Life and the Mind

Contact: Laurel Mitchell, Co-Coordinator, The Miss G___ Project
Phone: (519) 719-2868
Email:
laurel@themissgproject.org

LONDON,
ON - April 8, 2007 - Many students at the University of Western Ontario
are up in arms about an article published on March 30th by the daily
campus newspaper, The Gazette, as part of its annual Spoof Issue. The
article depicts the London police chief (who is explicitly named)
dragging a prominent member of the UWO Women’s Issues Network (WIN),
depicted under the pseudonym "Jennifer Ostrich," into an alley to rape
her to "teach [her] a lesson."
   The article, titled "Labia Majora Carnage," was published anonymously under the pseudonym, "Xavier."
Students
angry and offended by the article have been mobilizing through letter
writing campaigns to The Gazette Editor-in-Chief Ian Van Den Hurk, the
university, and the media, and through a protest held on campus last
Thursday.
   Some students have also written to Police Chief Murray
Faulkner to ask him to make a public statement about his portrayal in
the article and his stance on violence against women. Faulkner couldn’t
be reached for comment.
   Most students believe "Jennifer Ostrich" to be a caricature of
Jenna Owsianik, chair of the Western chapter of the feminist group The
Miss G__ Project and an active member of WIN. She has also been vocal
about criticizing The Gazette, and in the October issue of the
Grapevine (another campus publication at Western), Owsianik wrote about
what she sees as The Gazette’s tradition of "negative sexual
stereotypes and sexist attitudes" — and cataloged the offenses.
   In addition to being angry and upset, Owsianik is disappointed
that this is the response to her criticisms and to the challenge she
issued to The Gazette and all student journalists in the Grapevine
article "to be more responsible." Though she’s not terribly surprised -
The Gazette has been brushing off her criticisms and making fun of her
and other WIN members all year - the severity and violence of this
article still shocked and terrified her.
   "I feel like I was raped by that article," Owsianik said candidly.
 
The article also satirizes "Katie Conservative," a pretty clear
allusion to WIN Internal Relations Manager and active UWO Conservative
Association member Kathryn Mitrow, who says that she is "appalled and
ashamed" by The Gazette’s actions.
   In a letter to the editor published in the April 5 edition of
The Gazette, graduate student Corey Katz takes issue with the Spoof
Issue’s jokes about rape, violence against women and homosexuality.
"These jokes are used every day to justify violence against women and
queer people. How many jokes like these has someone read, heard,
laughed at or told before they’re able to overcome their conscience
enough to rape or assault someone?"
   Recent UWO alumna and Miss G__ Project Co-Coordinator Sheetal
Rawal also thinks that the targeting of Owsianik in this article is a
way to silence activism about women’s issues on Western’s campus.
 
"For The Gazette to level a threat of rape at a student activist on
campus, one who has had the courage to speak out against the shocking
misogyny, homophobia, racism in the paper, as away to "teach [her] a
lesson," is highly irresponsible of a campus newspaper and absolutely
unacceptable," Rawal said. "This is hate speech."
   Rawal also said that she is "embarrassed" that, between this
and other events like the "Saugeen Stripper" issue last year, Western
is coming to known for its rape culture. "I refuse to allow for my
degree to read "Rapist University,"" she said.
Not all students are upset about it though, and even some of
those who are continue defend The Gazette’s right to publish articles
like this under freedom of speech.
   "Freedom of speech is a
fundamental pillar of our society, even if we don’t like it," Western
student Noah Desjardins wrote on the discussion board of a Facebook
group created around this issue. "Any restrcitions placed on it lead to
a slippery slope of censorship."
   Western student Fiona Martin thinks that freedom of speech should have its limits though.
 
"The debate continues on whether jokes against feminism are funny. Some
people think they are, some don’t. What is not funny is the verbal
attack against specific people that The Gazette article made. That is
hate speech," she wrote on the discussion board.
   So far, The Gazette’s only official response to the backlash
from the Spoof Issue has been "get over yourself." In an April 4
editorial they defend the "satire" of the issue, writing that those
offended should "know a joke when they see one."
   However, several students have been demanding more extreme
action, including calling for Van Den Hurk’s resign and the withdrawal
of student funding (through the University Students’ Council) to The
Gazette.
   Student Kate Barthes suggests that The Gazette’s funding be
revoked for one year, to match the USC’s actions against the Society
for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) when it was accused of hate speech
last year.
   Throughout all this, Owsianik has been told by several people to ‘take a joke.’
 
"That article was about me getting raped and liking it," she said.
"When you live your life in my body and experience the violence that my
body has felt, then you can tell me if satirical intention merits a
diffused reaction," she said.

If
you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an
interview with Laurel Mitchell, Jenna Owsianik or Kathryn Mitrow,
please contact Laurel Mitchell at laurel@themissgproject.org or (519) 719-2868. The editor of the Gazette can be reached at
gazette.editor@uwo.ca

The
Miss G__ Project is of concerned citizens working together to promote
equity in education, to combat sexism and homophobia through education,
and to encourage active citizenship. For more information please visit www.themissgproject.org.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 9th, 2007 at 7:09 am and is filed under Feminism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.