Personally, I do not care for kiss-cam at sporting events. What’s supposed to be a cute thing during commercial breaks, and usually is, can turn into a cringe worthy effort when the camera focuses on two people who shouldn’t be kissing. Like this
But, it’s usually just silly fun. Not so in Syracuse
(Fox News) Syracuse University is considering kissing its kiss cam goodbye after a fan suggested it sends the wrong message at a time when colleges are fighting against campus sexual violence.
A regular feature at sports venues, the kiss cam frames unsuspecting couples in a heart on the Jumbotron while the game crowd cheers for them to kiss. Hearts melted when cancer-stricken former President Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn obliged during an Atlanta Braves game last week.
But Steve Port of Manlius said what he saw during the Sept. 12 football game between Syracuse University and Wake Forest constituted unacceptable behavior, and maybe even assault, as men forcibly kissed women who were clearly saying no.
In one of two examples, he said a woman’s head shake was met with “no less than six sets of hands from the seats around her shov(ing) her unwilling face into his.” The crowd cheered, he wrote in a letter to the editor, which generated hundreds of comments on Syracuse.com, both agreeing and disagreeing with him.
“Honestly, I wasn’t out to kill the kiss cam,” Port said by phone Tuesday. “I was just out to raise an important issue that I saw happening and that’s important to me. I’ve always kind of been a little put off by it anyway, but never witnessed an actual act of — oh, my God, this woman is saying no and it didn’t matter.”
Unfortunately, in this day and age, when someone is out to raise and Important Issue because they were Offended, you can expect an over the top reaction, certainly on Liberal college campuses, run by liberals with all sorts of uber-liberal teachers and students. In this case, considering the killing of the kiss-cam.
What used to be considered just tom-foolery, perhaps inappropriate, is now considered an Important Issue of sexual assault, and Things Must Change. The kiss-cam was pulled Saturday’s game, and the university is in Deep Discussion over whether it comes back or not.
Syracuse University senior Elaina Crockett suggested the university poll students on whether to keep the feature or come up with some kiss cam rules, including moving on quickly if someone obviously doesn’t want to play along.
That actually makes some sense. Move on quickly.
Crockett, who writes a column about gender and sexuality for The Daily Orange student newspaper, said that otherwise it’s counter to today’s emphasis on affirmative consent that stresses communication and respect for boundaries as a way to reduce campus sexual assaults.
And then it’s turned into an Important Issue.
How are all these snowflakes going to last in the Real World?
Crossed at Right Wing News.
A planet in potential devastation — a dark power dangles within reach and tantalizes humans to the point of valuing increased personal opulence over the survival of all. Few stewards fight to maintain peace, while the plague of human obsession for abundance and domination spreads across the land.
