Sunday 17th August 2025
Blog Page 30

Schalke, stickers, and social shifts in Germany

Jack Danson
-
0
Schalke, stickers, and social shifts in Germany

When you think about German football, several images doubtless spring to mind – Bayern players drenched in Paulaner after winning another Meisterschale, the ‘Yellow Wall’ in Dortmund, or perhaps the greats who have donned Die Mannschaft’s famous white jersey.

You probably don’t think about lampposts.

Across the nation, concrete-grey urban landscapes are broken up by flashes of colour. There are splotches wrapped around lamp posts, gleaming on street signs, even fixed in the endless loop of the U-Bahn escalators. Everywhere you look, you’re greeted by stickers emblazoned with football badges.

Throughout the nation’s fractured past, football has been a constant, something that all demographics have been able to rely on. The proliferation of stickers in German cities and towns represents how football is woven into the fabric of communities and the country itself. 

But the best example of this connection between city and club exists in Gelsenkirchen.

Situated squarely in the Ruhrgebiet, Gelsenkirchen is known as the Stadt der tausend Feuer – ‘the city of a thousand fires’. The nickname refers to mineshafts and blast furnaces, symbols of the coal industry which fuelled its economic and population growth.

Now, Gelsenkirchen looks derelict, ravaged by a rapid deindustrialisation process. Since the Wirtschaftswunder in the 1960s, the average yearly income has slid to less than €18,000–the lowest in Germany–, while unemployment has skyrocketed to over 14%. The city has been unable to maintain or modernise its infrastructure as many fans discovered at last year’s European Championship, having to wait up to three hours for post-match trams. 

In 2008, the last of the famous collieries ceased operations, now casting a long shadow over a crumbling city.

However, Gelsenkirchen’s most famous association is still reflected in the cityscape. The streaks of royal blue that adorn virtually every façade are the calling cards of one of the most passionate fanbases in football. But much like the city it calls home, FC Schalke 04 are in freefall.

Once a stalwart of the top division and a regular in continental competition, Schalke have recently lingered in the lower reaches of the 2. Bundesliga. Last season, the Knappen even flirted with relegation to the 3. Liga, before clawing their way to a mid-table finish.

Off the pitch, their financial troubles are well-documented, worsening to the point where extinction became a very real possibility during the 2023/24 season.

But the support of their fans never wavered. In fact, it only improved. Their average home attendance in 2023/24 was 61,438, outnumbering the typical turnout for European giants like Liverpool, Atletico Madrid, and Arsenal.

Through all their troubles, the club has remained the beating heart of Gelsenkirchen. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, mayor Karin Welge called Schalke the ‘social putty’ that holds the city together.

However, a more sinister force has threatened to usurp the passion for the Royal Blues as the overriding sentiment in Gelsenkirchen and destabilise the foundations that Germany itself rests on.

The 23rd February 2025 saw a snap election following the dissolution of the ‘traffic light’ coalition. Two flecks of light blue on the map of constituencies caught people’s attention, the first-ever regions in the West to vote for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party.

One of these light-blue specks was situated in the middle of the Ruhrgebiet.

The question of whether football can enact socio-political change is often thrown around given the numerous controversies that the sport has become entangled in recently. But how about the other way round? Is it possible that radical shifts in the modern-day political landscape affect how we experience the beautiful game?

This much was evident in the reaction to Elon Musk’s takeover of X (formerly Twitter) and subsequent involvement with prominent xenophobic figures and movements, including the AfD. FC St. Pauli were the first German club to leave the platform in November last year, decrying its transformation into a ‘hate machine’.

The Hamburg-based club were quickly followed by the likes of SV Werder Bremen and Hertha Berlin, though their resistance has not slowed the march of increasingly extreme political attitudes.

What’s more, their departure from X marks the end of fan communities that have grown with the club’s account and use the site as a means of keeping up with their favourite German team.

