Most first-years quickly learn Sex Power God is one of Brown’s most famous — or infamous — traditions. The SPG Facebook event page calls itself “the greatest party of the year.” So who wouldn’t want to go? SPG is intended to be an inclusive event, during which students can feel free to explore themselves and their peers in a safe space. But after attempting to purchase tickets for this year’s event, I found it to be quite the opposite — judgmental, exclusive and just a little bit rude.
I am a senior and have been to SPG twice already. I had a decent time, though I assure all of you who have not attended that it is somewhat overrated. I embraced the environment, danced with friends and that was about it. Because this is my final year, I’ve been trying to participate in as many Brown events as possible — football games, theatrical performances, debates and so on. SPG was definitely on my list. I wanted to go one last time.
I arrived at the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center close to the “line up time,” which was 10 p.m. We set up chairs and were toward the back of the line. After about an hour, two event organizers came toward us. One of them aggressively told us to back up. We happily complied, even as she tapped her foot impatiently. As they began to herd us like cows, I tried to ask a question about tickets and was completely ignored.
An organizer returned at 11:45 p.m. and demanded we move all of our chairs out of the way and sit in the Underground, the small room at the back of Faunce’s narrow basement. After 10 minutes of shuffling, she told us to sit down. To my recollection, this is how the night’s conversation continued:
“Do you mind if we sit in chairs?” I asked.
“No. You need to just sit on the floor because we’re going to snake the line in here,” she replied.
“OK then,” I replied, a little put off.
“Ugh, this is so tedious,” she said, rolling her eyes.
Five minutes after we were settled, she returned again.
“Hey, so we actually brought you in here to let you know you won’t be able to come to SPG this year. We have given out all the consent forms, so you can leave now.”
Jaws dropped. Did they really lie to us and get us in here just to smugly tell us we wouldn’t be invited to the event this year?
“What about us seniors?” one boy protested sadly.
“Yeah sorry, but you need to leave now,” she replied.
As my friends and I made our way out, two people in line decided SPG wasn’t for them and offered us their consent forms. Feeling a little rejected, we reluctantly took them and sat down to discuss whether it was worth it. After oscillating for five minutes, we decided SPG wasn’t for us this year, especially after the way we had been treated. As we made our way out, toward the door, the two organizers stopped us.
“Excuse me, but you didn’t have those consent forms 10 minutes ago. What do you think you’re doing?” she asked.
I assured her they had been passed on by others. How else could we have gotten them? Stealing? Photocopying? These are all tactics that I am not devious enough to pursue.
“I don’t believe you,” she replied.
I told her that was fine and that she was welcome to take the consent forms back — at this point we were on our way out. I handed them to her and left with my friends. They watched us until we left, suspecting that we might sneak a spot in the very “competitive” ticket line.
I left with a bad taste in my mouth. The first-years I had come with also felt discouraged and uncomfortable and didn’t want to try to attend SPG again. Something about the interaction made me deeply disappointed in some members of this community.
It’s no secret that there has been a lot of talk recently about nudity. I was a big advocate of protecting the sanctity of Nudity in the Upspace because of the positive messages and inclusive attitude it promotes. I think it is a thoughtful and constructive event. But SPG seems to be something very different.
In our collective response to Fox News, we claimed to have respect for one another and that our exploration of sexuality and other body-related issues have merit. But then we throw an event that encourages “sexy underwear,” and elicits Facebook comments like, “yes, getting (SPG) tickets IS a competition.”
What kind of message are we sending to our community? I don’t think there is anything wrong with a party that just allows you to have fun and wear as little or as much as you want or interact sexually in a more open way. But I do think there is a problem with making what is meant to be an explorative, open event into an exclusive competition. SPG in its current form runs contrary both to the all-embracing environment Brown promote, and to a lot of what the Queer Alliance stands for.
I think it’s time for the organizers of the event to re-evaluate the way they approach the community and how they treat people who want to support or participate in their events. With an emphasis on exclusivity, competition and organizer power-trips, SPG has turned off a number of students this year. If if you ask me, that’s missing the point entirely.
Emily Kassie ’14 can be reached at emily_kassie@brown.edu.
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