The attire for this social entailed white vests and cans of Stella Artois, a stereotype of men who engage in domestic abuse. The Cardiff Tab received videos from an anonymous source that show members of the society were engaging in binge drinking activities, including chugging beers and using funnels, all while holding cans of Stella. Undeniably, this theme projects a narrative of domestic violence being trivialized and treated as a subject for amusement and light-hearted fun.
The attire for this social entailed white vests and cans of Stella Artois, a stereotype of men who engage in domestic abuse
Of course, this isn’t the first time, nor the worst, example of university rugby culture inciting hateful values. Initiations for freshers (first years) are often brutal and embarrassing.
In 2021 Edinburgh University’s rugby team faced backlash for encouraging the rubbing of hot sauce on genitals and Durham University’s rugby club urinated on their freshers in the same year. In certain cases, savage initiations have led to tragedy. The University of Gloucestershire rugby club was the host of the death of Sam Potter in 2019. This incident followed on from four hours of extreme binge drinking resulting in Potter falling asleep and dying from alcohol toxicity.
In their response, the club states that the theme for the night was in fact ‘dead beat dads’ despite the overt references to ‘wife beater’ stereotypes. However, according to The Cardiff Tab's source, the theme was indeed originally ‘dead beat dads’ but later explicitly changed to ‘wife beaters’, presumably as they believed it to be funnier, which prompted someone to report the event.
The club has since apologised for the controversial theme and received a ban from the sports night event that the University’s Students Union hosts at the club Y Plas.
