‘Wad Words’ Opt-Out

In a motion passed at the Wadham Student Union meeting on Sunday, Wadham students were given the option to opt out of being featured in their college rag-sheet.Students will now be able to email the Welfare Officers who will forward their names to the writers of ‘Wad Words’; this will be carried out in strict confidentiality.In the agenda for the meeting, the SU noted: “One. That Wadham students have a right to go about their lives without fear of being commented on in Wad Words. Two. That Wad Words nevertheless makes a contribution to college life and that there is no reason why it shouldn’t continue to do so.”Katharine Halls, Co-chair of Womens’ Campaign, says she proposed the motion after complaints were brought up at a number of meetings about the “derogatory tone of the college bog sheets”.”Oxford is an extremely stressful environment for everyone but sadly the age-old sexism of the place means it is often worse for women”, says Halls. “College rags are just another aspect of this, setting upon women for their sexual behaviour, objectifying those deemed attractive and deriding those who aren’t. We noticed that the situation in colleges with opt-out systems seemed a bit better, and thought the best way to tackle the problem was probably to take motions to common rooms.”SU President Leonora Sagan says, ” ‘Wad Words’ can sometimes be insensitive and quite cruel. An opt-out was considered to be the best way to ensure that the rag-sheet remains funny.” However, no specific examples of particularly cruel features were cited to support the motion.According to one Wadhamite, there was substantial feeling at the meeting that ” ‘Wad Words’ is not, in comparison to other college publications – for example the Jesus ‘Sheepshagger’ – that offensive.” He says, “The Freshers who chose to opt out are too boring to feature anyway.”Halls says, “I’ll be delighted if this turns out to be true. We never imagined there being more than a minority who’d want to opt out. The important thing is it is there for those who do want to, and if just one person feels a bit happier or less insecure because of it we’ll have achieved our aim. Incidentally, that minority are of course the very ones who are least likely to speak up at SU meetings.” One Fresher at Wadham said he was featured in ‘Wad Words’ for being ‘drunk too often and having to be carried home from events’. He thinks that an opt-out “takes away the point”, but that maybe people who are going to feature should be told in advance.”I wouldn’t say it was specifically sexist,” he said, “but I can see how girls would take offence to features like ‘Most Likely to Walk Funny in the Morning’.” He adds that to have been featured in ‘Wad Words’ means “you have done something noticeable or have a noticeable personality.”The ‘Wad Words’ opt-out motion follows similar motions that have been passed by Magdalen and Jesus JCRs, amongst others.by Sarah Fleming