Private school boys rank female students on attractiveness

Melbourne private school boys rank female students according to attractiveness

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One of Victoria’s most prestigious co-ed independent schools has come under fire after its Year 11 male students were found to have put their female classmates into categories, including “wifeys”, “cuties” and “unrapeable” and ranked them.

Police are investigating the scandal at Yarra Valley Grammar School in Melbourne’s East, where a spreadsheet of photographs of female students has been circulated by male students on the messaging app Discord. The female students were ranked according to their physical attractiveness and put into derogatory categories such as “mid”, “object” and “get out.” 

This morning, the ABC reported that a handful of male students have been suspended. The school’s principal, Mark Merry said he was shocked and outraged by the post. 

“We’re attempting to pick up the pieces now,” he told ABC News Breakfast this morning. “What has been said can’t be unsaid and now we’re facing the consequences of it here at the school.”

“Respect for each other is in the DNA of this school, and so this was a shock not only to us … but it was a shock to the year level and the boys in the year level that see this as way, way out of line.”

“As a father, I find it absolutely outrageous, disgraceful, offensive. As a principal, I need to make some decisions [about] what we do about all of this. My first impulse and concern is about the wellbeing of the girls concerned. I want to make sure they feel assured and supported by the school.”

Merry said the school has been consulting with the police: “..because the language used could be an inferred threat.”

“I don’t think it was, but we need to get further advice on that,” he said. “I’m hoping it was an appalling lapse in judgment.”

The school, which charges roughly $30,000 per year, is holding meetings today with students and parents of the female pupils named in the spreadsheet. 

On Instagram, Chanel Contos posted her thoughts, writing: “Gender based violence is a societal problem and it is the shared responsibility of all men to recognise this and take action to combat it.”

“We cannot dismiss the kind of grotesque behaviour reported..on an individual basis. These are just 16 & 17 year old boys who have been conditions to think that this behaviour is acceptable. Anyone who went to a boys private school will recognise similar behaviours and how normalised it was.”

“Suspension is accountability and accountability deters others from doing the same. I’m thankful this principal took this seriously (we know so many don’t) and I hope this becomes protocol for any acts like this.”

She had a message for the female students impacted by what she called the “abhorrent list”.

“Too many of us have been ranked and the effects of objectification and misogyny in teen years are lasting,” she said.

“The ironic thing is that there would probably be less accountably for actual acts of assault because the burden of proof is so high that usually absolutely nothing happens.”

Contos urged her “male friends” to read her 2023 book, Consent Laid Bare — in order for them to familiarise themselves with “how our society normalises misogyny and what you can do to help change it.” 

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said the school was appropriately managing the incident. “It is disgusting and appalling, he told Channel Nine. “I’m glad the students have been suspended.”

“I also understand the female students are receiving counselling from the school. That’s what I would expect the school to do.”

This latest incident is among a growing number of allegations against private boys schools and their harmful, sexist behaviour. 

In March, Louise Milligan’s Four Corners investigation for the ABC revealed a culture of sexism and sexual harassment suffered by some female teachers at Sydney’s Cranbrook School for boys. 

In May, 2022, students at St Kevin’s College in Melbourne were found to have sexually ranked the female teachers on staff and assessed the attractiveness of female students. 

The Herald Sun spoke to a teacher who said she didn’t feel safe walking across the schoolyard.  “There is a great deal of disrespect for female teachers,” she said.

“The list we confiscated had a name, attribution number and rank for staff members’ pussies. The school is not making sure the boys are going out into the world with respect for women and the diverse world we live in.”

In 2021, the Herald revealed that boys at Sydney’s St Luke’s Grammar School sat through a Christian studies class where they were asked to rank the most important qualities they desire in a female partner. 

Each quality was allocated a number — where the highest point qualities included virginity, strong Christian values, good looking/attractive and loyalty. One male student reportedly described the classroom exercise as “build a bitch.”

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