society for students who are interested in social impact! While trying to avoid using too many clichés, social impact can mean wanting to improve the communities and lives of others. As a society, we’re hosting career and speaker events to talk about social impact work, as well as offering unique research and insights into global issues. 

This Hilary, we hosted BlackRock to talk about achieving impact by mapping financial investments to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Similarly, we also hosted Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to talk about their work with the Rwandan Government to tackle malnutrition.

We used to think that social impact work could only be found in your usual nonprofits, NGOs, and charities. However, we realised that we couldn’t be more wrong about this. Whether you’re interested in finance, marketing, or law, there are always opportunities to make a difference. This is why we’re so keen to host events from these organisations and other inspirational speakers, to talk about the wide range of social impact opportunities that are available, no matter the industry or career.

Our other aim is to be an advocate for social change through our OSI Insights. Being an advocate starts with being aware and learning about an issue. Whether it’s understanding the representation of women in politics around the world, or learning about the growing deficit in humanitarian aid funding around the world, both can be heavy topics to read about. Through unique visuals, graphs, and infographics, we’ve been able to capture brief summaries of these global issues. These are our ‘Insights’ – storytelling empowered by data.

What inspired you to start OSI?

We were inspired to start Oxford Social Impact by the Effective Altruism movement and the book 80,000 Hours. Effective Altruism is a philosophy about determining the most effective ways for an individual to improve the lives of others, while 80,000 Hours is a book about having the largest positive social impact via your career. There is a large global Effective Altruism community and even a local group at Oxford. We’d highly recommend checking them out on Facebook to learn more! 80,000 Hours was written by two Oxford DPhil students and informs the reader of high impact careers available to students, backed by research and studies from Oxford academics. As a society, we’ve decided to explore a similar area by focusing on popular careers among Oxford students, providing our members with information about the social impact opportunities available within them.

What is consulting?

Consulting involves providing expertise on a topic to a client. Clients can range from the UK Government to large corporations like Google and Apple. 

Students at Oxford who may not have any particular expertise, often go into strategy consulting at firms such as McKinsey and BCG. There, you’ll be influencing client decisions that will affect their future, and sometimes the rest of the world. For example, Microsoft just announced that they will be carbon negative by 2030. This decarbonisation strategy is difficult to implement, so they may hire a consulting firm like BCG to help them make the decisions needed to achieve their goals.

As a society, we’ll soon be offering a termly Social Impact Programme from Michaelmas onwards. This is an opportunity for students to work with nonprofits on unique and interesting 6 week projects, where they’ll be able to get a taste of what consulting is like, while also working for organisations that help others!

What are some concerns people have about the field? 

There are three concerns that people often have about consulting:

  1. High pressure and poor work-life balance.
  2. Frequent travel from Monday to Thursday every week is common.
  3. Not having enough expertise/knowledge to be a true ‘consultant’.

The first two concerns are often true, unfortunately! This means that consultants usually only stay for 2-4 years before leaving, often to work at an ex-client. The third concern often doesn’t matter – it’s usually expected if you’re an undergrad. It instead means that you’ll learn a lot by working for clients across a wide range of industries to build your expertise and knowledge. Therefore, consulting is a great opportunity for someone unsure about what they want to do after University.

How can consultancy be used for a positive social impact?

Consultancy gives you the power to influence decisions at the highest levels of management within governments and organisations. A consultant can make sure that positive social impact is an important factor at the forefront of the decision-making table. 

As a direct example of positive social impact, BCG consultants worked with the Rwandan Government to tackle malnutrition and stunting which affected 35% of their youth population – nearly 590,000 children. They worked with locals in the Kabagago Village, Nyabihu, to identify the main causes of stunting. They then provided awareness training and workshops for community health workers, mothers, and village leaders, and scaled the solutions that showed results in this village, to other Rwandan villages. They’ve seen incredible continued progress, even after finishing the project, showing that their work is having an enormous positive social impact on these Rwandan communities.

As a society, we recently worked with a US-based charity that gave small grants ($5,000- 10,000 USD) to refugee-led organisations in Southern Chad, Malawi, and Uganda. Over 8 weeks, a team of five of us researched and interviewed other grant-making charities, to understand who they are, how they operate, and their transparency methods. This led to us connecting our client with other organisations working in a similar space to promote teamwork and knowledge sharing, while also presenting our findings on how our client could learn from them to improve their own grant-making process and transparency.

What are some potential career options that students can pursue if they are interested in the field, but don’t want to be a “corporate sellout?” 

