Cambridge University drinking society cancels its annual jelly-wrestling contest after complaints from feminist students
- Petition calling for a ban on event has gained more than 1,000 signatures
- Annual event sees bikini-clad female students fighting in pool of jelly
- Petition describes event as 'clearly sexist' and 'misogynistic'
A jelly-wrestling contest that has become an end of exams tradition at Cambridge University has been cancelled after complaints from feminist students.
The half-naked wrestling competition sees bikini-clad female students fighting in a paddling pool of jelly for a cash prize.
But the annual celebrations were cancelled today after a petition calling for a ban on the ‘misogynistic’ event at the Wyverns drinking society post-exam garden party, gained over 1,000 signatures.
The annual jelly-wrestling contest has been cancelled after a petition calling for a ban on the 'misogynistic' event gained over 1,000 signatures. File picture shows students jelly-wrestling in 2008
The online petition, supported by the Student Union Women's Group, demanded a complete end to the event
The wrestling competition sees bikini-clad female students fighting in a paddling pool of jelly for a cash prize
The online petition, supported by the Student Union Women’s Group, demanded a complete end to the event, which sees two girls wrestle in front of hundreds of spectators.
Nina de Paula Hanika, the creator of the petition, said: ‘This particular event is not “just a bit of fun”.
'To use that tired excuse is to ignore the huge number of women who have contacted me to tell me how personally degraded, devalued and marginalised even the idea of this has made them feel.’
Miss de Paul Hanika, a student at Magdalene - the college with which the Wyverns society is associated - added that men had also complained that they felt uncomfortable with the event.
The petition, which received 1,176 signatures, described the competition as ‘clearly sexist, misogynistic and completely inappropriate as entertainment for 2013.’
The complaint claimed that the jelly fight portrays women as ‘only good for their bodies, and that in order to contribute socially they must be sexualised objects.’
Students have already started a counter-petition calling for the jellywrestling to be reinstated
In a statement cancelling the jelly wrestling, the Wyverns drinking society said: ‘The Wyverns regret to announce that this year they will be unable to hold the annual Jelly Wrestling tournament at WGP13 (Wyverns Garden Party 2013).
‘Having never received formal complaints in the past, we were reluctant to take immediate action on the recent petition. However, the anti-jelly vitriol with which the campaign was conducted forced us to take the threats that we received seriously.’
But the society added: ‘We are keen to maintain our reputation as the biggest, loosest, naughtiest, silliest party that Cambridge has to offer’
The Student Union Women’s Group welcomed the cancellation as ‘wonderful news’.
However, students have already started a counter-petition calling for the jellywrestling to be reinstated.
The news comes just days after hundreds of Cambridge University students descended on a family park and stripped off for a riotous pre-exam party as part of Caesarian Sunday this weeked
Cambridge University students flocked to busy Jesus Green in Cambridge on Sunday as part of the celebrations
‘To cancel this just because of a bit of complaining from people, the majority of whom have probably never attended the event, is ridiculous,’ the petition states.
‘The contestants participate of their own free will and are observed by both male and female spectators who enjoy the event for what it is - harmless fun.’
It suggests that in the interests of equality that male jelly wrestling could be introduced.
The Wyverns drinking society celebrations have become the most popular of the university garden parties organised on ‘Suicide Sunday’, which marks the end of student exams.
But it caused embarrassment for the university five years ago when a 23-year-old student was arrested and cautioned for assaulting a spectator after apparently losing a jelly-wrestling match.
The celebrations have since been banned from being held on university property.
The news comes just days after hundreds of Cambridge University students descended on a family park and stripped off for a riotous pre-exam party as part of Caesarian Sunday this weeked
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