Set aside your desire to dismiss us as humorless raging feminists for a moment. When members of Kingsmen, Columbia’s all-male a capella group, posted flyers on campus last week advertising for their annual spring show, we thought the flyers were funny. Kingsmen’s infamous flyers typically use witty one-liners to grab attention, and this batch was no different. As members of Take Back the Night, an anti-sexual violence group on campus, we even laughed when we saw the flyer that read, “Take Back the Night Back”—we recognize the importance of wordplay and satire, and we are not threatened or offended by it. However, there is a thin line between satire and insult. We saw another Kingsmen flyer, taped on 114th Street and in John Jay Hall, that read, “consent is not sexy … but it might help you stay out of jail.” We were unsettled by the content because of the implications that can be drawn from it.
First, consent not being sexy could be interpreted to suggest that non-consent (rape) is sexy. The public display of the flyer could imply that this message is acceptable not only to Kingsmen, but also on campus and in our community. We are not asking all groups on campus to change their message and flyers to agree with our point of view, but the message is triggering and disturbing to many on campus, especially to those coping with sexual violence.
Second, it is frustrating that the Kingsmen group made use of the “Got Consent?” logo of the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Program (SVPRP) in direct opposition to SVPRP’s mission. Seeing the logo misused takes away all the effort that volunteers and allies of SVPRP have put into making it a recognized and respected symbol of a culture of consent. We are not asking that Kingsmen stop poking fun at campus groups (ourselves included), and we are not trying to take up a new front on the War on Fun. However, there is a certain amount of respect for other organizations and individuals on campus that we hope groups consider when publicly attaching their name to a message.
Finally, on the tails of Sexual Assault Awareness Month and the Take Back the Night march, students are particularly conscious of the reality of sexual violence on campus. We are frustrated because many have spent the past month promoting the “Consent is Sexy” campaign and building a culture of consent on campus. The night before we saw this flyer, Jessica Valenti, author and co-editor of Feministing.com, came to campus to talk about how to build a consent culture in order to work towards ending sexual violence. During the question and answer period, one student commented on the way in which events like V-Day and Take Back the Night bring awareness to the issue and yet the sentiments and emotions are quickly forgotten. The presence of the Kingsmen flyer on campus validates the concerns of this student. How should we react when we hear that students are worried about consent on campus and then we see a rape joke on a flyer the next day? Take Back the Night’s mission is to actively condemn the acceptance of sexual violence in our community. When we see the public display of a rape joke, we cannot stay silent.
We, the authors, would like also to note that we have been in dialogue with Kingsmen. A member of the Kingsmen, speaking on behalf of the group, has expressed his understanding for our concerns and his support for anti-sexual violence activism. He has assured us that these flyers and any similar ones will not be used again. We appreciate the apology and we're glad to see that opening up the lines of dialogue about consent has produced promising results.
Lauren Herold is Columbia College first-year. She is an outreach coordinator in Take Back the Night. Robin Broder is a Barnard senior majoring in Urban Studies and Environmental Science. She is the Co-coordinator for Take Back the Night.