Working for a non profit or a charity requires all the same skills as working in a corporate role, and can be far more rewarding. Other options may be doing research, or working for the government, where your field of influence is enormous. Many corporate firms get involved in social impact, so it is possible to make a difference regardless of where you end up.

Who can get involved in OSI, and how?

Everyone can! We are looking for people from all backgrounds who can offer their own unique insight and expertise. Whether you are a graphic designer, want to get involved in research and coding, or want to improve your marketing skills, there is a role here for you. Getting involved in consulting societies like OSI is an excellent experience to make your CV stand out. Working in a society that conducts in-depth, analytical work is a skill that is invaluable to whatever career you decide to follow. Currently, OSI offers talks from individuals in leading firms such as BCG, but with a focus on their work in social impact. Soon, our Social Impact Programme will give you the opportunity to work as a consultant with a client-facing a real problem, looking for your advice.

Art by Katie Sanchez. 

Poetic politics: artistic responses to sexual harassment

Ciara Beale
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Poetic politics: artistic responses to sexual harassment

CW: sexual assault

Centuries ago, philosophers and critics began debating what the interplay between art and politics ought to be. Yet, in 2021 this subject still remains relevant. The outrage sparked among women around the country following the tragic disappearance and murder of Sarah Everard, with which one of the greatest fears of every woman was realised, now begs the question: how should artists respond to this horrific tragedy?

Artists, using their own experiences of assault, demonstrate an extraordinary ability to confront traumatic experiences and reshape them into something powerful, if not beautiful. But could this ever glorify the very thing it condemns or even muffle these bleak statistics?

A survey for UN Women UK has found that more than 80% of young women have been sexually harassed. The recent tragedy has unearthed the horror of statistically stratospheric rates of violence against women; misogynistic behaviour is so often normalised in our society, unnoticed by onlookers and internalised by victims. However, many people of the social media generation are used to seeing numbers like these pasted across Instagram stories, repeated and repeated, perhaps beyond the point of reinforcing the shocking sentiment and instead towards blunting it. When we see these infographics infinitely spread across social media, they could be unintentionally normalised in the process.

This is where art comes in. Art personalises and humanises the cold calculated figures, it gives a face and a story to the numbers we are so used to seeing. This art, too, can come within social media; Brian Bilston, for example, is essentially a poet laureate for Gen Z, delivering art within our own territory. Following the vigil to honour Sarah Everard which ended so disastrously, he wrote a poem titled ‘Common Language’. He simply and succinctly reflects on the peaceful intentions of the vigil and the “manhandled answer” they were unfortunately met with. Bilston reignites the face of Instagram activism in his poetry, saying the things we want to express but do not always know how to phrase.

While looking elsewhere into poetic considerations of sexual harassment and assault in the past, I found so many female poets I had unfortunately not yet come across. ‘Poem about My Rights’ by June Jordan, a Jamaican-American bisexual poet, discusses exactly what its title outlines. The poem is a breathless torrent as the speaker relentlessly questions this world she inhabits: a world which designates her as “wrong” in so many ways; which takes it as given that she cannot go out alone at night; which tells her that she “should have been a boy” to eliminate these problems. However, this anger turns into pure triumph as she states unwaveringly in a twist of control: “let this be unmistakable this poem / is not consent”. The final note is one of resoluteness and strength: “my simple and daily and nightly self-determination / may very well cost you your life”. Misogynistic crimes take place every day; Jordan meets this fact with her own unrelenting and merciless poetic defiance.

Susan Eisenberg, who worked on construction sites between 1978 and 1995, is another remarkable poet. Alongside Jordan, her poetic voice packs no less of a punch. In ‘Welcome’, Eisenberg details the “tricks-of-the-trade” she had to learn as a construction worker, beginning first with the practical (how to “walk, not trip, over cords”) and slowly but eerily melting into the onsite sexual harassment, just another aspect of “protocol” to learn on the job. These poets are proof that art does not necessarily soften blows or tread cagily around taboos. This poetry is a protest.

Poets are able to condense into words what everyone else has so much trouble articulating. This helps readers to feel that their own problems are understood; our pain, loss and fear are woven into something that we can digest and empathise with. They help us to gain insight into another’s experience which is never otherwise truly accessible. Reading a poem is a moment of connection with someone we will never know but whose words we recognise in our own experience, and that is unendingly reassuring.