Germany’s political limbo reflects a global problem, where the upheaval is so great that every facet of society is influenced by it. Worryingly, when people think of Gelsenkirchen now, the proud Royal Blue of Schalke may not be the first thing to come to mind, but rather a different, more ominous shade of cyan.

In times of such political turmoil in Germany, the role of constants like football has shifted. With ever-widening divides and increasing animosity, you get the impression that it’ll take more than just stickers to hold the country together.

Sir Mo Farah and Lord Melvyn Bragg among 2025 honorary degree recipients

Chloe Smith
-
0
Sir Mo Farah and Lord Melvyn Bragg among 2025 honorary degree recipients

Track athlete Sir Mo Farah and Lord Melvyn Bragg, author and broadcaster best known for ‘In Our Time’, are among nine recipients of honorary degrees by the University of Oxford this year. Other recipients include the former Prime Minister of New Zealand Dame Jacinda Ardern, and Clive Myrie, BBC journalist and presenter.

The esteemed recipients also include Professor Serhii Plokhii, Professor Timothy Snyder, Professor Colm Tóibín, Professor Robert S Langer and Professor Erwin Neher. Professor Plokhii is an extensively published author and historian, recognised for his scholarship on Eastern Europe. 

Professor Snyder is an American scholar of the history of Central Europe, Ukraine, the Soviet Union and the Holocaust and is a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. 

Professor Tóibín is a novelist and writer whose 2009 novel Brooklyn was adapted for a film starring Saoirse Ronan, while Professor Langer is at MIT who has written over 1,600 articles, now recognised as the most academically cited engineer. Finally, Professor Neher is a German biophysicist who was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1991. 

The number of degrees awarded is up this year, with nine degrees awarded compared to six in 2024. Previous recipients include world-renowned Monty Python actor and comedian Sir Michael Palin in 2024 and Val McDermid, a Scottish writer who has sold over 19 million books, in 2023. Their honorary degrees followed undergraduate degrees from Oxford University, however this is not a requirement of recipients.

This year, as the new Chancellor, Lord William Hague will open the ceremony and admit the honorary degrees to the recipients.


The 2025 Encaenia ceremony in which honorary degrees are awarded will be held on Wednesday 25th June. The procession tracks from one college to the Sheldonian Theatre and includes the heads of colleges and university dignitaries. ‘Encaenia’ means festival of renewal and the ceremony is held annually on the Wednesday of ninth week during Trinity term. Students, staff and alumni can register for tickets from 6th May.

Nominations open for new Student Union positions

Noah Robson
-
0
Nominations open for new Student Union positions

The Student Union (SU) has announced that nominations have opened for its newly-introduced part-time officers, who will work alongside the full-time sabbatical officers. Nominations are also open for Student Trustees to sit on the SU’s Trustee Board, with terms lasting for two years.

Any current student at Oxford University is eligible for nomination, with the deadline closing on Friday 9th May, before the elections are held in 4th Week. The roles come as part of the SU’s recently announced restructuring plans, which involved abolishing the role of president, opting instead for a ‘flat’ structure.

The part-time officers, which are voluntary and unpaid unlike the full-time sabbatical officers, face an expected workload of two to four hours per week of term, with there being two types of position available. 

Equity Officers “represent student members from marginalised student communities”, with each officer being chair of an associated RepCom, where specific student communities are able to discuss and propose policy changes. These groups include a Class Officer, Disabled Students’ Officer, LGBTQ+ Officer, International Students’ Officer, Black and Ethnic Minorities Students’ Officer, Suspended Students’ Officer, and Women*s’ Officer.

Community Officers, meanwhile, have a brief of representing students “who are involved in the various student communities” at the University. There are three roles in this category: an Environmental Officer, a Societies Officer, and a RAG Officer. The SU have also announced that there will be a Sports Officer, with this position being elected “in accordance with Sports Federation rules”.
In addition to the part-time roles, an election will also be held for Student Trustees, with successful candidates sitting on the Trustee Board which oversees the SU. Board members include the Sabbatical Officers, four elected Student Trustees, and four External Trustees.

