You know you’ve fucked up when Julian Burnside, perhaps the most well-known human rights advocate in Australia, reckons your quote-unquote cheeky exploits are actually flat-out demeaning and divisive.
That’s the reality a large swathe of students at the prestigious Melbourne Grammar high school have to contend with, after the school’s esteemed alumnus was clued into a video recently created by members of the Year 12 class.
In it, a large group of male students are commanded by their peers not to take any girls “under a seven” to the school’s upcoming formal. In another scene, a bunch of ’em are lined up, phones in hand, Tinder-ing up a storm in search of dates – only for them to be assessed by a, uh, “superior”.
Via Herald Sun.
Burnside’s reaction to the footage – which was initially posted to a closed Facebook page, before being uncovered by a parent of one of the girls “rated” – is one of frustration at lingering societal norms regarding the treatment of women.
He said “if we think we treat women equally [in Australia], we’re simply deluding ourselves,” but stopped short of saying the blame was entirely on his former haunt.
Burnside offered the viewpoint “bad behaviour by kids at school is something which is not uncommon and is something which is not new,” and went on to say “it’s more likely a reflection of broader societal attitudes.”
FWIW, the school’s headmaster Roy Kelley also came out with a statement of his own, claiming the video “is unacceptable.
Melbourne Grammar School takes very seriously its responsibility to instil positive values in all our students, particularly in relation to the respect of others.”
In any case, the footage joins the ranks of the now infamous “Young Sluts” Instagram account created by – and containing images of – students of Brighton Grammar as an example of the kind of gross attitudes still present in pockets of Australia’s youth culture.