Poets in marginalised groups and whose voices have so often been silenced gain a particular power through this medium; through articulating their experience in this way they refuse to be ignored and can represent themselves when the mainstream media neglects to do so. Strength and authority are obtained through something as simple as a pen and paper, and their political statements can be made in the most memorable form. In an online vigil for Sarah Everard led by Reclaim These Streets and Feminists of London, poet Pia Stanchina read Maya Angelou’s boundlessly powerful poem ‘Still I Rise’ with the sentiment we need to hear and remember now more than ever: “You may kill me with your hatefulness, / But still, like air, I’ll rise.”

Image credit: Tim Dennell via Flickr

Over 30 exams planned to take place in person this Trinity term

Sasha Mills
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Over 30 exams planned to take place in person this Trinity term

Twenty exams have been confirmed to take place in person this year, with a further 15 papers set to be confirmed dependent on the government’s announcement on in-person course returns before next term. The majority of the exams already confirmed to be in-person are exams set by the Chemistry faculty, including Prelims and FHS exams, and the majority of exams set to be confirmed are ancient languages exams, held by the Classics faculty.

The Chemistry faculty outlined justification for in-person exams to their students in correspondence, citing “the rigour of the examination process,” greater ease of revision due to relevance of past papers available online, and “widespread collusion and cheating” at other Universities that chose to assess Chemistry remotely. The faculty went on to say that “the Teaching Committee decided unanimously that this was our first preference for exams next term, and the decision was ratified by the academics in all sections.”

Students taking in-person exams this year will not be expected to wear sub fusc, and those that choose to wear sub fusc have been asked to leave their caps at home. Face coverings will need to be worn throughout exams and in the examination buildings, except for those that have a legal exemption. For those that are self-isolating or unable to return to Oxford for Trinity due to travel restrictions, there is the possibility of sitting the exam online at the same time as the in-person exam, with remote invigilation. 

Sacha Chowdhury, a first-year Chemistry student, told Cherwell: “I would have preferred to do online exams for a few reasons: firstly, there’s just less health risk than in person exams. Also, since a lot of this year has been online including both sets of collections, we haven’t really had any practice with in person exams at uni. […] Another worry would be that if there were to be a spike in the weeks preceding the exams since, by committing to in-person exams, it makes it difficult to make a U-turn if necessary, so it relies on the government’s plan being successful.”

“A benefit of in-person exams is that I think I perform better as seeing other people working around me and being in an exam school may give me more adrenaline and focus, which is something I struggled with in online collections.”

A spokesperson for the University of Oxford told Cherwell: “In line with government guidance, the University will continue to offer a mix of in-person and online teaching and assessment while the national restrictions are in place. The vast majority of in-person exams taking place during Trinity Term will take place online using Inspera. The platform offers a greatly improved online exam experience for students with an intuitive interface and a range of tools that meet Oxford’s diverse needs.”

“Around thirty in-person examinations are scheduled [to] take place in Trinity Term, pending government confirmation around Easter of further courses which are able to return to in-person teaching and assessment. These exams are planned to take place in person in line with professional body accreditation requirements, or because it is not possible to examine their content remotely. Trinity Term in-person exams will be held with a range of safety measures implemented, including reduced capacity in exam halls, the compulsory use of face coverings and limited contact between individuals.”

 “Students unable to sit their exams in-person, because they are having to self-isolate or they have dispensation to be resident outside Oxford, will be able to apply, via their college, to sit an online exam with remote invigilation – which is outside of Inspera, not a part of it.”

“The University’s guidance and provisions to facilitate safe teaching follow Government advice. They have been carefully prepared in consultation with staff, Public Health England and other local partners.”

Image Credit: Paul Chapman / Oxford University – Matriculation / CC BY-SA 2.0

Bops, BBQs, and Berocca: reflections on student drinking culture

Katharine Spurrier
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Bops, BBQs, and Berocca: reflections on student drinking culture

CW: Mentions of alcoholism 

In many respects, Britain and excessive alcohol consumption have become synonymous. Our ‘drinking culture’ is something that is regularly brought up abroad; American friends of mine are shocked at the thought of 16-year-olds downing bottles of Smirnoff Ice or pints of the cheapest beer in a field at the weekend. Europeans scoff at lads’ or gals’ holidays in Maga on the razz. In my experience, drinking is an activity inseparable from many aspects of life. To go to a BBQ and not have a beer or glass of rosé would be wrong. To arrive at a dinner party without a customary bottle of wine would just be rude. Even to go to a carol service and finish a rendition of ‘Good King Wenceslas’ without a warm, sickly glass of mulled wine would be sacrilegious.

