Dear students of "Saint Marian's College,"
Last year, the Keenan Revue instructed "excited" Notre Dame boys everywhere to go ahead and grab a "Smckers." A lot of girls were offended and the Saint Mary's administration asked the Revue to find a new home, which resulted in its new location at the Stepan Center. I think that this year, us "SMC Chicks" need to take a step back and take a chill pill. Seriously. It's all in good fun and we shouldn't take ourselves so seriously that we can't laugh at something funny. Honestly, we should take their jokes as a compliment. The men of Keenan Hall are just so in awe of our collective awesomeness that they have to make fun of us to pay us a real compliment. We should revel in the fact that we are even mentioned in this year's title, "Too big for Saint Mary's." Instead of freaking out and giving people more ammunition against us as a group, we should brush off the jokes and laugh with everyone.
We have a reputation of being nothing more than party girls in search of our "MRS" degree. The reason many people feel this way is because they only see us on the weekend. You want to be taken seriously? You want the jokes to stop? Then start acting more like our counterparts across the street. Take a class or join a club and show everyone that just because you chose to go to Saint Mary's doesn't make you a total idiot. You can't complain about never being taken seriously by Notre Dame boys and being seen as stupid by Notre Dame girls if you only ever go across the street to party. I know how hard we work as Saint Mary's girls, and I know that when it comes to the weekend personally I want to have fun. I don't want to look back on my years in college and only have fond memories of the library.
I think, as a group, we should not become upset and angry over whatever they will say this weekend at the Keenan Revue. Rather, we should embrace the jokes. I know who I am, and that is more than just a party girl. But, I also have a sense of humor and don't mind laughing at myself. I know that I don't want to turn into a cold and emotion-free person that can't recognize a good joke if it slapped her on the face.
So, women of Saint Mary's, take this weekend as an opportunity to laugh with your friends about the stereotypes that are so prevalent across our two campuses. When the Keenan men make a joke about us, don't be so quick to judge them as a dorm full of misogynist pigs. Rather, embrace their humor in a way that shows how truly classy and fabulous we really are. Any woman that has the ability to laugh at herself in an elegant manner is the kind of woman that Saint Mary's wants us to become and the kind Notre Dame girls wish they could be.
The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Contact Anna Boarini at aboari01@saintmarys.edu
