St Anne’s College has just voted in a “white hetrosexual male rep” to serve on their formal student body. Andrew Lowe stood on a platform that would replace the college creche with a finishing school, ban women from the library and save money by getting female students to serve in halls instead of kitchen staff. The other gems in his manifesto include extra funding for “middle class activities” and preventing college authorities from banning “any act succeeded by the word lad or banter”.

 

As a feminist, I know I’ll be criticized with the classic “can’t you take a joke” line. Don’t get me wrong - I’m all for taking the piss out of the PC agenda - but let me explain why there are three reasons why this action is simply not funny.

 

Most obviously (and I can’t believe I even have to write this), sexist and discriminatory “jokes” like this run the risk of isolating the unrepresentatively low numbers of women, ethnic minorities and working class Oxbridge students. Actions like this show that some members of the white male middle class student population have precisely zero sense of empathy – born on the top to inherit the top, they can’t understand what it might feel like to be intimidated at the bottom.

 

Second, stories like these put off unconventional applicants. Since I’ve left Oxford I’ve regularly gone back to my state school to encourage students to apply. Next week I’m meeting a  young woman to try and convince her that Oxbridge is worth going for, despite her fears of snobbery. What am I supposed to tell these 6th formers now?

 

Finally, actions like these make a mockery of the college student committee. JCRs aren’t jokey forums to mess with. In the past they have done great political campaigning for the rights of female, homosexual and ethnic minority students. To reduce them to the play-thing of middle class lads is insulting, and undermines their credibility to do more good work.

 

At a time when the far right are getting into power and a lot of women are leaving politics, actions like this are unforgivable. The St Anne’s “lads” need to wake up and distinguish the difference between a light-hearted piss-take, and dangerous immaturity.