As a student, it often seems as if our own impression of our ‘drinking culture’ has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. We take pride in being ‘heavy-weights’ because we’ve been sipping the foam of our dad’s beers since we could walk. We laugh at those who can’t down their drinks or do a tequila shot. Drinking is as much about competition as it is about enjoyment, and ‘competitive’ is certainly a way of describing student drinking culture. Everything about a crew-date is set up to be a contest: pennying, shoes, and sconces all conclude with the spectacle of consuming excessive alcohol. On reflection though, perhaps the people who get slaughtered on a crew-date are also the people who smuggled bottles of wine in water bottles into a casual post-GCSE summer party.

I am condemning neither choice. Before Covid, it could feel as if there was nothing wrong with drinking so much you have to sleep on the bathroom floor, or with asking your friends to account for your actions between 11 pm and 1 am. Now that one night’s antics in Bridge cannot be immediately followed by the next night’s frivolity at Park End, this way of getting from week to week seems a little much.

This isn’t to say that we have all become Buddhist monks in our incarceration. On the contrary, I don’t think my drinking habits have changed at all. If anything, the hangovers have been far worse. Instead of going out and drinking five vodka cokes and three VKs, not to mention however much we drank at pre’s, I have spent lockdown in a student house drinking with my housemates. We swapped spirits for wine and bops for ‘Chill House’ playlists. Rather than diluting our consumption with a mixer, we’ve been going straight to the source. You may think me weak, that “wine is far less alcoholic”, and a wine hangover “not as bad”, but let me tell you, a wine hangover caused by your allocated bottle of wine and two Gin and Tonics is not a fun way to spend a library slot. I realised the importance of a good mixer in these moments of turmoil. Coke is good but can be filling. Ginger ale is a new favourite of mine, although it doesn’t work with everything. The ultimate has to be squash. A student favourite: affordable, efficient and depending on strength can cover up even a double Nikita. Mixers can provide the antidote to all your hangover problems. I have woken up feeling fresh after a night in Fever. But, I have also woken up wanting to be placed in a Berocca-induced coma after a recent Sunday night roast. So, while studies suggest that 1/3 of young people do not drink at all anymore, I have not found myself hampered by the weight of this statistical peer pressure.

“What would you like to drink?” This is a question I find difficult to answer. There are so many factors that have to be considered: the time of day, my mood, my locale. You can normally tell the time with my responding order. Before noon, it would have to be a mimosa; I can’t stand a bloody mary. Whoever said they were the best hangover cure must have still been too drunk for coherent thought. Lunch and a glass of wine is the way forward. Before supper, a cold cosmopolitan is a go-to. Gin and tonics are great but often overplayed. Then at supper, I would most likely return to the wine. However, wine is a difficult one as it is entirely dependent on the food you are eating. I would never dream of drinking white with a steak. In case you were concerned for my liver – or my mental state – I must add that this drinking habit is not an everyday occurrence; I do not consume my weekly allowance of fourteen units in a day, on a daily basis. My work and body would severely suffer if this was the case. While I might think I write a great essay still drunk, my tutors would probably disagree.

Yet, I can understand why this shift in student drinking habits has occurred. On the one hand, this practice of casual but consistent inebriation has not been universally detrimental – people regularly have a great time with friends having drinks. But on the other, families can be ruined by alcohol abuse, money squandered in bars and pubs, and alcohol-induced tragedy. Objectively, alcohol is a poison that can and will destroy lives. It is therefore something that people need to be made fully aware of. It is also something that needs to be respected.

I was always taught to approach alcohol as something to enhance a moment, not to create a moment. You should not be drinking if you are only doing it to provide entertainment. My parents have always shared, and probably always will share, a bottle of wine between them every night with supper. This might be supplemented by a Gin and Tonic or a beer, and at the weekend or for a special occasion they will drink with lunch. As a result, wine and beer were just another drink option growing up, like water or juice. It was nothing special and completely normal in our day-to-day lives. Normality, I think, is key. I have never felt the need to get smashed or overindulge because I have never had the feeling that I needed to drink as much or as quickly as possible. I think that, in many ways, our culture of drinking protects us from the frenzy that comes from finally being unleashed and allowed to do something which for so long was prohibited in our youth. And to be honest, if one of our most notable traits as a nation is that we are at our most comfortable in a beer garden, I am not that sad about it.

