Political parties on campus have, sadly, a rather poor reputation. To a politically-inclined fresher looking to make new friends with like-minded students on campus, the political parties can seem, to put it bluntly, dull. Whether it’s the awkward socials where conversation revolves around the latest miniscule political event or a talk from some obscure MP about the ‘importance of students in politics’, these political societies aren’t at the top of their game when it comes to engaging the students.
When any society does something a bit contentious, while we all publicly condemn whatever it may be, secretly part of us is glad that these societies have (even for a short time) broken free from their crippling tediousness. So when the university Conservatives, the York Tories, decided to run a fox hunting themed social for its members, it seemed that it was the perfect occasion to offend and they couldn’t have done it better.
It seems the York Tories pulled out all the stops to make the social as contentious as possible. Animal rights activists were offended by the way the Tories made animal cruelty a laughing matter, women were offended by the fact girls were encouraged to dress up as foxes and boys as hounds and even your average student was ridiculed with the ‘pay for your own damn education’ posters that found their way around campus.
While some students shrugged it off as ‘the usual Tory rubbish’, others found it distasteful to say the least, with the Labour party (who would have expected it?) claiming to have been particularly affected.
With all this anger it’s easy to miss the real benefit from what the Tories have done. So why is it so great to see the university up in arms? For one simple reason; the York Tories have done something no other political society has done: created debate.
Firstly, we should distinguish between the actually offensive and the tongue in cheek. While I don’t wish to tell anyone what they find offensive, the furore created by the Tories is not just black or white (unlike, say, a racist poster). For once a political party has managed to bring (whether they intended to or not) an issue into the conversations of regular students.
A big achievement by any political standards, what the York Tories have done is both risky and, even if they didn’t realise, very clever. And oddly enough, the main issue isn’t only fox hunting, sexism or tuition fees, but rather the freedom of societies in York to arrange offensive socials or to design insulting posters. Of course, offending people isn’t a good thing, but this incident has forced people to wonder how far university societies can go before they’ve passed the acceptable line.
Questions over whether the social is actually sexist or whether fox hunting should be off limits have all been raised and crept into the daily chatter of quite a few students. So maybe, other societies could learn from the Tories, and see if a tongue-in-cheek poster or event will lead to more interest. At least in this sense, the York Tories have done something worthwhile in provoking debate in the university.