C ountry Night at East End had long been a Tuesday night staple for undergraduates because of its 18-and-up policy at the door. Now, citing “space concerns” following East End’s closure, Deep End’s management has decided to charge higher covers for men between the ages of 18 and 20 than for women of the same age.
This is crude, but Deep End is not alone in this type of demographic engineering. All over town, cover charges and other restrictions on men’s entry commodify women’s presence at social events and effectively make them advertisements for the event in question. Several state courts have ruled against these promotions, and they should be prohibited here as well.
Bars, of course, believe they have a business incentive to bring women through their doors. But if a bar is operating at maximum capacity, as Deep End implied it might be with its claim of space concerns, the intent is clearly not to bring in more business but business of a certain type.
Rob Davis, general manager of Deep End, said restricting men between the ages of 18-20 had cut down on episodes of violence and vandalism in the bar. He also mentioned the possibility of “Men’s Nights” at the bar in coming weeks.
Intentionally or not, though, such policies create a competitive advantage in the dating arena for the older college-aged men whose presence is not discouraged.
Proponents of these incentives often attempt to make the point that women, rather than being victims, are privileged above men by being allowed to attend social events more freely. More troubling still, they might say, is our implication that women’s participation in these events makes them willing partners in their objectification.
But privileges handed down to women by men meant to reinforce conditions already favorable to men are still part of an oppressive structure.
And to argue that a system is oppressive does not necessarily imply that the subjects of that system are passive victims in the face of it. Using women as part of a bar’s business model has the effect of celebrating men’s sexuality while instrumentalizing women’s as part of that celebration.
Stakeholders interested in extending the reach of UNC’s campaign against sexual assault should take their concerns to the Town Council. When choosing where to spend their night out, students can make themselves heard by spending money at institutions committed to equity. Or, following the lead of the student DJs featured in yesterday’s front page story, they could directly approach business owners.