The misogynist within: calling ourselves out

Flora Dyson
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0
The misogynist within: calling ourselves out

TW: Mentions of sexual violence

The recent murder of Sarah Everard has sent shock waves through society. It has brought the extent of systemic victim-blaming and internalised misogyny to light, perpetuated by patriarchal ideas still present in our society. Internalised misogyny – the unconscious biases our patriarchal culture enforces upon us – must be examined in ourselves and others to tackle victim-blaming. Once we address, call out, and overcome our own internalised misogynistic attitudes, we can become more open-minded and prepared to support others facing sexual harassment and assault. It is a crisis that currently rages throughout schools and universities which can only be tackled by cultural and systemic change through education.

Sarah Everard’s murder is a gruesome sign that women are still unsafe on the streets. Her killing was not simply a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is resultative of a misogynistic culture which asserts continued male dominance over women’s bodies and lives, derived from the patriarchal ideas our society is steeped in. Her murder has triggered testimonies from women on social media, previously silent about their experiences of harassment and assault. Instagram account, @everyonesinvited has received over 5,000 testimonies from women and girls who have experienced harassment and assault within schools and universities. 

The continually increasing outpouring of testimonies shows women’s growing confidence to speak up about their experiences, once silenced by a toxic culture of victim-blaming which enforces the precedency of male sexual desire, and stifles women who have been forcibly subjected to it. Social media has exposed the breadth of misogyny within the education system. Though social media is an extremely powerful platform which raises awareness for these issues, meaningful changes must be made to challenge institutionalised chauvinism and misogyny – a power only wielded by education. Social media must also be treated with caution; though it can be used for positive change, it simultaneously provides a platform for misogynistic voices to be heard.  

Twitter is awash with comments about the route Sarah Everard took home, with many criticising her choice to walk across the dark Clapham Common. It seems history has repeated itself, placing a similar sense of responsibility on Amelie Delagrange, 22, who was murdered when she cut across the dark Twickenham Green, London, in 2004. It is as though nothing has changed in 15 years. This continued pattern of victim-blaming shows society must cease finding ways to shift blame from attackers onto their victims, and focus instead on the issue at hand: misogyny still reigns as a woman cannot wear what she wants and walk wherever she wants. 

Women’s clothing is too often used as an excuse for the actions of predators, as some conclude she may have been ‘asking’ for sexual attention. When a woman does assert agency over her body by dressing as she pleases, she is often blamed for the unwanted male attention she may receive. This culture of slut-shaming demonstrates that society still fails to accept women’s ownership over their bodies. Slut-shaming constantly finds a way to critique and control the way women should feel about their appearance. Victim-blaming and slut-shaming protects predators by placing responsibility of harassment on women, demonising them for enticing the male gaze. Society maintains that ‘boys will be boys’, a mentality which holds that predators are unable to control themselves and cannot be made accountable for their actions.  

These recent events have led women to reflect on their experiences of misogyny, including myself. One evening last summer I walked down a quiet lane and saw an older man looking at me from his car. He rolled down his window and asked “what’s your snapchat?” He then strode towards me, repeatedly shouting the same question. I blamed myself for this experience as I had walked alone down quiet roads and considered myself lucky I did not experience worse. I was ashamed to talk about it, as if it was my fault. A year on, I have realised my own internalised misogyny placed blame on myself, rather than this man. 

It is this internalisation of the patriarchy that makes myself, and many others, too afraid and ashamed to discuss their experiences of harassment. However, we must overcome our anxieties about victim-blaming. By refusing to discuss our experiences, the patriarchy continues to dominate women as our silence enforces the idea that cat-calling is something we should be ashamed of. Instead, we must call-out our cat-calls. By speaking up about harassment we draw attention to its extent within society and slowly break down the internalised misogyny which reinforces it.

The patriarchy enforces internalised misogyny which infiltrates almost every area of our lives. It permeates into our minds and becomes unconscious. It is all-pervasive, holding that men have a right to women’s bodies and resultatively makes us believe women are culpable for receiving unwanted attention. A 2017 rape case heard a judge suggest it is a woman’s duty to protect herself from assault when drunk. This behaviour institutionalises misogyny and victim-blaming and deters other women from reporting assault, believing that they will not be taken seriously. 

