SuppliedThis weekend, the Edmonton institution that is Knoxville’s Tavern plans to host a “Stoplight Cup Party.” The following is taken from the Facebook event page:
“When ordering your drinks, choose the colour of Solo cup that corresponds with your availability.
Green = Go
Yellow = Maybe
Red = Nah
It’s that simple.”
No, it isn’t. Holding a green cup shouldn’t make us treat any fellow bar-goer like a lesser-than human being, there for us to hit on. Not only does it encourage general douchebaggery, it also contributes to rape culture. It minimizes the interaction between individuals which is so important when it comes to gaining and maintaining consent, and gives excuses for sexual assault and harassment.
It would seem as though Edmonton bars are scraping the bottom of the morality barrel with their theme parties. From the vaguely misogynistic “Basic Bitch Night” at the Ranch to Knoxville’s newest sorry excuse to go out and get blasted, bars are playing a skeezy game of one-upmanship. Even in a culture increasingly accepting of such slimy nightlife, this theme is where the line is unmistakably drawn for me.
The need for consent does not two-step itself away just because your drink is in a green cup instead of a red one. It’s not too much to ask establishments that encourage binge drinking remain consent-positive, showing respect for their patrons while at the bar and some measure of concern for what happens after.
The stoplight party is the opposite. It is the sweaty, booze-addled, nameless, late-night hookup that reeks of Fireball and bad decisions, only distilled and served to you for a $15 cover charge.
Alcohol throws a large wrench into a situation that’s already difficult enough to navigate. Though it’s possible to get consent when one or both parties are intoxicated, the presence of alcohol means the more subtle “nos” and other cues go unheeded. Effectively, what Knoxville’s is doing is giving bargoers an excuse to disregard all this, a hall pass from consent, and that simply isn’t okay. I shudder to think of someone justifying sexual assault with “but they had a green cup.” People cannot be treated as “go or nah,” and in no circumstances can an object stand for consent.
At the end of the day, the traffic light party gives people an excuse to forgo basic social decency in favour of a morally disgusting shortcut. Go out this weekend, have a bunch of drinks, get crazy, but please don’t make it an excuse for not being a decent human being.
Knoxville’s, this is so far beyond not cool. You’ve created another way in which someone is “asking for it,” which is never okay. Show you give some fraction of a fuck about what happens to your clientèle. Put away your multicoloured solo cups and let people have a good time without making a serious problem worse.
If there is a god he needs to stop this social justice warrior shit. I wish I could write more but for once I’m really at a loss of words
Mr Sorenson, have you considered applying to the Political Correctness Police Force? I think you have a glorious career ahead of you. Fight the powers of evil my friend… one green cup at a time!
I’m just going to leave this here…
“In the last few years, there has been an unfortunate trend towards blaming “rape culture” for the extensive problem of sexual violence on campus. While it is helpful to point out the systemic barriers to addressing the problem, it is important not to lose sight of a simple fact: Rape is caused not by cultural factors but by the conscious decisions, of a small percentage of the community, to commit a violent crime.” -Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN)
How, exactly, does making the conscious choice to hold a green cup (signifying your availability) contribute to rape culture? Will rapists avoid drunk red cup-bearers because they’ll figure, “well shit, I’d normally try to date-rape them, but they’re holding the wrong color of cup, so they’re off-limits tonight!”
I know SJWs love to use the term “rape culture” at every available opportunity, but its usage in this context renders it even more meaningless than usual.
just a reminder guys, The Gateway is a publication that allows any interested student to contribute and doesn’t censor opinions.
even the incorrect ones
it’s kind of unfair to paint a whole publication with such a dismissing brush when there are probably plenty of gateway writers who disagree with the piece.
Guys chill out! OP is clearly trying to swoon the young feminists around him with his valiant white knight crusade against the patriarch rapist scum.
