YUSU has been accused of sexism by national groups, academic and administrative staff and students during a controversy regarding the gender-specific “goodie bags” that were distributed at Freshers’ Fair.

The bags, which were sourced from Complimen-tary Sampling by Sam Bayley, Societies and Communications Officer, and Matt Burton, Services and Finance Officer, were colour coded blue and pink and read ‘Welcome from your Students’ Union’. The blue bags contained a sample copy of FHM (For Him Magazine), a chocolate bar and a full-size tin of baked beans. The pink bags contained cellulite cream, female deoderant, and a half-size tin of baked beans. YUSU have claimed that the bags had no gender connotations.

YUSU has received over 40 letters and emails of complaint about the bags. In an email leaked to Nouse, the director of OBJECT, which acts as an advisor to Amnesty International UK, works with NUS and is a member of the Women’s National Commission, criticised YUSU’s actions. Dr Sasha Rakoff said: “We feel YUSU’s decision to promote pornographic and deeply contemptuous material to male students reflects very poorly on the University, is totally counter to any equality commitments and plays its part in contributing to an environment where women - who can be as young as 17 - are, and feel, less safe and welcome than they have every right to expect.”

Members of University staff have also spoken out against the bags. In an email to Nouse, the University’s Equal Opportunities Officer, Yvie Holder, said, “the contents of the bags will have been inappropriate on cultural, religious and gender grounds and quite possibly offensive to some groups in the University community. We want the first impression of the University to be a welcoming one, not something that makes some students feel uneasy or offends them.”

In an email to Amy Burge, former Women’s Officer, Meghan Reid from the Centre for Women’s Studies said: “This is absolutely ridiculous. This action seriously undermines the work the University and YUSU do to maintain a high reputation and support our students regardless of gender or sexual identity”.

The initial proposal by Bayley and Burton to distribute the bags was met with vocal opposition from several officers of the Students’ Union. The matter was taken to the weekly Union Executive meeting, on which all Union officers sit. Following a heated debate, the motion passed narrowly by seven votes to five, with no abstentions.

Speaking during the meeting, Laura Payne, a YUSU Women’s Officer said: “In our opinion, some of the items in the bags, such as the copy of FHM and the cellulite cream, are designed to enforce gender stereotypes; they could potentially be detrimental to students’ welfare and the culture of equality we have here at the University.”

Matt Burton and Sam Bayley upheld that there was no problem with the bags. Burton said: “Why do we need to baby people? It’s political correctness gone mad. There are a lot of people that would get a lot of pleasure out of these magazines.” FHM has recently been reprimanded for publishing topless photos of a 14-year-old girl without her consent.

The opposition by the Women’s Officers was strongly supported by Academic and Welfare Officer, Grace Fletcher-Hall and ex-Women’s Officer, Amy Burge who also sat in on discussions at the open meeting on October 10. Burge spoke out against the bags, saying “they are not only sexist to women; they also assume that all male students are interested in viewing sexually explicit photographs of women, and completely ignore gay men.”

Matthew Pallas, LGBT Officer said he found FHM to be “degrading to women” and thought the bags were “heteronormative, subconsciously sending out the message that everyone is straight.”

Leaked emails obtained by Nouse have shown continued disquiet within YUSU since the motion was passed. Sam Bayley sent out emails reminding all officers “that they are required by the Union Code (and thus the constitution) to abide by and carry out decisions of the Executive Committee, and that officers must not campaign against the decisions of a committee once they have been voted upon.”

To counter the distribution of bags at YUSU Fair, Amy Burge gave students the opportunity to swap their copies of FHM and cellulite cream for “sexism free” cakes. About 250 copies of FHM were swapped. During the fair, freshers showed mixed reactions to the bags. One female student said: “What I find really offensive is the implication that women eat less than men. I don’t know many women who aren’t capable of eating a full tin of beans and a chocolate bar, yet those items weren’t included in our bags.” One male student said of the controversy “some people need to be shipped off to the Third World. Then they’d have something worth complaining about.”

Pallas will put forward a motion regarding the bags at a Union General Meeting on Tuesday October 23. The motion, which has been seconded by Environment and Ethics Officers, the Academic and Welfare Officer, and the Women’s Officers, states that “any Union sabbatical, part-time officer or staff member who orders or receives products…to be distributed free to students during Freshers’ Week or at any other freshers’ welcome event must consult the Academic & Welfare Officer, Equality & Diversity Officers and Environment & Ethics Officers” to make sure that any products detrimental to the welfare of students will not be distributed.

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