Friday, July 5, 2024

MSU's 'Power Ranking' offensive to women

Congrats, MSU students.

According to CollegeHumor.com we attend the school that has "the maximum amount of fun, while putting in the least amount of effort." MSU has achieved the No. 1 spot in the first Power Rankings awards, which the site plans to continue annually.

Sweet, right? Just what I want to be known for.

The school was ranked by the site in categories like the percentage of women, the number of "boobie pics" on CollegeHumor.com, the percentage of girls in relationships and whether or not the health clinic gives away free condoms.

According to their results:

MSU is 54 percent female. Though the site does state this may only mean there are more girls who "won't hook up with you," we still get a high score in this category.

There are nine "boobie pics" posted on CollegeHumor.com by MSU students. Apparently, flaunting body parts on an obnoxious Web site automatically makes a school more desirable to attend. What, MSU doesn't have the major you're interested in? It's OK, there are 18 MSU boobs on CollegeHumor.com.

Olin Health Center does give away free condoms. The Web site states, "empirical evidence" shows there is a direct relationship between the number of condoms a school's health center gives out, and how freaky women get.

I almost have no words. Almost.

I love that we get "freaky" as long as there are free condoms available. Obviously, that's exactly what happens.

But overall, what bothers me the most is what the general message of these results say. They make it seem like college is about women, and how easy they are to access and use. The majority of the categories in this survey have to do with the physicalities of women. I'm not a staunch feminist or fierce women's rights activist, but I do believe in overall respect and consideration.

And being referred to as "freaky" because I'm a woman and attending a university is not respect.

Granted, not all the ratings were derogatory in reference to women.

Apparently, it's not OK to be intelligent because the lower your school's average SAT scores were, the easier the classes must be.

The more male a cappella groups the school has, the lower the score.

The better the college is ranked in sports helps the school, but don't worry — they put a disclaimer that says the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, who the site based its sports rankings off of, weighs men's football more than women's field hockey.

I guess I'll just get to my point. I'm appalled by this rating.

Yeah, it's cool to be known as a good party school, and yeah, MSU is a great university. It's not like I don't have my share of fun here, it's that I still take myself, my school work and my future career seriously. And with a title like this hanging over my head, I feel like no one else will.

I'm sure many people will disagree with me and feel this is an award we should be proud of and brag to our friends at University of Michigan and Central Michigan University (Power Ranked 10th and 33rd, respectively).

But I'm worried because I don't think this award's only baggage is bragging rights.

An editor of the Web site, Ricky Van Veen, said in a statement, "Our mission is to motivate current and prospective students to do everything in their power to help elevate their school's ranking each year by finding the delicate balance of partying while passing."

By doing what? Posting more pictures of "freaky" women and their "boobies" on CollegeHumor.com? By horribly treating women and people who don't love boobs, beer and easy classes?

I just can't help but picture a graduating high school senior, looking up colleges and universities, finding Power Ranking awards on CollegeHumor.com and deciding to come here based on how easy it will be to hook up with a girl.

I'm just so offended by that.

Sarah Harbison is a State News staff writer. You can e-mail her at harbiso9@msu.edu.

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