Brasenose College partially evacuated after chlorine gas leak

Cherwell News
-
0
Brasenose College partially evacuated after chlorine gas leak

Brasenose College was partially evacuated following a chlorine gas leak, with the fire brigade called to the scene to deal with the incident.

According to students at the college, the alarm began at approximately 1.10pm, with one telling Cherwell that they had been instructed by two workers to “get out of the building immediately”.

Two of the college’s three quads were evacuated, with the domestic bursar telling students in an email that the fire service were “working with our teams to resolve as quickly as possible”.

Later, the College’s Bursar told Cherwell: “There was not a fire, but the sensors had detected chemicals of concern in the air. The fire service attended and dealt with the incident.”

Purav Menon, a 3rd year PPE student at Brasenose, told Cherwell that there had been “a fire alarm going off for the past five to ten minutes across most of the college buildings. Everyone’s standing outside and it’s not the usual drill.”

Additionally, Lawrence Thorn, a 1st year Experimental Psychology student at Brasenose, explained to Cherwell that he was walking up to his staircase when he heard two workers saying: “Quick, pull the fire alarm.” He was subsequently told to “get out of the building immediately”.

Despite the incident, one student at the college told Cherwell that “it seems like people aren’t really fazed.” Before being evacuated, they added: “It seems like life is going on as normal – people are playing croquet, sitting around eating lunch.”

Philip Parker, the College’s Bursar, told Cherwell: “I [can] confirm that the emergency services attended College on Thursday 1st May in response to the triggering of a fire alarm.

“We cannot yet confirm more details about the cause and await the report of the emergency services and our internal investigations.

“The College is very grateful to the emergency services and our in-house team for attending quickly and ensuring the safety of all our College members. We are also grateful for the support and understanding of our students, staff and academics during an afternoon of disruption and inconvenience.”

Table for one: the quiet joy of solo travelling

Beatrix Arnold
-
0
Table for one: the quiet joy of solo travelling

In the summer before starting university, with my place at Oxford secured, and the reality of the impending plunge into the unknown beginning to dawn on me, I embarked on a three-week long solo trip around Italy. Equipped with only a small carry-on, I hopped from one hostel to another, staying in eight different cities. My extremely tight budget did not hold me back; I kept myself busy with museums, art galleries, trips to ruins, and ate some of the best food of my life. I did, unfortunately, turn into somewhat of a pizza snob. Alternately unnerving and exhilarating (Naples is not the safest destination for a solo female traveller), the trip was the best preparation for starting university that I could have asked for, much more so than all that pre-reading that I was never asked about. 

I am well aware that the opportunity to travel smacks of privilege. But this is not an exculpation of the gap yah; I’m not advocating a trip to a resort in Bali to find yourself, safely cushioned by daddy’s bank account and padded out with a dabble in voluntourism. This is a defence of the low-budget, high-reward solo trip abroad. It is now easier than ever to find affordable options for travel, accommodation, and food. By saving up from summer work, and developing indispensable budgeting skills, I was able to sustain myself abroad for a far cheaper rate than it costs to live day to day in Oxford, for example. 

As travel abroad becomes easier to organise, solo trips are on the rise, particularly among women. Despite the daunting prospect, and the evident risks (strong enough to dissuade many), when done right it can be a vital act of self-assertion, and a prioritisation of autonomous pleasure in a culture which inculcates self-subordination. Chosen solitude shouldn’t be seen as a sign of loneliness, or as an inherent deficiency, but as an active cultivation of the self. The constructive and restorative power of solitude, particularly in the context of what can cheesily be termed an ‘adventure’, cannot be understated.

For me, after my relatively sheltered countryside upbringing, solo travel was a chance to construct a sense of true independence, so that the abrupt isolation of university life did not come as quite the jolting shock it would have otherwise.