Instagram accounts such as @whyididntreport document the struggle of women to reveal their experiences of harassment and assault due to fear of violence and victim-blaming. Internalised misogyny is quick to invalidate a woman’s experiences; numerous accounts of how women believed they “did not fight hard enough” to avoid assault prove the shocking extent of victim-blaming within our society. Rather than teaching men that to assault is wrong, society teaches women to do all they can to avoid it. Women must be alert in case of attack. Women must grip their keys between their fingers at night. Women must change their clothes and route. If we do not, then we have not done all we can to protect ourselves. It is our duty to fight victim-blaming tendencies and place sole responsibility where it belongs: on offenders.

We must address such victim-blaming and internalised misogyny through education. Programmes such as the Oxford-based Good Lad Workshop teach university students to respect women through the concept of ‘positive masculinity’ rather than to merely obey the law on assault and harassment.  Environments such as these must be sustained as they create a discussion and challenge misogynist culture within the formative years of our lives.

Schools, universities and workplaces must learn from the testimonies of women and girls, and impose a reformed and rigorous education system surrounding misogyny. As well as education about the importance of respect, women must be assured that their experiences of harassment and assault are valid and resultative of an institutionalised culture of sexism rather than their own actions. Slut-shaming culture and other issues dependent upon internalised misogyny which plague and invalidate the experiences of women and girls must be broken down through education.  

The government’s latest proposals fail to emphasise education to challenge systemic internalised misogyny. The proposed introduction of police into nightclubs and bars, increasing street lighting and CCTV is inadequate in tackling misogyny, harassment and assault. It fails to acknowledge and eradicate institutionalised and internalised sexism – the root of violence against women. Respecting women cannot be immediately enforced in society by greater curbs against harassment and assault. Rather, it needs to be taught. A state based on fear of being found disobeying the law is not a society we should live in, rather education must be used to deconstruct the misogynistic attitudes which drive harassment and assault. Instead, the education system’s power must be wielded to challenge misogyny. 

Cultural and systemic reform brought about by education must take place to solve the inequalities faced by women. Though these inequalities span centuries, they can be gradually challenged when we educate men and women on gender injustice, and hopefully bring about a decline issues such as victim-blaming. In 100 years women in the UK have been transformed from politically voiceless, lacking the right to vote, to politically and financially empowered. The mammoth rate of change seen in the 20th century anticipates greater reform for the position of women to come, will the erosion of internalised misogyny follow?   

Image credit: Tim Dennell via Flickr & Creative Commons.

The continued failure to tackle rape culture within schools

Cleo Murphy-Hogg
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0
The continued failure to tackle rape culture within schools

TW: sexual assault

As numerous schools face accusations of ‘rape culture’, it is easy to feel shocked – the testimonies are harrowing to say the least. However, reflecting upon my own experiences at school, this shock partly reflects the entrenchment of rape culture. The culture is one in which misogynistic attitudes, thoughts and behaviours are trivialised and normalised. It is commonplace to not realise the violent potential of your ‘normal’.

It is overlooked that everyday experiences of sexism are the norm for female students. This normalisation enables sexual assault to be depicted as exceptional – this must be challenged. Rape culture is ingrained within schools and is a systemic issue. This fact has been highlighted recently by the Everyone’s Invited campaign. This initiative was set up to tackle rape culture and sexual violence within the education system and, as of today, there are over 5,800 testimonies of sexual assault and harassment. The campaign has published testimonies that have implicated several prestigious private schools, disrupting the ‘normal’ so many had previously accepted. The testimonies range from students pressured into sharing explicit photographs online to details of assault, rape and ‘stealthing’, the act of non-consensual condom removal. It is clear that schools are, as Ava Vakil put it in her recent open letter to King’s College School in Wimbledon, a “hotbed of sexual violence”. 

The Everyone’s Invited initiative defines rape culture as “when thoughts, behaviours and attitudes in a society or environment have the effect of normalising and trivialising sexual violence”, “behaviours such as misogyny, slut shaming, victim blaming and sexual harassment create an environment where sexual violence and abuse can exist and thrive.” Crucially, all the experiences described above are interconnected: misogyny and sexism cannot go unchallenged in school, as such a normalisation is inherently concerning and violent. 

The recent reckoning induced by the initiative has led many to question, how do institutions tackle rape culture in the long run? Whilst it is imperative that perpetrators of sexual assault and harassment face adequate consequences for their actions, to solve the issue a more profound recognition of rape culture is necessary – reactionary responses are not enough.

