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Cambridge society calls off jelly wrestling after ‘sexism’ furor

May 8, 2013 - 18:14 By Yoon Min-sik
A Cambridge University drinking society announced Tuesday that it is ending its “traditional” jelly wrestling ritual after students complained the event displayed sexism.

According to British news reports, Cambridge student Nina de Paula Hanika recently started a petition to protest the wrestling event hosted by the Wyverns Society, an all-male drinking society of the prestigious British school.

The annual event had bikini-clad women fighting in a pool of jelly for a cash prize. It is part of a summer garden party to celebrate the end of exams.

Hanika told local media that she was “shocked” when she found out about the wrestling match, saying the event was an “outdated bastion of sexism that has no place in the 21st century.” She added the event’s removal is long overdue.

Susy Langsdale of the Cambridge University Student Union (CUSU) decried the jelly wrestling as a “blatant objectification of female bodies” and said it stands out as an extreme form of sexist element within college initiation ceremonies.

CUSU Women’s Campaign vowed full support for Hanika’s petition.



From news reports
(khnews@heraldcorp.com)