"Kiss Me, I'm Wasted"

When I was a kid I loved St. Patrick's Day. My mother would leave trails of money around the house and pretend the Leprechaun had come to visit us. As I got older, and realized this was a actually a strange tradition, I wondered why we had this holiday. Then, I went to Penn State, and I understood.

St. Patrick's Day is an excuse for people to get drunk. In State College, students line up outside of bars at 6am. They show up to class with coffee cups full of "Irish Coffee." Whether it is the over promotion of bars on College Avenue, or the chance to eat green eggs and ham and wash it down with a pint of green beer, I don't know; but I do know that, on the whole, Penn State students LOVE St. Patrick's Day.

So, in 2007, when St. Patty's Day fell during Spring Break, everyone was devastated. Then, someone simply invented another day, dubbing it State Patty's Day and solving everyone's problems. It's continued every year since because...well... it's another excuse for students to get wasted, and the only thing better than one St. Patty's Day is TWO.

Only problem is that State Patty's Day comes with alcohol related conduct violations. A lot of them. So many, in fact, that last year the event's founder publicly denounced the holiday he created. In 2009, “police saw students vomiting or urinating on sidewalks in broad daylight. Drunken driving arrests were up, and more than 20 people needed emergency medical services.” In 2010, local police received 365 calls, EMS received 53 calls (the majority of both were related to alcohol), and 160 people were arrested.

Despite occasional bars agreeing not to participate in the event, State Patty's Day is scheduled to go on. This year, it seems they've indirectly adopted the theme "Kiss Me, I'm Wasted," as a Facebook event, created by Penn State student, Rachel Yamin, and Bloomsburg University student, Bertt Kazatsky, advertising State Patty’s Day T-shirts with this slogan, is gaining popularity. Kazatsky apparently designed the shirts, playing on the common saying "Kiss Me, I'm Irish," and seeing as he is not a PSU student, reached out to his friend, Yamin, to help sell the shirts to her classmates. Over 2,000 shirts had already been sold by the time the Collegian spoke up.

I was happy to see Penn State's Daily Collegian take a formal stand against the shirts in their recent editorial. Only problem is that this article comes after another article that drew attention to the t-shirts; meaning that the Collegian, in a way, has actually helped to advertise for the shirts by giving information about where the t-shirts are being sold, what dates and providing a picture of the shirts. I am glad to see a response to this article raising concern for the message of the shirts, but I know that realistically, the Collegian has probably helped to raise T-shirt sales rather than stop them.

After talking to some fellow alumni and reading through comments in response to the articles, I am concerned with the number of people who find them funny and lighthearted. It seems that some people seem to think that the problem is that if girls wear the shirts, other people will take it as an invitation to make out with them.

As a former student at Penn State, I am not afraid of the t-shirts leading to an outbreak of unwanted kissing (although, trust me, there will be at least one person who tries to take advantage of these shirts--some drunk that will make a move on a girl just because of her shirt--I have seen stuff like this happen.)

The main problem is it that these shirts are another example of support of rape culture. The message, "Kiss Me, I'm Wasted," normalizing the idea of sexual acts paired with excessive drinking. I am against the message on the shirts because the more we see messages like this, the more normal it becomes, and I know first hand that there is a problem at Penn State--like many other universities-- of sexual assault after, and facilitated by, excessive drinking.

I am not knocking Penn State students. I was one of them myself. And I know that not every student at Penn State is peeing in the streets during the middle of the day, or falling down the stairs as they walk through their class in the auditorium. I was one of the students watching all this happen, which means that I can accurately report that 1) not everyone partakes in the ridiculousness and 2) extreme things like this really happen. (And 3) most people fall somewhere in between these two extremes--is it possible to have fun without acting like a fool.)

I also know that not every male at Penn State is looking to take advantage of females....but I do know, first hand, that this happens. I know, first hand, that there are boys at Penn State (and outside of Penn State) that get girls drunk so that they can hook up with them. I know, first hand, that sexual assault is a problem on Penn State's Campus and throughout State College. I know that, in some circles, getting a girl wasted so that you can have sex with her is not only accepted, it is a tactic. So as "funny and lighthearted" as the t-shirt may seem just goes to show how imbedded rape culture is in our society, and as an alumni of Penn State, you can rest assured that I will not be purchasing or supporting these t-shirts.