\nA few weeks ago, I was sitting in my residence\u2019s dining hall and\nexchanging banter with my housemates after a meeting we had just\nattended. One of my housemates was casually browsing through\nInstagram when she gasped in shock and asked us, \u201cHave you guys\nseen this video?\u201d The video in question was a short,\ntwelve-second-long clip of what appears to be a flat-screen\ntelevision being thrown from the ninth floor of Helshoogte Men\u2019s\nResidence as part of a residence tradition known as \u201cDemolition\nDay\u201d (hazard a guess as to how they coined that name). I felt a\nprofound sense of unease after watching the video, yet, this did not\nstop me from replaying it a few times more to make sure that my\nsenses had not deceived me. There are three things therein which\nstood out: the large flat-screen plummeting past the nine floors of\nthe building, the window it broke on its way down and the piercingly\nloud cheers of elation which erupted from the male residents after it\nshattered on the ground. I was left with questions which have yet to\nbe answered: how, and why does this destruction inspire so much\neuphoria? Moreover, why is it necessary?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps,\nthey were fulfilling an innately masculine urge which I, as a woman,\ncan neither understand nor relate to. I\u2019ve lived in predominantly\nfemale environments for the entirety of my adolescence, first by\nattending an all-girls high school and now by living in a female\nresidence – I can\u2019t remember a group of women celebrating the\ndestruction of any material object, much less one which appears to be\nof value (like a flat-screen television). Perhaps it was done to\ndispose of an item that they no longer had use for. Although, it\u2019s\nhard to imagine that they had no use for it since it appeared to be\nin good physical condition. I may be mistaken in perceiving that the\nobject is still of use. Yet even so, why did they choose to dispose\nof it in a manner that was not only violent, but also at a cost to\ntheir surroundings? I was perplexed and unsettled. So, I decided to\nlook for the answers to my questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently\nI had the opportunity to sit down and discuss my concerns with a\nsenior resident at Helshoogte, Paul Joubert. This is what he had to\nsay regarding the incident wherein the flat screen was thrown from\nthe ninth floor:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paul Joubert<\/strong>: I\u2019m not the most involved person in res, so I don\u2019t know. I wasn\u2019t even there. I was under the impression that the things they threw out the window were already broken things or at least really old. Mostly because I\u2019m not comfortable imagining that they would throw things that are still of use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n iL:<\/strong>\u00a0My concern is just that when the flat screen was thrown out, it broke a window.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n PJ<\/strong>, nods: Yes, it did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n iL:<\/strong> Which is causing even more damage?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n PJ:<\/strong> Yes, that\u2019s true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n iL:<\/strong> Also, my concern is: why, if it\u2019s broken, if it\u2019s no longer of any use, would you not dispose of it sustainably?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n PJ:<\/strong> There\u2019s that but also, it\u2019s, it\u2019s-<\/p>\n\n\n\n PJ<\/strong>, struggles to find the words to answer the question and sighs: Also this is one of those things where it\u2019s a tradition and it\u2019s not being questioned. I think people enjoy doing things like that. I think that there\u2019s an underlying thought that, \u201cOh, we are in a tall building but nothing ever falls off the sides. I wonder if we could utilise this for like, fun. This is fun.\u201d And it makes a big noise, it\u2019s aggressive. I think there\u2019s a case to be made that this a manifestation of toxic masculinity, aggressive power. At least something that might have manifested as that and is now just being exploited, as the tradition is being carried on. I think the official excuse would that it\u2019s been a tradition, we can’t get rid of it now. It\u2019s been a tradition and it\u2019s fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n … this [might be] a manifestation of toxic masculinity, aggressive power.<\/p>Paul Joubert<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n PJ<\/strong>, pauses and nods: Ja<\/em>, it is a really strange thing but it goes also back again to that thing where you think, \u201cOh, students are completely insane. They just do insane things and no-one questions it. Students are excused for being “students”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nconversation above gave the incident more context and it was valuable\nto have had the opportunity to discuss it with someone who lives in\nthe residence. I made an attempt to get in touch with the Primarius\nof Helshoogte for his opinion on Demolition Day but I was ultimately\nunsuccessful. I do want to hear what people in the house\u2019s\nleadership structures have to say regarding not only the incident,\nbut other instances of damage to property which have occurred within\nthe residence. The latter were recounted to me by a house member who\nwill remain anonymous: tales of drunken nights during which windows\nwere smashed, door locks were broken, alcohol was spilt liberally on\nthe floors and vomit was present on whichever surface was in the\nimmediate vicinity of intoxicated residents. