Volume 82, Issue 5 Web Edition
clarion.brevard.edu
SERVING BREVARD COLLEGE SINCE 1935
Look for ‘The
Magnificent Seven'
review on page 8!
September 28, 2016
Students protest shirt regulations
By Jessica Wiegandt
Arts & Life Editor
Evenings at BC are not typically known for
being extremely eventful, but when sophomore
Malynne Petoia and freshman Olympia Poplin
went topless outside of the Caf during dinner
one evening, the student population was im
mediately notified via social media.
“It was crazy,” Petoia said, “Everyone had
their phones, using Snapchat and acting like this
was some sort of disgusting sight. There were
people lined up on the Caf windows, Snapchat
ting, and that kind of got me mad.”
Petoia said she and a few friends were standing
by the smoking station near Beam on Tuesday,
Sept. 13, when she decided to lower her dress
and stand outside topless. “I’ve been on this
thing where I’ve really strongly believe girls
shouldn’t have to cover themselves up,” Petoia
said, “And it’s not even the boob. It’s the nipple.
Girls can wear shirts that are really low cut,
sexualizing the boob, but can’t show the nipple.”
According to Petoia, she was standing with her
friends and felt really hot, so she pulled down the
top of her strapless dress, revealing her breasts.
“But I didn’t make a big deal out of it,” Petoia
said, “I didn’t shout T’m taking my shirt off!’ I
literally just slipped it down and then Olympia
did it too and there was so much attention given
all of a sudden that 1 got mad.”
Petoia then began shouting at passersby to
take their shirts off, saying it didn’t matter what
gender they were because it’s the same thing.
“Then one football coach came by and asked me
to pull my dress back up because I was ‘making
him uncomfortable’,” Petoia said. “That made
me get up in his face a little bit because why am
I making someone uncomfortable? Is it because
I have girl nipples?”
Poplin joined Petoia at this point and said
she followed suit to support her endeavor.
Poplin said her participation wasn’t as noticed
as Petoia’s as she wasn’t filmed by students or
given as much attention. “People overreacted,”
Poplin said. “She wasn’t trying to be sexual-
ized but that’s the way some people took it. It’s
frustrating. If guys can take off their shirts, why
can’t girls?”
Campus Security reported to the scene not
long after the interaction with the coach and
asked Petoia to pull her dress back up. She then
began to ask what they would do, knowing they
couldn’t physically touch or restrain her. “I got
mad and fiery and I was flicking them off but at
that point I was already leaving, so I just got in
the car and we drove away,” Petoia said.
Several days later, Petoia had a meeting with
Dean of Students Debora D’Anna, discussing
her and Poplin’s conduct on school property.
The report D’Anna had received, according
to Petoia, said she had been running around
campus topless. “The most motion I remember
doing was when I turned and did a little dance
but I wasn’t running around campus,” Petoia
said. “I wasn’t trying to sexualize my boobs, it
was actually the complete opposite. I was trying
to show everyone that it’s the same as if a guy
took off his shirt, like, it should be the same.”
Petoia’s spark for her social statement began
last year when she was a freshman at BC. “Hon
estly it’s because I was lazy and I had stopped
shaving. This one guy in my art class started
saying stuff like ‘Hey, Malynne, shave your
armpits.’ and stuff like that and over the summer
my family started telling me to shave,” Petoia
said, “It kind of got me mad. Just because I’m
female, doesn’t make me different.”
One day, Petoia said she was outside tanning
with her friends and all her male friends were
shirtless and she wanted to be as well. To her, it
wasn’t an ordeal for a female to be topless, but
she knew social standards weren’t in line with
her beliefs.
This led to Petoia’s controversial picture that
was posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
over the summer. Within 20 minutes, the picture
was removed from all platforms except Twitter,
due to “sexual content.” In the picture, Petoia
was shown topless with both of her breasts
showing. “Yeah there’s a picture of me and my
tits on social media, it went up and it was deemed
‘too sexual’ for Facebook and Instagram,” Petoia
said. “That wasn’t the point of the picture. It
wasn’t supposed to be a ‘sexy’ photo, it was
meant to be a statement to empower women.”
She received negative feedback online from
former peers in high school, some saying they
were tired of seeing such a “nasty” picture on
their feed. “There was one girl that put up the
picture of the Little Caesars dude because I
look like him or something, saying ‘no sexism
needed’ as her caption,” Petoia said. “You’re a
girl! I’m fi=****g standing for you.”
Several people on campus have told Petoia
they wouldn’t personally do the same thing
she did, either online or on campus. Petoia said
it doesn’t matter what an individual would do
personally, she chose to make her statement in
the way she did and she doesn’t regret it.
D’Anna met with both students to talk about
the situation on campus, later passing the judicial
decision for reprimand on to Director of Resi
dence Life Michael Cohen. None of the personal
student information quoted was released by
D’Anna or Cohen, simply the description of
the situation.
“A student with strong convictions around
women’s rights decided she wanted to voice
her opinion by exposing her breasts,” D’Anna
said. While this was done out of protest, the act
See 'Students protest' page 4
New residence
hall officially
has a name:
Stanback
Hall
A ribbon-cutting ceremony took piace Tuesday as the new residence haii
was named Stanback Haii, in honor of iongtime Brevard Coilege trustee
and financiai supporters Wiiiiam C. Stanback and his wife, Nancy.