A year and a half later, still reeling from my just-completed exams, I took myself off on a three-day solo trip to Athens, and was reminded afresh of the joys of independent travel. As much as I relish travelling with friends, going solo facilitates new realms of possibilities. With none of the compromise, none of the scheduling, none of the inevitable anxiety of making arrangements on someone else’s behalf, there is much greater scope for real relaxation. Besides – somewhat paradoxically, choosing to go alone makes it easier to form connections with others. I became much more confident in social – and even romantic – interactions with people I met along the way in the absence of the ever-debilitating risk that you might run into them on Broad Street.  

Of course, the first time I walked into a restaurant by myself and requested a table for one, it was a game of endurance, persevering through the oppressive sense of strangers’ judgement. But comfort is cultivated; whether by talking to waiters or neighbouring diners, choosing more low-key venues or bringing a book, I adapted to deal with situations that previously seemed too intimidating. With confidence progressively earned, my security in my own independence grew, so that now, a solo tute doesn’t seem so scary after all.  

Winners of Oriel art exhibition to ‘contextualise’ Rhodes announced

Joshua McGillivray
-
0
Winners of Oriel art exhibition to ‘contextualise’ Rhodes announced

An exhibition displaying four sculptures by Zimbabwean artists which aims to “contextualise” the legacy of Cecil Rhodes will open at Oriel College later this year. 

The sculptures were chosen from over 100 pieces of art submitted for a competition organised by the Oxford Zimbabwe Arts Partnership (OZAP), a group established in 2020 in response to the Rhodes Must Fall protest movement.

The competition’s judges included Lord Mendoza, the Provost of Oriel College; Elleke Boehmer, a Trustee of the Rhodes Trust; and Norbert Shamuyarira, a Zimbabwean sculptor and one of the co-founders of OZAP.

The panel met on the 7th March and chose the sculpture “Blindfold Justice” as the centrepiece for the exhibition. It was created by Wallace Mkankha, 34, an artist based at the Chitungwiza Arts Centre near Harare. 

Mkankha said about his piece: “The face, shrouded in anguish, symbolises the suffering of the Zimbabwean people. The two hands covering the eyes signify the forced blindness to the truth as Rhodes’ regime imposed its oppressive rule.

“The two hands struggling to remove the blindfold represent the resilience and determination of Zimbabwean people to break free from oppression.”

Lord Mendoza said: “I look forward to viewing Wallace’s sculpture at Oriel College. We had a challenging but engaging judging session. I’m grateful to all the expert judges for their insight to help reach a decision.

“Each sculpture represents a creative form of engagement with the complicated legacy of Cecil Rhodes in Zimbabwe.”

Rhodes migrated to southern Africa at the age of 17. In 1871, he moved to Kimberley and over the next twenty years became one of the wealthiest diamond producers in the world, founding the De Beers company in 1888.

In 1890, he became Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, a territory spanning part of contemporary South Africa. During his premiership, the government passed the 1892 Franchise and Ballot Act, which raised the property qualifications for voting and thus excluded most non-white voters. He also supported increased racial segregation in areas like Cape Town.

He led the British South Africa Company (BSAC) in 1889. The BSAC colonised contemporary Zimbabwe, seizing the Mashonaland in 1890 and the Matabeleland from 1893 to 1894. From 1896 to 1897, it brutally suppressed a revolt in these territories, with estimates for overall mortality from killings and famine ranging up to 20,000.

From 1873 to 1881, Rhodes intermittently completed a degree at Oriel College. On his death in 1902, he left it money, which allowed for the establishment of the international Rhodes Scholarship, which grants 102 postgraduate scholarships annually. Beneficiaries include former US president Bill Clinton, the Booker Prize-winning novelist Richard Flanagan, and three prime ministers of Australia.

Richard Pantlin, founder of OZAP, said: “We have many visitors to Oxford from around the world to educate them about some of that colonial history and to get them to reflect on the impact of the British Empire, particularly Cecil Rhodes’ impact in Zimbabwe.”

Protests in 2020 called for the removal of the statue of Rhodes above the main entrance of Oriel College. As a consequence, in June 2020, the Oriel College Governing Body voted to remove the Rhodes Statue. 

