Fraternity Scolded For Proposed “Pigtails and Pedophiles” Theme Party

Rob Fox10 years ago

At least it isn’t racist?

Students from Drake University were recently outraged to learn that a fraternity at their fair school planned on throwing a “Pigtails and Pedophiles” theme party. Why no one is offended when Nickelodeon throws what is essentially a far more literal version of this exact same party after their Kid’s Choice Awards seems like a double standard, but I digress. Though some fraternity guy with a hastily grown mustache hitting on a 19-year-old seems far less offensive than Dakota Fanning spending a decade of her life getting felt up by a drunk junior agent who spiked the green room punch bowl.

If done right, a Pigtails and Pedophiles party could really be great. The guys would all grow mustaches, and wear unstylish glasses and bad sweaters. Meanwhile the girls dress in Hello Kitty outfits or Catholic school girl uniforms, and of course do their hair up in pigtails. Everyone is chauffeured by pledges from the pregame to the actual party in windowless vans. The trashcan punch is renamed “Happy Juice” for the evening, and everyone dances while Miley Cyrus, One Direction, Justin Bieber, The Wanted, etc. blare over the sound system. I’d go to that party.

The party, by the way, was not being hosted at the fraternity, but rather at an off campus location. While a member or members of the fraternity were throwing the party, it’s not clear if some, or any, fraternity funds were planning on being used for the Pigtails and Pedophiles bash. There was a Facebook event created for the party, and the group page was definitely aware of how some people might take the theme.

They did not, however, seem to give much of a crap when people actually got offended.

TFTC.

Obviously I don’t get offended by these sorts of parties. It’s pretty annoying to me when people try to impose their beliefs on another group of people if the latter aren’t overtly or directly hurting anyone. Yes, it could be argued that this theme is “hurtful,” however it could be argued that pretty much anything is hurtful, because that’s a such a vague and subjective accusation. Those offended could also just ignore it, isn’t that what our parents told us to do when someone is annoying us? Your time and effort is best spent elsewhere, unnecessarily sensitive students of every college ever. If these students who complain about offensive fraternity parties took all their collective efforts to make a fuss about these sorts of things and instead used it to volunteer or raise money for good causes, they might almost come, like, halfway to the amount of charity work Greeks do. But yeah, the whiners are the people making their communities and the world a better place, sure.

Despite all of that, the fraternities who get in trouble or get scolded for these sorts of things shouldn’t get too upset when that happens, because they have to know it’s going to happen. What I described above is not realistic, and we have to deal with the world we actually live in. Know the risks when you decide to put on an INS jacket and start guzzling margaritas or, you know, throw a party where the theme is directly tied to molestation, a crime so heinous that when someone goes to prison for it all the other felons think that person is the worst guy in the joint.

The op-ed I pulled this news from was offended by the party’s theme, naturally. Whatever, of course the author was offended, though I’ll grant she did a good job clarifying that she was upset with the specific people who planned the party, and not the fraternity/fraternities as a whole, a sweeping condemnation that is unnecessary, lazy, and happens WAY too often in these sorts of pieces, either implied or outright. Unfortunately she was also offended by the party’s new theme, or rather, its description. The theme was “High School Stereotypes” and the description was as follows:

It was entitled “High School Stereotypes.” In case you’re wondering what this may include, according to the description, “Sportos, motorheads, geeks, sluts, wasteoids, righteous dudes, toolbags, jocks, stoners etc.” Wait, a minute. “Sluts”? They just changed from one aspect of rape culture to another.

C’mon, have you never seen Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? Lighten up.

Thankfully the university and IFC (or whoever else could have potentially taken action against the fraternity) decided to stand pat and let things work themselves out.

[via SAGE]