issue 6// vol 45 Feminist faux pas » My experience with the feminist community and why I feel alienated by it Illustration by Cara Seccafien Posting rr a ata photos of strangers on the Internet 1s not cool » Respect people's privacy Jessica Berget Opinions Editor I may be funny to some but posting photos of strangers on the Internet without their permission, whether it be to mock, ogle, or shame them, is an awful thing to do. Besides the obvious reasons that it’s creepy and rude, it’s also an extreme invasion of privacy and it has the potential to put people in danger. Unless someone is deliberately seeking attention or committing a crime, posting pictures of unsuspecting citizens is unacceptable. My first issue with people posting these pictures is that it’s done mainly to make fun of strangers—people who are trying to pick up groceries, taking public transportation, or who are just out in public. Although many people don’t care about how they’re dressed or what they look like when they’re out running errands, that’s no excuse to post and shame them on social media. Not showing their faces can alleviate the harm a little, but even then, it’s still an invasion of their privacy. Websites like peopleofwalmart. com thrive on images of people like this, and many accounts like @shehashadit on Instagram use social media to post about strangers doing awkward things. Maybe this kind of thing was funny back in high school, but it’s time to grow up and realize how awful this is. ] don’t see a huge problem with sending funny pics of strangers to some close friends, but I draw the line when the image is made public. The last thing anyone wants when they’re going to the supermarket late at night is someone snapping a photo of their messy hair and haphazard outfit to make fun of them, much less posting it on the web for everyone to see. Odds are you have been that person who just needed to pick up milk at the store before it closed and dressed in the first thing you found on your bedroom floor, so it’s not hard to imagine how angry you would be if you found an image of yourself in that state on the Internet. What may be worse is the people who post photos not to mock, but to ogle attractive strangers. It’s one thing to be sexualized when you're out in a public area, but to have your picture immortalized on the Internet for random people to gawk at is a whole other creepy can of worms. You never know what these people are going through when you post photos of them in public. Some may be in protection programs or getting out of toxic relationships. By making pictures of them public you could also be making their location public, which might be dangerous tothem. It may be funny to you in the moment but think about how you would feel if you found an unflattering picture of yourself floating around on the Internet. You probably wouldn't like it, so don’t do it to other people. Jessica Berget Opinions Editor Fe many years I proudly claimed myself to bea feminist. Lately, however, I have been more and more hesitant to associate myself with the community. It’s not that I don't appreciate what the movement has done in the past, or that I believe in equality any less than I used to. It’s just that I find feminism has become so contrived by mainstream society that it doesn’t mean what it’s supposed to anymore. It’s also the culture, especially on social media, that gives me reason to distance myself. In my experience, people tend to treat feminism as an exclusionary club where you 4 must prove yourself to be accepted. Unless you say the same buzzwords and have the exact same set of beliefs, you are not a “true feminist.” There seem to be many reservations about who can be one and for what reasons. Some say men can't be feminists, as well as people who err on the right side of the political spectrum. Even some celebrities have been told they can’t be part of this movement because of their lifestyle choices. Yet if anyone wants to identify themselves with feminism for whatever reason, why shouldn't they? I think people forget that feminism literally means equality for all genders— not women being the superior gender. Because of this, I find men are often treated unfairly in these communities, solely because they’re men. Personally, I have heard several people suggest that “men can't be feminists because they opinions // no. 15 don’t experience oppression,” or “they only wear the hat as an excuse to be sexist.” However, people who aren’t women do still experience prejudice based on gender. I’m sure many women also claim to be feminist to cover up their own sexist ideals, but it’s mainly men who receive the brunt of this argument. While this argument may have some merit, who’s to say that all men are like this, or that some women don’t do this as well? Take for instance the case of the Russian woman who pours water mixed with bleach onto the legs of “manspreaders” on public transit. Also, consider the women who go on Tinder dates just for the free food and never talk to the date again, or the women who say “lcill all men” on a regular basis. Many have been quick to say that this is not what feminism stands for, but if this is the kind of negative culture it creates, we need to take a serious look at what we're doing wrong. Additionally, I find in the community it seems like women are put on pedestals only because they are women. I believe most celebrities that people deem “feminist icons” use the movement as a tactic to gain popularity or are awful role models that people assume to be idols just because they are women. Lalso feel with the mainstreaming of the political movement that some people label themselves as feminists but don’t really know what it stands for. Because it’s become so popularized, it’s more of a label ora trend than a political movement. People can wear “girl power” or “feminist” t-shirts, but that doesn’t mean they believe or advocate for equality. I’m not saying this is how all feminists are; these are just my experiences with the community. As the title of a bell hooks book says, “Feminism is for everybody,’ but because of the flaws I’ve experienced firsthand, I’m not sure if it’s for me anymore. Rants in your pants: It's not custodians’ jobs to clean up after you » They’re not your personal cleaners Jessica Berget Opinions Editor One time I was at the food court in a mall with my friend at the time. After we had finished eating and were about to leave, | reminded her that she forgot to pick up after herself, to which she replied, “Just leave it. That’s the custodians’ job.” First of all, no it’s not. Second of all, how lazy and immature can you be that you cant even clean up after yourself? Unfortunately, many people have this same idea about cleaners, believing that they are getting paid to personally clean up after every person who walks through the building, but they’re not. It may be the cleaners’ job to keep the area neat and tidy, but it’s not their job to clean up every individual person's mess. In fact, by leaving your garbage behind, you are probably making their jobs even more difficult. They likely have other duties that need to be done besides cleaning up after some lazy punks’ lunch, and you're wasting their time because you couldn't pick up your own garbage. I can't imagine how custodians deal with this on a daily basis, having to handle people who assume their mess is someone else’s responsibility. When I worked at a movie theatre, I would have to help clean out the theatres before the next showing, so I have some understanding of the plight of janitors. The amount of mess that people left behind was amazing—but also concerning considering many of the movie patrons were fully grown adults who couldn't tidy up after themselves. Being a cleaner is a hard job, but it shouldn't be harder because some people are too lazy to throw their own garbage away. People tend to look down on custodians, but their jobs are important and should not be taken for granted. Clean up after yourselves—it’s not that hard.