However, in April 2021, Oriel College announced that the statue would not be withdrawn, citing the “regulatory and financial challenges” of taking down a Grade II* listed monument.

The exhibition will open at Oriel in September, before moving to the University Church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford until December.

Merton announce plans to refurbish student accommodation

Arina Makarina
-
0
Merton announce plans to refurbish student accommodation

Merton College has submitted an application to conduct the refurbishment of Grade I and Grade II listed buildings. The application includes the renovation of student accommodation, as well as the Middle Common Room (MCR) and facades of the buildings facing Merton Street.

According to the application, both buildings currently have a poor heating system “due to the thermal inefficiency of the historic fabric”. The existing end-of-life electrical installation is “not suitable for the current building use” so the buildings would have to be completely rewired as well.

The project proposal includes a “full strip of all existing furniture” in accommodation, replacement of fire alarms, hot water and floor finishes, and refurbishment of washrooms. In addition, the college is planning to redecorate the MCR by improving access with a platform lift and installing new secondary glazing.

Ridge, the company conducting the works, submitted a request to Oxfordshire City Council and Historic England to review the project. The proposal claims that “[T]he ‘special interest’ and ‘heritage significance’ of the parts of the College affected by the proposals have been respected.” The Heritage Impact Assessment concluded that the proposed works “can be achieved without impact on historic fabric, character or significance and ‘special interest’”.

Front Range No.4, originally the 13th Century Warden’s Lodgings, contains the MCR, the Games Room and College Store. Front Range No.5 was rebuilt in 1904, when St Alban’s Quad was reordered. The building currently contains ten ensuite study bedrooms and a bridge link to the MCR.

Cliques, columns and committees: How insecurity fuels Oxford’s societies

Oscar Whittle
-
0
Cliques, columns and committees: How insecurity fuels Oxford’s societies

For many freshers arriving at this University, the biggest question playing on their mind is not ‘what is a collection?’ or ‘how do I pay my battels?’ but rather ‘where am I going to fit in?’. It is a natural fear. It is not new, however, to note that the fact this University is steeped in centuries of eccentric archaicism results in many students feeling switched-off, alienated and so I will spare you, dear reader, the uninspiring challenge of reading an article that you have read a thousand times before.

Instead, I am interested here in the opposite reaction to this feeling of insecurity. Having spent the best part of two years getting to grips with the various opportunities this University offers, I suggest that the bizarre insularity and cliqueness of the world of the Union, the student papers, and JCRs is the result of students desperately searching for their place here. And that, often, this insularity results not from students naturally fitting in, but rather falling victim to the same feelings of being out of place that so many of us feel. 

I remember how I felt before I came up in Michaelmas of last year. I will not pretend that my feelings were especially remarkable nor especially unique – a mix of trepidation, excitement (I am sure you get the idea). I was the first in my family to attend Oxbridge (apart from a somewhat estranged uncle who read for a DPhil here) and I knew that the three years were going to fly by. 

I also knew that there was going to be an immense number of opportunities confronting me. Given the most interesting thing that ever happens in the particularly sleepy corner of rural England I live in is someone’s cat going missing, I also began to feel this creeping sense of urgency, perhaps even a pressure, not to perform academically, but to (for want of a more interesting phrase) ‘get involved’. In retrospect, it seems ever clearer to me that this impulse was probably rather unhealthy, but it has taken me the best part of two years of ‘getting involved’ to see that, and this is what I am interested in exploring here. Why did I and (not to be too presumptuous) so many of my peers, feel this pressure?

Of course, I am no psychologist, and I will avoid undertaking the petrifying task of attempting to psychoanalyse the mind of the average Union hack or Cherwell geek (nor would I, for my own sanity, especially want to). However, looking at the ‘big three’ University societies (the triumvirate of the student press, the Union, and JCRs) it does not take a genius to see a remarkable overlap between those who get involved with the largest (and frequently the most toxic and cliquey) societies on offer at Oxford. You can bet that the average Union hack has tried at least once to get onto their JCR or that a solid number of student journalists take up positions after having (dis)gracefully retired from a Union career.

