A man giving a speech at the department’s celebration says, among other things: “Men, men, one thing is very important. That women are nothing but—”
“Whores!” shouts a group of young male students dressed in white collared shirts.
Not all the men on the farm join the shout, but there are no objections.
Originally published on the Dutch video platform Dumpert at the end of July video (you switch to another service) began to spread quickly, for example on the messaging service Twitter. However, it is not known who filmed and published the video that caused the commotion.
In the traditional event of the student union of the universities of Amsterdam, the ballroom is divided into two spaces by a curtain. Men sit on one side and women on the other.
In their speeches, the older male students of the department also called women, among other things, “sperm buckets”. One speaker went even further, whose words are covered by several Dutch media cited (you move to another service) as a particularly shocking example.
publishes the quote because it has caused such a wide discussion in the Netherlands.
The speaker said that “gentlemen should break women’s necks so they can stick their dicks in them”.
Among other things, the mayor of Amsterdam Femke Halsema said that the speech in question is incitement to violence.
Several female students left the department party immediately when they heard the speeches on the other side of the curtain.
The speeches were obviously intended as jokes, but they have not been laughable. In the Netherlands, they once again started a discussion about the sexism that is deeply rooted in the departments.
Many citizens and politicians asked how this could still happen in Holland in 2022 after the #metoo movement, even in the country’s capital.
Milou Deelen however, the sexist remarks were not surprising. He had himself been a member of a similar branch called Vindicat at another university in Groningen, located in the north of the country, five years ago. Deelen resigned because he had enough of the rampant sexism and prostitution in the department.
Deelen tells via video call that he is still surprised that the union members still dare to speak in such a misogynistic way.
– How can someone be so stupid that after all the feminism discussion and #metoo, he steps in front of a large group of men to make such a speech?
has previously also reported on harassment and sexism in Finnish higher education institutions. In addition, first-year high school students’ violent nasujas, i.e. the humiliation of new students, are once again talked to (you switch to another service) after schools started in Helsinki.
In Holland, the social significance of sexism is increased by the fact that members of traditional departments often end up at the top of society, and department alumni, i.e. former students who have already graduated from universities, are very influential.
Departments have a bad reputation
Dutch chapters could be compared to American fraternities and sororities. Traditionally, they have been closed clubs for the wealthy bourgeoisie, and many families, such as the Dutch royal family, have a long tradition of club membership.
Life-long networks have been created in them, which have been especially useful in the past in getting jobs, in politics and in the business world. There are traditional departments in all the old university towns of Holland, and they have tens of thousands of members throughout the country.
Especially in the 21st century, students from other backgrounds have started to apply to departments.
Not all applicants can become a member, but applicants are selected based on, for example, motivation. In addition, the chosen ones have to go through ordeals that last for weeks and are sometimes humiliating.
According to the Dutch professor, bourgeois elitism still marks the departments.
– It is typical for a bourgeois way of thinking to have a very strict code of norms outwardly. But it has some kind of valve built into it that allows you to pull the plug without having to face social sanctions, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Amsterdam Abram de Swaan says on the phone.
It has been typical that the antics of the union members have been printed with wool and influential alumni have protected them.
Pigging and the resulting mild consequences have long caused outrage, and the departments have been attacked several times in the public debate.
In the Dutch language, members of the association even have their own sarcastic names corpsbal or corpspik, which could be translated as association mulku. They refer to a male cooperative member who is from a rich family, loud and arrogant.
The excesses of fuchsia women have caused commotion for decades.
In the 1990s, a first-year student died because he had been pressured to drink too much during his freshman year.
In 2016, a first-year student suffered a brain injury after a senior student had stood on his head as part of a humiliation ritual.
There are also similar departments in the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium. There, an 18-year-old dark-skinned student died as a result of two days of mistreatment in fuchsia. He was the first dark-skinned student to apply for membership in the department. of the New York Times by (you switch to another service) the case told about the racism rooted in the departments.
Now caught in the eye of the storm, the Amsterdam department is the largest in Holland, and its reputation has not been clean before either.
Last year, the department received sanctions from the university because several first-year students were abused in its freshman classes.
