Glasgow university sexist heckling

[Tallgiraffe]

I find it staggering, upsetting and depressing that supposedly well educated young men can think this is appropriate

There are still two Unions. The GUU does have a reputation for being "traditionally" boorish in some quarters. They should be very ashamed.

I agree, Glasgow University should not tolerate this and the students involved should be up infront of the University Court for bringing the institution into disrepute.

I was there in the early 90s and a member of the GUU for 2 years. It's appalling that this is still going on.

This episode disgusts me. These are potentially future leaders we're talking about. Quite terrifying. It seems to me levels of mysoginy are well on the rise. I'm hoping it only seems this way because more women are shouting about it.

That's appalling. I odn't know what annoys/scares me most about those men's attitudes.
'I ?shushed? them - and one then called me a ?frigid b----?.'
'The pair claim they had tried to complain to the competition organisers but were told it was ?to be expected" that women speakers would be booed and that they had ?brought it on themselves? by choosing to stand in the final.'

Really? We're 2013 and this sort of thing is still happening, women are still told that it's their own fault?

This is so horrible. How disappointing that no one stepped in and did anything. Is it normal to heckle during debates, ever? I don't understand how shouting of any kind is tolerated during these events.

?While the judging panel did not notice any waiver, hesitancy or indeed weakness in Rebecca or Marlena's speeches as a result of the heckling, both speakers told me how upset they were while giving their speeches and Rebecca stated that she was on the verge of tears on a number of occasions,? he said.

What strong women.

You'd hope Darwinism would stop those idiots from reproducing. Thanks for the link Kim , I would like to hear more of this woman's voice. Maybe mumsnet could have her on.

That blog was brilliant reading, thank you for posting

Cambridge University have come out in support of these women. Which is good.

Bloody hell, things haven't moved on since the 1980s!! I had been feeling quite hopeful for my daughters but this is a blow.

I think the debates society at the GU probably harbours the last bastion of misogyny at Glasgow though. It certainly did while I was there.

I wonder if they wd tell black speakers that it's only to be expected that they wd be booed and that they'd brought it on themselves by being black and yet expecting to participate in the life of a university society?

But I keep forgetting, racism is morally and ethically unacceptable while sexism is not just OK, it's edgy and great and needs to be encouraged in universities

It honestly isn't the whole university though. The whole multiple union set up in Glasgow means that early different groups go through university barely noticing each other. There will be plenty of Glasgow students who are utterly mortified by the boorish arses in the debating society. I'd imagine the majority of them are embarrassed that these people seem to be representing the university, and annoyed too.

Incidentally, while I was a student, some of the active GU types phoned in a bomb threat to the QM. It had to be evacuated and it wasted considerable amounts of emergency service time. However the idiots who did it thought it was a great prank.

It will be interesting to see how Glasgow deal with this. The university has been brought into disrepute by this incident.

Incidentally, if the university deal with it appropriately and prevent the like from ever happening again perhaps they could advise Westminster. I find the MP's incredibly ill mannered in debates.

I find parliament a total embarrassment. It's just boorish jeering and heckling. And PMQs is largely just two posh arseholes insulting each other and thinking they're funny. It sets such a pathetically low standard for political debate in this country.

Spoke to dh about it as he's a graduate of Glasgow Uni (in 1981). He said it didn't surprise him as there is a particular small cohort of boorish, sexist guys (part of the institutional/cultural) sexism that exists in the West of Scotland.

He also admitted that he had also been against admitting women to the GUU, which only finally happened in 1980 . He's more enlightened now.

I agree that the response from the Uni should be greater than just from GUU - they have brought the whole Uni into disrepute.

It's funny how these boorish men join the debating soc isn't it?

Like they're really fond of debate?

When what they really need to do, is set up a heckling/ shouting down/ mindless abuse throwing society for them.

They're not being catered for so they end up in the wrong soc.

I think the University authorities should expel the offenders for bringing the University into disrepute.
The GUU had a terrible reputation when I was at University in the 80's and I can't believe it's still going on.

GUU was ever thus, sadly. Such a shame, because daft Friday was great fun, but the whole ethos of the union was male orientated. Sad that it hasn't moved on, and has in fact taken a backwards step, in the past 9 years though.

Glasgow university should make one attempt to get the GUU to clean up its act - completely and totally - and if they don't, it should be closed down. An organisation with these sort of attitudes has no place whatsoever in an educational establishment.

If they had done this to any other protected group, they would have been arrested.

GUU had a reputation for this sort of stuff when I was a student (not at Glasgow) in the 80s. The had the "Freds" - pornographic film nights advertised as "Tom and Jerry" cartoon nights.

I'm appalled that 30 years later, nothing has changed.

They still had a subscription to porn channels in the GUU when I was there in the early 2000s. Oh, and published a freshers guide with the line "no means yes and yes means harder".

The GUU are a bunch of utter knobs and it is scandalous that they have got away with their behaviour for so long.