There is currently a failure of sex education amongst men. The curriculum is yet to grasp the nuances of consent, and the role technology and social media play in producing rape culture. For a start, the social side of sex must be addressed, this should include discussions around intangible ‘grey areas’ such as pressure and power dynamics. Promisingly, a group of schools in London are now discussing how to revise their PSHE curriculum. This is necessary and should be instituted on a wider level, as The National Education Union (NEU) recommended.

My argument that schools present a micro-culture of sorts in which sexism is rife and reproduced viciously is not to negate the pervasiveness of rape culture within wider society, nor the influence of the media. However, I find certain narratives which have emerged in response to the Everyone’s Invited campaign specifically alarming in the almost absolute abdication of responsibility from the institution of schools themselves. Melanie McDonagh, of The Spectator, interviewed a head of a Catholic school who attributed the problem to ‘internet pornography’. McDonagh herself paused over the impact of ‘the cultural imperative for girls to celebrate their sexuality’, and boys’ ‘inability to interpret confusing signals’. After a moment of despair, and wondering if McDonagh really saw being sexy and safe as mutually exclusive, I realised her response is symptomatic of a wider popular view that schools simply reflect issues prevalent in society at large (that is if, as in this case, sex positivity is to be viewed as an issue of course). 

Rather, schools act as a unique breeding ground for rape culture. This issue, as highlighted in the past month, is not novel. The NEU reported in 2017 that a third of girls had been sexually harassed at mixed-sex schools. The report equally stresses the direct correlation between sexist ideas and violent behaviour. Once again, the ideas which often remain unchallenged are violent: we must reassess what we deem trivial. 

I find the vehement refutation that schools play an active role in producing rape culture to be confusing, to say the least, considering it is generally accepted that schools are incredibly formative for everything else and play an active role in the development of young people. So, why are institutions so reluctant to admit their role and agency when it comes to rape culture? Within the education system, man is considered the default, it is thus hardly surprising that misogynistic behaviour is the norm.

Simone De Beauvoir theorised that women are fundamentally oppressed by men, as they are characterised as the Other. Man occupies the role of the self; woman is the object. The school curriculum exemplifies Beauvoir’s thesis by reinforcing the idea of men as essential and predominant. In 2018, Mary Bousted, the joint secretary of the NEU, criticised the national curriculum for failing to include enough black and female writers. The English curriculum is arguably disproportionately dominated by men, and much of the sexist male behaviour and violence within key texts are also not adequately addressed. Accepting men as the default is dangerous because it facilitates the objectification of women; as they are ‘othered’ they are defined in relation to men and their worth is diminished.

In considering why many of the reports published on the Everyone’s Invited website were initially from private schools, particularly in London, it is important to address how the concept of reputational prestige can perpetuate rape culture. Many schools’ lauding of their legacy and reputation is potentially damaging in that it frames a culture of abuse as implausible. Schools often describe themselves as creating future leaders, good citizens, or more generally as the vanguard of society. This is reminiscent of the traditional concept of the ‘gentleman’; students are moral, honourable and respectable. Gentlemanliness functions as a shield for misogyny by producing the false paradox of the impossibility of a respectable being, of fine character, behaving unacceptably, violating others’ rights. This incredulity is deliberate and manufactured by our culture and institutions, it immunises certain individuals.

What must be recognised is that the construct of the ‘gentleman’ relies equally upon prestige, hierarchy and a sense of superiority. Misogyny is intertwined with the subordination inherent within the elevation of the ‘gentleman’. This is relevant to the present day, and is awfully reminiscent of the time, in my own experience at school, that a girl reported a boy for verbally harassing and slut-shaming her, to be told the boy’s school did not believe her. How could a smart, lovely boy who plays in the sports teams also harass someone? It is entirely reductive, but unfortunately incredibly effective, to create this false binary between good and bad. Schools, the history of male greatness and individuals can have an ugly, traumatic history. As schools seek to preserve reputational prestige, by suppressing this ugliness, there is a denial of the complexity of rape culture and an undermining of the credibility of victims. 

The responses of certain high-profile schools to the Everyone’s Invited campaign have been promising. It is reassuring to see schools report all cases to the police, reaffirming their zero-tolerance policy to sexual harassment. However, I can’t help but feel that the focus on accountability is partly a publicity exercise. By treating the problem on a case-by-case basis it once again frames the problem as one of individuals, rather than the institution itself. Institutions must admit the pervasiveness of rape culture, rather than, as one headteacher recently stated in an email, attributing the problem to ‘a small minority of students’ who have got ‘things wrong at some time during their adolescent years’.

