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NIBLEY, Cache County — A Cache County teen sparked outrage and received online backlash Tuesday after disagreeing with a slogan on a homecoming poster at her school.
Nibley resident Alina Brown, 15, said she saw the poster at Mountain Crest High School Monday and was bothered by its message. The poster was made by students for the upcoming homecoming football game and had jeering messages against the other team with slogans like, "True Mustang or bust" and "You play ball like a girl."
Brown took a photo of the poster and took to Instagram to voice her concerns about the degrading message it was sending to women.
"The point of the post was to just raise awareness to this issue that that phrase is just one example of the common misconceptions that people in our society, and obviously in my school, have about women," Brown said. "This shouldn't be used as a degrading, humiliating insult to women and men."
Within hours of posting her comment and a photo of the poster, Brown received more than 700 comments from fellow students and friends. Some of the comments explained that the poster was quoting the 1993 film, "The Sandlot" and was meant as a joke, but many comments included negative vulgar language against Brown and statements telling her to go to another high school. One comment on the thread included a death threat against another student and their family.
Brown's mother, Karina Brown, said she was shocked by the level of hostility.
The point of the post was to just raise awareness to this issue that that phrase is just one example of the common misconceptions that people in our society, and obviously in my school, have about women. This shouldn't be used as a degrading, humiliating insult to women and men.
–Alina Brown
"Not only does it bring to light the issue of cutting other people down, like sexism, but it also brings up the issue of cyberbullying," Karina Brown said. "I was getting really concerned for her safety. I was educating her about if someone tries to attack you at school, like if there is a group of people that try to physically assault you, what would you do? I mean, I shouldn't have to be thinking about this in 21st Century America at a high school."
Brown said she talked to the administration about the poster and the online post, and they recommended that she take down her post to stop the disruption it was causing during classes. They said she could repost it later that evening with clarification if she felt inclined. The poster was also removed from the school hallway Tuesday.
"I also talked to a member of the administration and she agreed with me that this shouldn't be a normal thing to say," Brown said. "So yeah, they kind of supported me that way."
Cache County School District Human Resources Director Kirk McCrae said the posters were put up by students as an ill-advised joke to rally for homecoming week. McCrae said the school takes the safety of its students very seriously and the posters were removed immediately after the disruption.
Brown reposted the photo of the poster Tuesday evening with a caption clarifying her stance on how the phrase "play like a girl" shouldn't be used as an insult.
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"Feminism is not a joke," she said in her updated Instagram post. "The poster is just one example of the many common misconceptions pertaining to sexism. This is about more than one statement. It's about men being told that they can't be sensitive, women being told that they can't be tough, and every other unfair statement and banned opportunity in between."
Karina Brown added that people would never use the comparison of a person with special needs playing sports as an insult and that we shouldn't use gender as an insult either.
"Because we have gotten past that. But we still are holding onto, 'You play ball like a girl' meant as an insult," she said.
The second post quickly reached more than 1,300 comments, many of which were even more hostile than before, Brown said. She again removed the post from Instagram to avoid further backlash.
Tuesday's backlash comes after a recent 2014 campaign sponsored by Always that pushed to remove the negative connotation with the phrase, "Like a girl." The hashtag and video went viral.
"When the words 'like a girl' are used to mean something bad, it is profoundly disempowering," Lauren Greenfield, the filmmaker behind the campaign, told Bustle. "I am proud to partner with Always to shed light on how this simple phrase can have a significant and long-lasting impact on girls and women. I am excited to be a part of the movement to redefine 'like a girl' into a positive affirmation."
Contributing: Mike Anderson
