To the editor:

I am a recent college graduate and a Lawrence native who was disappointed to open the Lawrence Journal-World on June 7 to find an advertisement for the “Girls of KU” calendar-signing event that was being held in conjunction with a high school fund-raiser.

Displaying scantily clad female students in association with Kansas University as a subject of a calendar trivializes women’s higher education. It objectifies women’s bodies while promoting to the KU/Lawrence community the idea that the academic institution places more value on female students’ bodies than the students’ intellectual achievements.

This calendar sends the message that KU gives recognition and praise to the female students who strip for the public. At the same time, a calendar like this makes it very difficult for other KU women (and all women) to be taken seriously in the academic and professional fields.

Even more disappointing was that the calendar signing was advertised in conjunction with a high school fund-raiser. While the high school students did not participate in the KU calendar signing, the events were advertised together and held on the same location simultaneously. It is unsettling to think that this negative imagery that commodifies women’s bodies is filtering down to secondary schools, perpetuating the backward idea that the most valuable contribution women have to offer in society is their sexuality.

As a reputable university, KU should be more cautious as to where it lends its name and what kind of messages it promotes.

Helen White,

Lawrence