May Madness, ‘Hot Girl’ Contest Re-Surfaces at Mount Si High School; Student Group Pushes Back in Protest

[If you wish to get in touch with Ms. Wilson regarding support for her Gender Equality group, ordering a t-shirt or donating, please email info@livingsnoqualmie.com.  There was also a follow up story to this article published 5/9/14, with information about the group’s new website, new t-shirts and the local TV stories in which they were featured.  The story can be found HERE.]

Can one girl’s passion stop a yearly, anonymous tradition at Mount Si High School?  Only time will tell, but one t-shirt at a time, one student is striving to start a movement and create awareness.

May Madness seems to be a Mount Si High School tradition about five years running – whether you agree with it or not. It’s a ‘beauty’ contest set up in brackets like college basketball’s famed “March Madness.”

It matches girls in a one on one in a contest of looks. Contestants are picked by boys. Voted on by boys. The girls neither opt in nor opt out. They are essentially unconsenting participants – sometimes even matched against a good friend.

This year’s contest launched last week – first with a website and then later moving to a private, anonymous Twitter account. Currently @MayMtSi has over 100 followers who vote on the looks of Mount Si female students. The match up votes are tallied, with one girl moving on to the next round until a winner is crowned.

Last year, Issaquah High School’s May Madness ‘Hot Girl’ contest made national headlines while Mount Si made the local news with its contest version. And it’s back again this year.  Only this time, some students aren’t accepting it with the same old  “boys will be boys” adage. They’re speaking out. Subtly. Quietly. With the t-shirts on their backs.

New Group Pushes Back Against Contest

The difference between this year’s May Madness and the ones of the past is a newly formed, student led ‘Gender Equality’ group, which decided to speak out against May Madness; hoping with its more subtle stance t-shirts, other students would join against objectifying the female student body.

The ‘Gender Equality’ group launched in March. It was founded by Mount Si junior, Elle Wilson, who says even as a little girl she felt there was a flaw in society – a flaw that might lead a girl to feel like she can’t do or be something just because she’s female.

Wilson said for about two years she’d had the idea of forming the equality group, but the final push to launch it happened in history class recently.

Her class was watching a documentary on the Underground Railroad, which showed a photo of two sisters who had played a prominent role in the anti-slavery movement. Wilson said as the picture came across the screen there was crude snickering from classmates, with one boy making an offensive comment how ugly the women were.

Wilson said the fact that the contribution of these women who fought for the civil rights of others could be somehow “cheapened” by their appearance shocked and upset her. She added, “I mean if they could do all that they did and still not be taken seriously, then what chance do I have to influence the world?”

So a new student group was born. Wilson said they have 37 members so far, even with limited publicity, and boys make up about half of the membership.

Yesterday, May 6, 2014, the group organized a positive protest to the May Madness contest.  They made t-shirts and wore them to school. One side of the shirt has a graphic of a tournament bracket and the other side proclaims, “Be Above the Madness.”

They distributed about 50-60 t-shirts at Mount Si – actually running out because so many students asked to wear them. Wilson said the shirts also provoked questions, with many students asking how they can get involved.

When asked what message she hopes to send to the boys who started the contest, Wilson said she wants them to know while what they are doing is harmful, she doesn’t blame them.  She says she knows society has taught them that May Madness is somehow okay, citing similar contests broadcast around the country like KJR Sports Radio – The Bigger Dance.

Wilson may not place blame, but stands firm that the boys’ actions aren’t justified and says she’s tired of hearing the contest written off as “boys will be boys.”

The 17-year old added, “I know for a fact that sexual harassment of this nature leads to low self-worth,” explaining how she’s had friends deal with eating disorders and self harm issues – and that contests like this don’t make things easier for some girls.

Wilson herself was included in the May Madness contest for the past two years, saying one of the worst parts is when friends are placed in a bracket against a close friend.

Earlier this week Wilson said she was placed head to head against one of her closest friends.  She said no matter “how above it” girls are, it still adds baggage to friendships. The two friends both wore the protest t-shirts to school in solidarity.

Wilson says she knows there’s only so much the school administration can do to stop May Madness, but still feels more still needs to be done. She said, “School should be a place where all students feel safe; the harassment that is May Madness takes away any feeling of security.”  

According to Wilson, it also disrupts the learning environment. The contest is not sanctioned by the school, but voting does occur on social media during the school day. Students confirm two shocked science teachers spent class time Tuesday discussing the contest after upset students revealed May Madness to them.

For Wilson, it boils down to school being a place for students to develop ideas and grow intellectually, not to be taught they are defined by how attractive they are to the opposite sex. She says May Madness is not just an issue of respect and hurt feelings. She feels it goes beyond that, saying objectification is often times the first step toward justifying violence against someone.

Wilson say contests like these plant seeds with young kids – that boys are allowed to judge girls in this way and girls need to adhere to boys expectations to be valid. She sees May Madness reflecting “a deeply engrained flaw in society.”

So she started a club promoting equality between the sexes. The club made some t-shirts. Students wore them to school. More students asked questions and wanted to wear the shirts.

Will it stop May Madness? Elle Wilson isn’t sure, but her plight may help more students realize what’s wrong with May Madness at the core.

Sometimes big changes start with awareness and a small shift in mindset. Sometimes big changes begin with the passionate voice of a young woman.

Maybe that voice belongs to Elle Wilson.