The overlap is clear and suggests that regardless of whether it is the Union, one of the papers, or a JCR, there is an underlying reason as to why certain people get involved.

My contention is that the overlap in those who get involved is the result of, if not an insecurity, then a somewhat unnatural desire to ‘know stuff’ in order to compensate for a general feeling of being uncertain of one’s place.  And furthermore, that this desire to ‘know stuff’ stems from the same anxieties that cause other people to decide that University societies and culture is not for them. While for some the feeling of being out of place results in either isolationism or antagonism towards the largest University societies, for others it elicits some strange urge to greedily gobble up every rumour, take up every position on every committee, or dress up in black tie and swan about the halls of the Union – or better still, all three. 

There are many students who will have never felt this impulse, and quite frankly, credit to them. The gossip and pressure that comes with the unhealthy overlap between the student papers and the Union is not one of Oxford’s most healthy or productive elements. And yet, in spite of so many of us who are involved in these societies knowing that we are indirectly or directly contributing to this atmosphere of pressure and rumour, we find ourselves hooked to getting involved, and crucially, staying involved (perhaps past what is good for us). We get our fixes in different ways, of course. Whether it’s hearing tid-bits of gossip about other students or (better yet) some scandalous comment made by a tutor, seeing our names in the papers or the YouTube recommended section after delivering a speech at the Union. We are addicts for involvement.

Of course, this is a generalisation, and to argue that anyone who is not involved in these societies is simply insecure (or indeed, that anyone who is involved is equally insecure) is plain wrong. However, in the opinion of this ex-Union Cherwell writer who is his college’s JCR secretary, the overlap between the student press, the Union, and JCRs, and the culture of gossip and rumour are the consequences of an insatiable desire that exists within many of us to be in the know, and to feel like we have managed to find our place at this University.


Have an opinion on the points raised in this article? Send us your 150-word letter to [email protected] to see your response in print or online. 

Oxford HMV on Cornmarket Street closes

Hassan Akram
-
0
Oxford HMV on Cornmarket Street closes

HMV on Oxford’s Cornmarket Street permanently closed on 22nd April following a decision by the landlord not to renew the shop’s lease.

Established in 1921 as a record shop, HMV has since expanded into a chain selling films, music, books, pop culture merchandise, and rare imported snacks. The company told Cherwell in a statement: “It is with regret that … we are unfortunately having to close the HMV Shop at 52 Cornmarket St, Oxford.”

The Cornmarket store has not been without its tribulations. The firm started trading in Oxford more than 30 years ago, but closed down its store in the Clarendon Centre in 2014. It returned in 2021, after a vinyl boom during the pandemic. 

On the impact the closure would have on those working at the store, the statement continued: “Regrettably store colleagues are now considered at risk of redundancy and options are being discussed with everyone individually as part of the consultation process. HMV will do all it can to find roles for these colleagues in the existing store portfolio.”

The news comes only a month after Oxford’s Waterstones similarly announced its closure and relocation. It is part of a broader trend as outlets selling both print media and physical digital media come under pressure from online competition.

HMV further told Cherwell: “As we have no intention to stop serving our loyal customers in Oxford, we are actively looking for a new unit to restart trading as soon as possible and would encourage landlords and agents in Oxford to get in touch with new potential sites.”

Among the student body, reaction to the news of HMV’s closure has been mixed. One undergraduate told Cherwell: “Often after finishing my work at the library I’d go to HMV to buy a film which I’d relax and watch in the evening. I appreciate that fewer and fewer people are buying physical copies of films but I think it’s still an institution worth preserving and I think that Cornmarket will look much emptier now that HMV has left it.”
Also reacting to the news, and expressing less sentimentality at the news, another student told Cherwell: “There’s still a CeX in Cowley so it’s not that deep.”

Zero social anxiety?

