Wilderness School girls under fire for ‘hook-up wall’ of boys, who claim a double standard of sexual objectification
AN elite Adelaide private girls’ school is embroiled in a scandal over a “wall of boys”. The photo collage of romantic conquests has left its male targets feeling shamed and humiliated.
ONE of the state’s top private schools is embroiled in a major scandal, after Year 12 girls created a “wall of boys” – a giant photo collage of their sexual and romantic conquests – and then “shamed” them on social media.
The Wilderness School girls posted images and a slide show to social media with derogatory comments about the boys, largely from high-profile private colleges, including the hashtag “#quantitynotquality”.
The photo display – in the Wilderness Year 12 common room – was started early in the year. But the girls were not ordered to take it down until they featured it in an “unauthorised and inappropriate” end-of-Year-12 video a fortnight ago.
Outraged private schoolboys have complained of a double standard, saying they would have faced immediate and severe punishment for objectifying girls in the same way.
One boy from a private school told The Advertiser the girls had described the display on social media as a “wall of boys” – or a “hook-up wall” – which he’d first learned about in March or April.
He said posts on Instagram and Facebook had appeared throughout the year, making fun of boys’ appearances and in some cases detailing sexual encounters. Boys had endured the embarrassment throughout the year, he said, but the slideshow video – posted and shared by Wilderness girls on Facebook this week – was a step too far because it clearly identified individual boys.
“It’s embarrassing to have that showed about you, what you’ve done in your private life,” the boy said.
“It’s frustrating how the girls treat it as a joke but, if a guy did, it would be objectifying women and promoting rape culture.
“I find it unfair that boys can be shamed in this way.”
Wilderness – known colloquially as “Wildy” – said staff initially considered the photo display to be “innocent” and “respectful” so had allowed it to remain through the year, but had ordered it be taken down after it appeared in the end-of-year video. The school took action again this week to have the slideshow of boys’ faces immediately deleted from Facebook.
The Medindie school, which charged $23,562 for Year 12 fees this year, said there had already been “consequences” for girls involved in the video, and potentially more for those who posted the slideshow online, which was being investigated.
However, it would not detail how many girls were involved, what punishments had or were likely to be handed out, or whether there would be any impact on the girls sitting for their Year 12 exams.
Another private-school boy believed that Wilderness had failed to act soon enough because “nobody really cares when it’s girls doing it to boys”.
“If we did it, there’d be a massive outcry. The (Wilderness teachers) know about it. It’s been up on the wall for three terms,” he said.
The boy said he did not want to get the girls in trouble and acknowledged that most victims of sexual harassment and crimes were females. But he felt compelled to highlight “a double standard that’s really deep in our culture . . . that girls can’t do these things to boys” because of his own experience.
He said when he was a younger teenager, an older girl – who had not attended Wilderness – had got him drunk and sexually assaulted him, and he had not spoken to anyone about it until a year later.
“People think girls can’t sexually harass guys so (boys) don’t think they can talk about it,” he said.
Wilderness principal Jane Danvers said the photo display was allowed to remain for most of the year because staff had deemed it “innocent and acceptable”.
“The images were considered entirely respectful as they were portrait shots sourced mainly from the boys’ Facebook profile images or photos from the school formal. The context in which they were placed on the common room wall was deemed by staff as innocent and acceptable – girls displaying photographs of boys who were friends and boyfriends.
“The photographs later featured in an unauthorised and inappropriate Year 12 end-of-school-year slideshow presentation two weeks ago. The photographs in the Year 12 common room were then removed at the instruction of senior staff.
“The slide show presentation was (on Tuesday) posted on social media and was drawn to our attention (on Wednesday).
“Steps immediately were taken to have it removed and Wilderness School does not tolerate such behaviour. The matter is being investigated and those involved will be dealt with appropriately.
“We take it incredibly seriously. It goes against everything we believe in as a school.”