To deal with this reactively and separate the school from the problem is a non-solution. Many schools seek to maintain the status quo and hope that by dealing with a few ‘bad apples’ quietly, the issues of sexual assault and misogyny will all go away: sadly this is naive, will the same tree not continue to produce ‘bad apples’? Such an approach entirely disregards how disturbing and harmful the present situation is: our ‘normal’ is violent, unsustainable, and thorough disruptive change is needed.

The reality of rape culture is not only pervasive but also complex. With the benefit of hindsight it is unnervingly easy to think of personal instances of misogyny at school. This is commonplace. Equally unnerving is the extent to which I realise now that I was an active bystander at times to this culture of misogyny. Despite at times feeling a discomfort, I never properly called out my own, nor my friends, casual objectification. Accepting the status quo had its merits: I wanted to date the boys who called me pretty; I wanted to go to the parties; I even, I can admit now, saw some of the comments as compliments. Whilst it is easy to excuse such instances with the insecurity of adolescence I find it more useful to consider whether this is how rape culture functions within schools. It was, and often still is, socially profitable to not make a scene. As a status quo, which remains relatively unchallenged, all are responsible. 

As Soma Sara, the founder of Everyone’s Invited, argues, this is not about cancel culture, nor individuals. The Everyone’s Invited testimonies are anonymised to stress this point: the testimonies are individually striking but together compellingly demonstrate how sexual abuse thrives within an educational environment. This is a systemic issue, and there is a collective responsibility to call it out. Complicity normalises the behaviours and thoughts of rape culture and further socialises young people into believing certain actions are ‘acceptable’, if simply because of their frequency and regularity. 

There has also been a general sense of shock across the media in response to the Everyone’s Invited campaign. This shock appeared to be especially centred around the implication of certain prestigious private schools. For me, this reflects a shock that sexual assault happens here too. Whilst this focus on an institution’s reputation and prestige entirely misses the point, in some ways it also proves how effective privilege and grandeur can be in masking the ugly. Once again it purports the false dichotomy between the good and the bad. It also pinpoints a current wider problem in discourses surrounding sexual assault, a perceived need to categorise and mark out who the typical abuser is. Rape culture is pervasive and transcends many boundaries within society, including class. There is also an irony to this shock: male entitlement is an integral component of rape culture; of course, this entitlement is present at schools where boys are taught that they are God’s gift.

The mass reaction of shock, however, is damaging in that it again risks presenting this culture of violence as exceptional – this is not only an issue rooted within prestigious schools but all schools. The experience of one subsection of society is valid and worth discussing but should not subsume the voices of others. For example, the testimonies originating from state schools have garnered substantially less attention.

Equally, in the reporting of sexual harassment within schools the intersections of being a survivor and a part of a minority group have hardly been mentioned. The NEU report in 2017 revealed the lack of a national government-led response to rape culture within schools. Despite this, recent public opinion seems to have been galvanized around the institutional indifference of a small number of schools. Whilst it is promising to see certain schools finally begin to take adequate steps in addressing the problem, the problem is not limited to the top fifty schools in the country. As the NEU states, it is disappointing that the Department for Education is yet to take a “stronger lead”, the national curriculum should be redesigned to deal with the issue. Firstly, the scope and severity of the issue need to be acknowledged if we are to tackle rape culture within all schools. The recent announcement of an immediate review into sexual abuse in schools by the Department for Education is a step in the right direction; I can only hope that this review signals the continuation of a crucial conversation.

Essentially, schools must admit the extent of the problem and seek a new future. Hindsight and reactive solutions are not enough. We must all consider the role we play in the normalisation of misogyny. We cannot see cases of assault as anomalous, sadly sexual assault is incredibly common: to disregard this fact, is to not gauge the severity and complexity of the problem. Our culture actively manufactures this crime. Schools must understand rape culture. Seeking clean testimonies; perpetuating a false dichotomy between good and bad; using morality as a metric, predisposes schools to inadequately deal with sexual assault.

As Jia Tolentino wrote in Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion, currently ”the best-case scenario for a rape victim in terms of adjudication is the worst-case scenario in terms of experience: for people to believe you deserve justice, you have to be destroyed.” Grimly, this holds true if the kaleidoscope of behaviours and thoughts which constitute rape culture within schools is considered: the trivial is boys being confused, the normal is a minority being ‘bad apples’. Such an outlook enables the status quo to prevail, it is integral to properly address rape culture. 

Image Credit: Creative Commons – “Red River High School”, by senatorheitkamp, marked with CC PDM 1.0.

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