The Board of Directors would like to provide some clarification as to why the “Performative Male” contest post was taken down. On Thursday, Sept. 18, The Observer posted an “In Photos” collection on Instagram from our “Performative Male” contest which occurred this past Wednesday. Two of the contestants featured in the post were wearing keffiyehs, a cultural garment often used to show support for Palestine. We want to make it clear that the post was not taken down because the contestants were wearing keffiyehs, nor do we believe that wearing a keffiyeh is inherently “performative” in any way. At The Observer, we fully support the publication of politically-charged statements, including Pro-Palestine sentiments, in order to accurately reflect the feelings of those in our campus community. Overall, we hope to act as a forum for Case Western Reserve University and promote productive discourse.
The reason the post was taken down, though, was because of the manner in which some of the comments raised issues with the contestants wearing keffiyehs, specifically at a “Performative Male” contest. At the time of the competition, we had no reason to believe the contestants intended to imply that supporting Palestine is “performative,” however it is clear that, given the information present in the post alone, many people who viewed it did not conclude the same. Although it likely was not their intent, many of the comments were received in an inflammatory, rather than constructive, manner.
We also want to clarify that the contest was judged primarily based on answers to short and long form questions, rather than appearance. The contest itself was intended to be a lighthearted recreation of the recent social media trend on many college campuses, not as commentary on an extremely serious geo-political issue. During the contest itself, none of the contestants mentioned the crisis in the Middle East, nor acted out any verbal form of activism as part of a character. At CWRU, many students wear keffiyehs on campus, and it was an oversight for the Board of Directors not to recognize how the post could have been received. We now understand that, on a public platform and in a post about an event at which many viewers were not present, the content could be perceived as implying that pro-Palestinian activism is performative. For this egregious oversight we are incredibly sorry, and we accept responsibility for our actions and their negative implications.
The Observer values the opinions of all CWRU community members immensely. Given the discerned tone of the commentary surrounding the post, the Board of Directors made the collective decision to remove the post in order to protect the wellbeing of the individuals included, as well as to ensure that The Observer was not seen as trivializing political activism. That was never, and will never be, our intention, and we again apologize for the Board of Director’s failure to consider the alternative ways the photos could have been interpreted. For these reasons, it felt irresponsible to keep the post up without clarity being provided on The Observer’s part.
These comments raised important questions about when and why a keffiyeh should be worn, and we certainly understand any frustration that our framing of the event may have caused. We take full responsibility for the way our post was received and aim to do better going forward. We would love to hear your genuine thoughts and seek your guidance on how our newspaper can improve as a forum for the CWRU community. Our goal is to make this a platform for everyone to engage in constructive discourse and find productive solutions to the very complicated issues surrounding us. We would like The Observer to be a place where everyone feels safe to speak their mind and share their thoughts and opinions. Please continue to engage with us about how we can handle sensitive topics going forward.
The Observer’s Board of Directors