While your point is well taken, you’re really making a whole lot of assumptions about how every guest would conduct themselves. I saw that this event is also being branded as a venue for single people to meet someone the weekend before Valentines Day, hence why it is being called a Pre-Valentines Party, with absolutely no allusion to consent (unsurprisingly). I think the comparison to the blatantly mysoginistic “Basic Bitch Party” is unfair. In what way is this any different than speed dating? I absolutely understand the point being made here, but this is akin to banning dating sites because some people on them are creepy. Furthermore, at what point was the leap made from “green means single and ready to mingle” to “green means treat the person like a lesser-than human being,” and why are we jumping to assume the worst in the people that go to these events? I think you raise some valid concerns, but I would encourage some moderation here before we start painting the whole issue of consent with one big brush and vilify a legitimate business for “encouraging rape”. Not to mention, the click-bait title is awfully misleading.
I cannot believe this has been published on what I thought was a respectable news source. Obviously another website that has fell into the ‘Social Justice Warrior’ hivemind. Get over yourself and stop pretending you are the overseer of what is right and wrong.
In terms of a rebuttal to that article. It simply is not worth the time to pull together a factual, appropriate and properly worded reply, even though there is an incredible amount to say within a response. Every individual is completely and entirely entitled to their opinion, however many opinions should be kept to ones self, as they lack the proper knowledge to be credible in any form. With that being said, it is unfortunate that naivety and immaturity has fuelled such slander as the legalities involved with the internet are often times overlooked or not understood and can lead to legal action where appropriate. A very important word that perhaps was missed in the time it took to write this article is Defamation. Defamation is/can be an incredibly serious offence and under common/civil laws, can be found to be a criminal offence.
ThIs has by far been one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever read. Everywhere you go you’re going to have people take an innocent theme to the extreme, even if there is no theme there are people out there that are going to do such things listed in this article. Every human being has the right to their own opinion, but just because you can write an article about it doesn’t mean it’s right. If you feel that way about the events, simply don’t go. Which I’m sure anyone else with the same mentality will join you on Saturday night, looking at all the extremes to every situation that could happen. And there will be others who see that the idea of the stop light cups is simply to put out the idea of whether they are available or not and enjoy the night.
You recognize the purpose of the colours of the cups, yet you only find an issue with the green one. Why is that? It seems like you have constructed a pretty large straw man fallacy here. You absolutely misrepresent the event by solely focusing on one aspect, and then further misrepresenting this aspect in order to better serve your own personal agenda.
See, you have written this piece acting as if the only colour of cup available is green. If this were the case, then yes there may be an issue. But you see, there are also red and yellow which you only mention once in a quote from Knoxville’s advertisement. The whole point of the cup is to signal availability, and the point is to also meet people. You really fail to see the purpose here and it is apparent from your statement “Holding a green cup shouldn’t make us treat any fellow bar-goer like a lesser-than human being, there for us to hit on. Not only does it encourage general douchebaggery, it also contributes to rape culture.”.
Nobody is forced to use a green cup, and simply hitting on somebody is not inherently disrespectful. You fail to actually prove either of these critical points in your argument, and you end up with nothing more than a piece whining because people you seem to look down on, go to a place you look down on, and believe it or not try to have a fun time doing things you look down on.
Why is this news? This theme has been around for ages and tons of UofA faculties have hosted these exact same events.
Isn’t everyone consenting to be at the party and submit to this colour scheme? This article makes me wonder if you even drink, go to parties, or use cups.
I feel like you’re missing the point of the event. These ‘stoplight’ parties are nothing new and I think that instead of ‘giving consent,’ its probably more like single and ready to mingle or in a relationship.
This sort of reaction is what dilutes the real issues with sexual assault and consent. The issue isn’t somebody being hit on because they are displaying interest in being hit on, its rapists taking advantage of drunk people. All this being said though, this sounds like a horribly trashy event at a known to be trashy club (where you don’t need a coloured cup to have less than desirable things tried on you.) Just don’t go, like most with brains won’t, and maybe they’ll stop holding these sorts of events. Then again, Edmontonians obviously enjoy this sort of thing, so maybe that says something else too.