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My only major qualm with the fake DKE pride party poster was the failure to include “D*kes for DKE” in the tagline. Otherwise, I think it was totally radical—a crucial piece of activism in the crusade against organized hypermasculinity.

Last weekend, a poster advertising a DKE Pride Party was circulated across campus. It read: “Friday, Oct. 6th, DKE PRIDE PARTY, Sounds by DJ Joyful, Loud and Proud, 20C/14 Fountain Ave, Requirements: Great Vibes.” A rainbow trickled from behind the DKE seal, which depicts a lion roaring on its hind legs. 

As someone who has helped organize events for the Resource Center such as binding workshops for trans students, voguing classes, and queer interfaith discussions, I was impressed with the Canva-savvy poster. 

For a second, I believed it. I was already picking out an appropriate outfit (gay but not like yass queen gay) and imagining all the meet-cutes I would have, how I would look up to those stocky steroid men and ask which football players they fantasize about in their internet leagues.

I even started making cue cards for conversion starters like: “Oh my god have you seen Jimmy Butler’s new look, it’s so Demi Lovato.”

I’m a senior and yeah, I was rejected from Eclectic, so maybe DKE would finally satiate my yearning for an inclusive, queer, and holistic community on campus. Who knows? Maybe I would finally find community. Community is so important.

I told myself, “Just be yourself, they’re going to love you! And if they don’t, that’s their loss!”

I was ready to shoot my shot. 

Then my friend told me, “Wait, you know it’s fake, right?”

My dreams were shattered. It was as if, for a brief moment, all conception of language, humanity, and creation withered and seeped from my pores into a puddle beneath me. 

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.” 

Who cares about a little flyer? To be honest, I enjoyed the spoof. Who doesn’t like a scam or a prank? 

But I question who the advert’s intended audience was. Was its satire meant to be obvious, in order to disparage DKE and expose their toxic culture? 

Who even knows if they’re homophobic? Since I avoid large groups of men, I don’t know, but there is a world where DKE is just the Teletubbies. 

Furthermore, if by chance, some naïve first-year did show up at the DKE house on Friday, they could have wound up in a troubling situation. 

“Oh hey, what’s this femboy doing here?”

“Um, hi, is this the DKE pride party?” 

And then the boys would laugh and laugh and the gay boy would cry and have to transfer to Smith College. 

It was as if the author of the flyer discovered that masculinity wasn’t just twinks in skirts pillow-fighting at the sleepover and decided to dip their toe into social commentary. 

We don’t need Candace Owens or Milo Yiannopoulos to come talk at Wesleyan to realize that they’re nutcases. And we don’t need a flyer to realize that DKE is historically a yucky cult of men (or Teletubbies).

Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to speak out. As Audre Lorde writes, “Your silence will not protect you.” 

However, institutional context is important. I’m not sure this was needed and I don’t revere the execution. 

It’s cheugy and personally, I cringe when political statements only serve to embolden and inflate the ego of those who make them. Like, do something useful. Learn to sew and stop yelling at your mother.