An event at Gert’s was suspended last week when it came under scrutiny for featuring female bar-top dancers. Concerns that the women were being sexually objectified almost resulted in the event’s cancellation. Instead, the event has been postponed and will include male dancers as well.
SSMU hosts many major annual events at Gert’s: Ocktoberhaus, Saint Patrick’s Day, and Coyote Ugly, to name a few. The first installment of Coyote Ugly was held in January of last year and was set to make a comeback Sept. 29. With almost 540 Facebook attendees—about 200 more than had RSVP’d to January’s event—it seemed that Coyote Ugly 2.0 was back due to popular demand.
However, for those who have been looking forward to getting an idea of what Coyote Ugly means, the event’s Facebook page offers a disappointing message:
“Please note that this event has been cancelled as SSMU strongly upholds it’s [sic] Equity Policy and there are concerns that this event is not in line with those policies.” Comments responding to Wednesday’s cancellation express confusion and disappointment over the source of the decision. What, indeed, is the SSMU’s Equity Policy, and what does it have to do with Coyote Ugly 2.0?
“The SSMU has a long standing history of leadership on issues of Equity and Social Justice,” reads the statement available on the SSMU website. “The development of formal mechanisms for addressing Equity matters has been in a constant process of growth, development, and improvement over the past two decades. The SSMU has demonstrated in its history a commitment to not only excel in the practice of equity, but to be a progressive leader in the field.”
Emily Yee Clare, SSMU VP University Affairs, corroborated this. While equity has always been a focus for SSMU, the scope has grown in recent years. As former Equity Commissioner, she helped craft the present Equity Policy: for instance, this year, the Equity Committee will create an appeals process for the complaints procedure, in order to better address grievances.
“There was a new equity policy put in place last year … [in the 90s] it was just a paragraph, now we have a full-blown policy and a complaints procedure,” Clare said. “It changes a lot [because] equity is a process … once you start using a system, it’s important to adapt it and see where the loopholes are. [For example,] last year’s policy is infinitely better than the one prior to that.”
Perhaps expedited by the new complaints procedure, Coyote Ugly 2.0 was cancelled due to concerns from fellow students. There were complaints over provocative posters the year prior; this year, student groups are upset about the objectification of girls dancing on the Gert’s bar.
According to Shyam Patel, SSMU VP of Finance and Operations, the cancelation message posted on the event is inaccurate.
“We did discuss either cancelling or revamping the event; it may not have been done the best way … the cancellation should not have been done in this manner.”
Patel acknowledges that the event will in fact be taking place, albeit with a few changes mandated by SSMU’s equity policy, including men dancing on the bar along with women. SSMU will later review the event to see what went well.
“The event really isn’t being revamped; all the planning has already been done and so it is going to go ahead as planned,” Clare said. “I just want to emphasize that it really hasn’t been changed at all.” The only change being proposed is the inclusion of men dancing on the bars, which may have been considered at some stage in the original planning process.
In fact, not much has changed from last year’s event, either. SSMU is maintaining its prior security and strict no-pictures policy, to ensure the privacy of the bartop dancers.
Students relaxing at Gert’s this Monday were critical of the event’s revamping.
“I find [it] really ridiculous that guys are going to be dancing on the bar; it’s not a solution at all,” said a U2 Engineering student, who declined to give his name.
L.J. Aguinaga, U3 Management, found the entire back and forth process a bit perplexing.
“I think it’s awesome that Gert’s is having legit events … I understand why they cancelled it, although I feel that they should have run it by the groups that probably were behind cancelling it,” he said. “Because we know McGill is a very sensitive community … [they should] make sure they talk to the right people before putting together the event.”
In contrast, the SSMU execs think of this event as an opportunity to engage students in a discussion that otherwise might not be held. Despite disappointment with the way the cancellation was handled, both execs seem unfazed by Coyote Ugly’s reinstatement.
“This is a good conversation starter,” Patel said. “There’s a long process that needs to be taken because equity [has] a learning curve … it is a gray area, because its so difficult to explain and to define; [holding this event] is a good step forward.”
“It’s hard to say if something is equitable or not because these things always fall in a grey zone,” Clare said. “Equity really is a process; it’s a dialogue and discussion. It’s important to actually have your facts and really understand what’s going on or we won’t be able to move forward.”