Ben O'Brien
-
0
Zero social anxiety?

If you’re anything like me, you will have often wondered what the world would be like if there was no social anxiety in it. As far as my own life is concerned, I like to imagine things would have turned out very differently. With a bit of luck, I would have been a Marvin Gaye-style R&B singer, with a string of number one hits and an enormous bank balance to show for it. I would have had a worldwide fan base, and it would have been difficult to walk down Holywell Street without my security guards, due to the crowds. The fact that none of these things happened is only due to the fact that I have a horrible fear of singing and dancing in front of other people. In a social anxiety-free world, none of that would have been a problem. There would have been nothing to hold me back.

With all this in mind, it was with great interest that I recently stumbled upon a new TikTok trend which promised to reveal to me exactly what the anxiety-free world would look like beyond my own narrow Marvin Gaye-centred perspective. The premise of “POV: zero social anxiety” is a simple one. A man (and for some reason it is always a man) films his day POV-style as he walks about a random town or city making himself known to the people he comes across. He fist-bumps and high-fives everyone he passes in the street. He goes into shops and tells elderly ladies that he likes their flowery jackets. He walks into pubs and asks a man watching the football alone what the score is. Once told, he does a loud friendly laugh, shakes the man’s hand, and leaves.

The trend’s message is clear: if only we’d all act as the real us wants to, we’d see that other people are less scary than we think – and, in actual fact, everybody would like us. The only problem with the message is that it’s undermined by reality. As the videos show, yes, some people are glad to be high-fived in the street by strangers, and some are happy to be stopped for a chat, even when they are in the middle of filling up their car. But what the videos also show is that just as many people don’t want to be bothered while they’re going about their daily lives. Sometimes the man watching football alone in the pub really does just want to watch football alone in the pub. Sometimes the man staring confusedly at his shopping list really doesn’t want a fist-bump. There’s no two ways about it.

What the trend unwittingly shows, of course, is that there are good reasons why we don’t all act like zero-social-anxiety-man, at least not all the time. The reasons have less to do with social anxiety than with simply being able to read another person’s body language. When we don’t talk to other people, sometimes that’s just because we know they don’t want to be talked to, not because we’re scared about what will happen if we do try and strike up a conversation. Sure, we might get it wrong some of the time, usually by erring too much on the side of caution. But most of us are better judges of social situations than the zero-social-anxiety trend would have us think.

Although perhaps the bigger problem with the trend is the idea that getting rid of social anxiety once and for all is an achievable aspiration in the first place. As psychologist Tracy Denning-Tiwary points out, though being overly anxious is of course a real problem for many, it is also a normal part of life to have some degree of social anxiety. It is our brain’s response to uncertainty about the future. We get climate anxiety because we aren’t sure if the planet’s future is good or bad. We get career anxiety because we aren’t sure the Oxford degree, which was supposed to get us a job when we leave here, will actually do so. Social anxiety is just another example of this: we can never be completely sure how people are going to respond to us, and the idea that we can be is plainly false.

None of this is to say that the zero-social-anxiety trend does not have some good to it, or that the creators themselves don’t have good intentions. If trends like this help people see that others don’t always react badly to a friendly hello from a stranger, for instance, then surely that’s a good thing. Nevertheless, that shouldn’t take away from the fact that the premise of “zero social anxiety” is a problematic one. Even if he is well-meaning, what zero-social-anxiety-man seems to be implying is that if we don’t all behave like him, there must be something wrong with us. In doing so, he turns what’s in actual fact normal human behaviour – not fist-bumping every single person we come across – into something ‘abnormal’. In other words, we are the ones that have the problem, not him.

1...293031...2,518Page 30 of 2,518

Support Student Journalism

Cherwell is Oxford’s oldest independent newspaper, established in 1920. We are entirely student-run. By supporting us, you will contribute to keeping our paper in print and online. Every donation makes a difference.

Donate

Explore

Follow us

More

Oxford Student Publications Limited © 2025 - All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy

Website by James Ashley