Oh,  fok.

A student tradition at the University of Pretoria has come under fire after male students waved “posters bearing offensive and sexist slogans during a dancing performance by female students,” reports iOL.

The awfully sexist posters emerged yesterday, and you can only imagine the reaction, especially since #MenAreTrash trended on social media this past weekend.

The posters were held up by students during the “Serrie residence competition’s preliminary event on Tuesday night”.

Meant to distract the female performers, here are a few of the signs:

[I hope you can like it in the GAT nè?]

[I’m not Asian, but I’ll eat your cat.]

[Nice thigh gap, can I fill it?]

Other signs read “Show us your tits”, “Blow me” and “Can I make you a momma”. Check the whole album here, it really is quite something.

Honestly.

Shifting the blame onto “res culture”, students dismissed it, saying that “if anyone speaks up against it, they are told to find other accommodation,” reports iOL.

Then, the trouble began:

Horrified students, parents and others took to social media, reacting with shock to the posters, with others calling for the Serrie finals, scheduled for Friday night, to be cancelled.

Commentators questioned the morals of students on the campus and, together with students, agreed that the culture of sexualising women had become normalised during an age when transformation was key.

“Disgusting, and the culprits think it is a joke. Says a lot of their upbringing. No respect for others. They should be banned from UP,” Johann van Eck commented on Facebook.

Maliviwe Brian Matyila said: “Why are comrades still endorsing and entertaining Serrie?”

Also commenting on the situation was former SRC head of residences Michael Reinders, who had a bleak outlook on what happened, as well as the rape culture at Tuks in general:

[A]s much as it was a norm that a certain group would try to distract the other, it had gone too far this time.

“Normally, groups would try to distract one another by smiling at them or probably writing something funny, but what was seen yesterday was nothing funny, it was abusive content,” he said.

He said that was res behaviour. “Res is a toxic space and these are things that happen in residences all the time,” he said.

Reinders said a campaign called #AreWeSafe, meant to raise awareness of the rape crises and the lack of respect and safety on campus last year, made no difference.

Tthe university is looking into the matter, but what does this kind of behaviour say about young men? Exactly what most of South Africa has been saying for a while now: #MenAreTrash.

Keen to debate that, thinking you are a few of the “good” ones? Take a look at these sweet little nuggets in your life, from journalist Pontsho Pilane:

#NotAllMen but I can’t jog at night or early in the morning. If I do, and I happen to get mugged, raped or catcalled, I will be told that I should have expected.

#NotAllMen but I cannot dance at groove without having a man invite himself and start grinding on me.

#NotAllMen but I have to block sources after interviews because they are now WhatsApping me and being inappropriate.

#NotAllMen but saying “I have a boyfriend” protects me from insults and possible harm more than “No, I am not interested”.

#NotAllMen but I was told by a man that I was lucky because he wouldn’t rape me because it was National Women’s Day, as I walked through Sandton City to join a friend’s birthday lunch.

#NotAllMen yet every time I have literally feared for my life in one way or the other has been at the hands of men.

How’s that food for thought?

[images:Fezekile Msimang]

[source:iol&thedailyvox]