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was supported by Paul Joubert\u2019s experience of what he calls \u201ckuier nights\u201d during which the residents seemingly have free reign to behave as rowdily as they please without having to face the repercussions thereof the morning after. He recounted a story of a \u201ckuier\u201d wherein an intoxicated alumnus of the residence put pressure on Paul to go out with them and after he [Paul] had declined multiple times, he [the alumnus] convinced a fellow resident to kick down the room’s door, breaking the lock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The mornings which follow these drunken nights are characterised by sticky surfaces which are soiled with a mixture of alcohol and vomit and overflowing trashcans surrounded by an arrangement of waste from the previous night \u2013 this remains uncleaned until the cleaning staff arrive on Monday. There are two possible reasons for this behaviour which Paul and I identified: firstly, no sense of respect towards the living environment and secondly, no visible authority during \u201ckuier\u201d. Paul suggested that the residents could perhaps be more respectful towards their living environment once renovations have taken place and the interior has been improved. He added that appointment of authority to oversee \u201ckuier\u201d will mitigate the problem<\/p>\n\n\n\n While both reasons might be an adequate justification to some for the unruly behaviour which occurs during these nights, I just don\u2019t think that they are convincing enough. Yes, once the renovations have taken place and everything is new and improved, we could assume that the residents will be cautious to neither dirty the space nor damage it. But how long will it be before these renovated spaces lose the appeal of being “new” and “improved”, and revert to being spaces which the residents have no qualms about damaging and dirtying? Furthermore, while the appointment of authority to oversee what happens during these nights might lessen the effects thereof, it will not solve the problems at hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nproblems are a culture of entitlement and a sense of toxic\nmasculinity which pervade the space \u2013 these two things are\ninextricably linked. Why do male residents feel so comfortable\ndestroying property, whether it is functional or not? Why do they\nfeel so comfortable intoxicating themselves to a point at which they\nbecome raucous and lose control of their actions? Why do they leave\nthe mess they create to worsen until someone comes to clean it up for\nthem? Because: boys will be boys. Of course, they can break objects\nand cause gratuitous damage to property. Why? Because it\u2019s a fun\ntradition and it affirms their masculinity. Of course, they can\nbecome as intoxicated as they like and claim that they are not to\nblame for their actions while they are in this state. Why? Because\nthe alcohol is to blame. Of course, they can soil their living space\nand wait for someone else to clean up the mess they\u2019ve made. Why?\nBecause someone else is getting paid to do it. As long as male\nresidents are assured that there will be someone to clean up after\nthem and no one to hold them accountable for their actions, they will\ncontinue to behave in this manner<\/p>\n\n\n\n When these \u201cDemolition Days\u201d and \u201ckuiers\u201d are criticised and met with no response besides \u201cBut it\u2019s a tradition!\u201d, we need to consider the possibility that it\u2019s no longer a tradition, but rather, toxicity that is perpetuated under the guise of the former.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Editorial note 2018-10-15: This article has been updated to reflect new information. It has also been confirmed that the objects thrown out of the windows were indeed already broken or otherwise non-functional.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n At the time of writing, Helshoogte management has not answered our requests for comment.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Where do we draw the line between tradition and toxicity? A few weeks ago, I was sitting in my residence\u2019s dining hall and exchanging banter with my housemates after a meeting we had just attended. One of my housemates was casually browsing through Instagram when she gasped in shock and asked us, \u201cHave you guys […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[32,3],"tags":[27,25,24,28,26,29],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/DemolitionDerby-e1539526741970.png","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa0nwP-3i","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":292,"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204\/revisions\/292"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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