Booty Bracket is offensive and shallow
Not angry, but disappointed. The Booty Bracket is yet another example of actions by teenagers that are unintentionally offensive. We understand that there was no malicious intent since the bracket was made a joke among friends and not everybody involved was offended. But entertainment of a few should not be emphasized over the feelings of others.
The central issue of the matter is not only how the girls in the Booty Bracket were portrayed, but that there was no original consent. The list was compiled without the specific permission of the subjects on the list, and made public through Twitter. Those involved in the Booty Bracket knew that what they were doing was not widely accepted outside of the group, which is why they tried to cover up their actions by giving each girl a college-code name without asking the girls first.
When anyone, regardless of gender, focuses too much on a single physical part of a person, it reinforces the idea that a person’s physical characteristic is more important than anything else about a person. For modern women it seems that appearance has become so important that the plastic surgery industry made a whopping $10 billion in 2010. Some may argue that society sees a woman’s physical beauty indicative of her worth, and the fashion industry has certainly cashed in on society’s value of female beauty.
However, it would be wrong to say that people shouldn’t feel attracted to a person because of a physical characteristic. But a problem is created when only a single body part comes before other things that are more important about a person – interests, personality, their past and ambitions for the future. By focusing on something so shallow, it disregards actual qualities that make up a real person; the qualities that determine one’s future and happiness. This is the modern version of dehumanization, when we start to care more about what a person looks like rather than what a person is actually like when get to know them.
Additionally, ranking girls based on their butts confirms the idea that girls dressing up is solely for guys’ attentions. Not all girls make themselves look nice for the sake of finding a boyfriend. Clothes are one of the easiest forms of self-expression, and to attract attention from the opposite gender should be a side result to making yourself look and feel good first and foremost.
The Booty Bracket tells students that the purpose of looking good is for others to judge. It puts a ranking on individuals based on their appearances, as if it is some sort of competition to rove self-worth. The media does this too, endlessly critiquing “beach bodies” and body fat. And when the culture affirms this judgement, it is hard to then change one’s opinions when your longest-lasting impression of a girl is based on how much you like or dislike her behind.
Ultimately we understand that the Booty Bracket meant no harm. But when the Booty Bracket detracts from how we understand each other as peoples and not bodies, it harms more than helps. There is no reason why such a list needs to be made and put out into the public, and simple human decency comes before entertainment at the expense of others.