Male culture perpetuates sexism
On the order of the university’s management, a culture change program was launched in the Amsterdam department last year, which was supposed to make its operations safer for everyone.
Now, however, sexist speeches were also made at the department’s party by members of the board whose responsibility was specifically to promote cultural change.
It shows that the demand to eradicate inappropriate behavior was not taken seriously.
Professor De Swaan, who wrote a book about the misogynistic movement in 2017, also considers the union uproar as a wider social phenomenon. Many men have not accepted the growth of women’s influence, and among men they still feel they can talk about women in a derogatory way.
In de Swaan’s opinion, the silence of the others present is more interesting than the speeches of individual members.
– The fact that no one has the courage to speak their own opinion and demand decent behavior. They just accept such misogynistic and misogynistic statements even when it affects their sisters, mothers and girlfriends. It is more significant.
Milou Deelen remembers the silent acceptance of sexism from her own student days. He says that the sexism disguised as a joke already started in the department’s freshmen.
– The boys were shouted at from the first day that all women are whores. We women, on the other hand, were told to be careful not to be looked down upon, not to be slobs.
Deelen believes that sending such a message to 18-year-olds who have just started their studies will inevitably begin to affect their behavior and thinking.
In particular, the double moralism, according to which women’s sexuality is low, while for men it is considered cool, felt unfair to Deelen from the beginning, although he did not immediately know how to express his feelings.
We are afraid of talking
In 2017, Deelen’s experience of unfair and sexist treatment of women had become so great that she decided to publish a video statement on Facebook.
In the video, Deelen demanded an end to the prostitution of women and emphasized his right to his own sexuality. The video went viral and received hundreds of thousands of views.
Deelen was the first and still the only active member of the department who openly criticized the departments under his own name.
It was not looked upon favorably.
– I was also really hated and disgusted in the department. On the Internet, I received hate mail from acquaintances and strangers, Deelen says.
Some of his friends thought the message was good, but in their opinion, Deelen should not have mentioned the department by name.
The departments have been marked by a culture of silence. Now, however, it is cracking.
After the video of the celebration of the Amsterdam branch came out, more than 200 female members of the branch and a few male members signed an open letter demanding an end to sexism.
The director of the department and the board members who gave speeches resigned from their positions. The department’s board condemned the misogynistic speeches and announced that there would be sanctions for them.
asked the department’s current chairman for a comment, but he did not respond to the contact request.
No Active member of the Amsterdam branch has wanted to speak with his own name and face about sexism to the media. Deelen is disappointed that everyone is silent except for him.
– Again I spoke to the media and was a guest on a talk show. Why doesn’t anyone else agree? The interview could be given as a group. It would be safer than being alone.
However, Deelen says that he understands the fears of the members. Talking to the media can result in a lot of public flogging. In addition, in the department, it can lead to exclusion and the loss of important networks for the future.
Departments remain popular
Despite the uproar, there were more applicants than places this year.
The departments offer a close-knit family-like community, especially for young people moving to a new city.
As a result of the corona pandemic, their popularity has grown even more. The popularity of the departments doesn’t seem to have taken a big hit from the uproar.
Deelen says that she herself applied to the unit because her boyfriend at the time belonged to one, and the group seemed to have a fun atmosphere. Deelen didn’t know anyone from the new town either. The best memories are of the roommate, which he shared with eight women from the department.
The departments are still very white groups compared to the diversity of Amsterdam, but even that is slowly changing.
According to De Swaan, people from other backgrounds are now also interested in departmental networks.
Networks can be particularly useful for marginalized groups, because they are otherwise more difficult to reach. Although association membership is not necessary for a career, according to de Swaan, it is still useful in many fields.
However, the Amsterdam branch lost at least one important applicant.
The Dutch crown princess, who will start her studies at the University of Amsterdam in the fall Amalia was going to apply for membership of the department, but canceled his intention due to the uproar.
Deelen wouldn’t recommend membership to anyone, but she also doesn’t want to blame women. If someone dreams of it, then you have to apply for membership, he says.
Should we also discuss the limits of student celebrations in Finland? You can discuss the topic until Monday, August 29 at 11 p.m.