London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 10, 2025

Party invite? Check; Costume? Check; Formal approval from offense police?! Oxford Student Union cracks down on theme parties

Party invite? Check; Costume? Check; Formal approval from offense police?! Oxford Student Union cracks down on theme parties

Oxford University’s Student Union is cracking down on that scourge of college campuses…themed parties. “Culturally appropriative” and “highly gendered” themes are out - and when in doubt, run your costume by the censors.
Insisting it “does not seek to repress student self-expression through the clothing they choose to wear,” the Union has nevertheless laid out some rules to ensure everyone will “feel able to have a good time” (wait, is that an able-ist slur?) while policing the garb of their fellow guests.

“Highly sexualized themes can have distressing impacts on marginalized communities,” the “Inclusive Practice for Events” page declares. Any gendered theme at all - the archetypal “vicars and tarts,” for example - “may be problematic” for “anyone who does not identify with traditional binary gender roles.” Such themes, the rules warn, will “stereotype men and women in a highly objectified and/or sexualized role” - which one might argue may be the point of such costumes, but not at Oxford. The new policy was highlighted by the Sun on Saturday, though it’s not clear when it was adopted.

The Student Union proceeds to tie itself in knots with its “drag” policy, observing that while of course it’s fine for students to dress in drag in a way that “demonstrates admiration for individuals,” doing so “for the purposes of ridicule or to make light of the experiences of people of that gender” is a no-no. It’s not clear how this is to be judged - perhaps a ‘drag officer’ is to be stationed at the door to evaluate the level of respect in incoming female-impersonators’ garb - nor do the rules explain whether the group throwing the party can submit such an expense for reimbursement by the Union.

“Culturally appropriative themes” like “cowboys and indians” or “Arabian nights” are, unsurprisingly, right out, as they can cause non-white and international students to feel “excluded, mocked, or distressed.” Explicitly banning cultural appropriation sounds almost quaint in a hyper-woke age where even Spongebob Squarepants carries colonial guilt, but apparently it’s still enough of a problem to warrant administrative intervention.

When in doubt, students are instructed to place a note on the door outside the party venue informing their guests that “Students should be able to express themselves through their clothing in a manner of their choosing without judgement. However, dress that is offensive and upsetting to fellow students and others should be avoided,” with instructions to contact a student leader with questions. Nothing says “party” like asking permission from the authorities!

Of course, merely banning themed parties is no guarantee that someone won’t don an offensive costume anyway. In 2017, a student dressed as notorious film producer and alleged rapist Harvey Weinstein for a “horror movie classics”-themed party at Lady Margaret Hall was asked to leave and accused of “trivializ[ing] the lived experience of survivors” of sexual assault, eliciting a formally disapproving statement from the college’s Equalities Committee. And in 2018, a student costumed as paralyzed physicist Stephen Hawking, wheelchair and all, for a “dress as your degree” party was hauled before the school’s dean and asked to “reflect on why his behavior would be seen by many as offensive.”

Oxford’s Student Union is somewhat notorious for its painfully woke gestures, whether it’s banning clapping or trying to mandate the use of gender-neutral pronouns. It infamously banned a student-run "free speech magazine" called "No Offense" in 2015, insisting it had the right to remove any material that "could cause offense" from campus.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
×