Students find spirit day disrespectful
On Feb. 11, STUCO will be holding “Hush Day”. Hush day has been held off and on throughout the past couple of years. The reason behind this could be the conflicting opinions that students have about the pre-Valentine’s Day event.
Hush Day is an activity in which girls are given paper hearts during their first hour class. If they talk to a boy (excluding the male teachers) at all during the day they must give up their paper heart to the boy. At the end of the day, the boy with the most paper hearts wins a prize.
The boys who participate, such as sophomore Isaac Zimmerman and junior Drew Biskie said they felt indifferent to the activity.
“I don’t really care about it,” said Biskie. “It’s just something to do I guess.”
Zimmerman said he thought the activity was just alright.
“It’s not like it’s a bad thing to do,” Zimmerman said. “I don’t really like it or hate it.”
Last year’s winner, junior Michael Ploutz said he enjoyed Hush Day and plans to participate again.
“Winning last year was pretty cool,” Ploutz said. “I think it’s really fun and it gets people involved.”
However, some of the male students like junior Kaelin Leach said Hush Day was an awful idea.
“The entire system is flawed,” Leach said. “I have a lot of female friends and it’s pretty ridiculous that they can’t even talk to me on that day if they want to keep their heart. If I were a girl, I’d just throw it away right after it was handed to me.”
Freshmen that haven’t yet experienced Hush Day like Emily Woydziak and Sophie Moore said they think the idea sounds incredibly dumb.
“It’s actually sort of sexist,” Woydziak said. “I think that the rules should be changed so that no one can talk unless they’re going to give their heart up.”
Moore said Hush Day is a bad way to stereotype both men and women.
“It basically just showcases how many girls a guy can get,” Moore said. “It’s sexist and It sounds beyond dumb. I do not plan to participate in it. I don’t really even understand why the school allows it since it’s so sexist.
Plus, what if you’re a girl who doesn’t like guys? What do you do then? It’s basically another way of saying that being gay is wrong or abnormal.”
Senior Taryn Brown said the day is entirely geared towards men.
“We can’t even tell the guys to go away,” Brown said. “If you say anything at all they stick out their hands waiting for you to give up your stupid little paper heart. Most guys will literally bug you until you just get sick of it and give in. That’s not a good message to send.”
Sophomore Hannah Pfannenstiel said the rules to Hush Day should be changed, but it shouldn’t be thrown out altogether.
“What Hush Day is right now is just dumb,” Pfannenstiel said. “Most of the people I’ve talked to said that they thought Hush Day was stupid, sexist, or pointless. Maybe if the rules were changed, people would actually enjoy it.”
17aweber@usd489.com
Anniston Weber is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Guidon and a senior this year. She has been involved with the Guidon for three years. In addition to being...
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Brianna Mathias • Feb 14, 2015 at 11:50 am
Actually, it is optional, but we still feel like it was sending all the wrong messages.
I believe STUCO decided to have a Hush Day near St. Patrick’s day for boys, with clovers instead of hearts. Personally, I feel like yes, it will be fun to flip it around and have boys understand what it felt like for us, but at the same time, the only way to really fix the problem is just to do away with Hush Days altogether.
Laurissa Marcotte • Feb 14, 2015 at 11:20 am
As an HHS graduate of three years, I’m disgusted (but not really surprised) that his happened. Why are boys the only ones who can win the game? It seems like it would be a lot more fun if both sexes were prohibited from talking to the other. I agree that it enforces stereotypes that women should be quiet and submissive while men should be dominant and even aggressive in their romantic endeavors. I’m glad this never happened when I was in school, because I would have had a conniption fit.
Keith Dryden • Feb 12, 2015 at 11:41 am
This activity is in no way sexist it is meant to be fun but people automatically have to say it’s “sexist”. And being gay has nothing to do with it.
Madison • Feb 11, 2015 at 11:17 am
Personally, I think it’s stupid that people would get offended by Hush Day. Its a fun way to participate and Hays High has done this for how long? It isn’t sexist. It is a game to play on Valentine’s Day. And if you would like to talk to your female friends, talk to them? It isn’t that big of a deal losing your paper heart.
Alicia Language • Feb 12, 2015 at 10:01 pm
Exactly. It’s a game relating to Valentine’s Day. The day of love. What if the girl isn’t into guys? What if the girl loves other girls? The game itself isn’t necessarily wrong, but the concept is. And it is sexist, because it forces girls (who plan to keep their hearts) to remain quiet all day, and it gives them very little opportunity to avoid boys pressuring her to talk to them and give them her heart. I would be okay with it if guys also had to do this, and if anyone who wanted to participate, even boys, could. The game singles out girls to be the submissive and quiet ones, and the boys to be the more dominant ones; aiming to be “Mr. Irresistible” at the end of the day. There are more things I could point out, but I’d rather not waste time typing them all.
Anniston • Feb 13, 2015 at 1:28 pm
Madison,
I literally mentioned in this article that Hays High has been doing this off and on for a few years. So the fact that you made it sound as though it were an ongoing tradition is wrong. It isn’t a tradition – and it shouldn’t ever be a tradition.
The game does not recognize people who identify as different genders nor does it recognize the lesbian/gay/pan-sexual etc. community.
It glamorizes the stereotype that men need to get women. It makes women seem like objects. Even the title of the winner is ridiculous. “Mr. Irresistible”. Pathetic.
It also showcases that women need to be quiet. The whole “speak not unless spoken to” thing.
I realize it’s all in fun, but the people who run this seem to forget that what they’re doing could potentially really hurt someones feelings.
I also realize that people don’t need to participate.
However, why waste money for prizes for games that not everyone participates in?
The game would be better if the rules were changed. The fact that there’s apparently going to be one for the boys in a few months doesn’t fix anything.