It’s easy to dismiss “Mystake” as a fun comedic tradition, but the truth of the matter is it promotes the mockery of people who already find it difficult to present themselves in a feminine manner.

The homoerotic dance moves and oversexualization of senior men de-legitimizes feminine presenting people.

By having a majority of straight presenting people perform homoerotic dance moves as a joke not only hurts an already oppressed group, but also eats away at MHS’ validity as it directly violates two of Rockwood’s Core Value statements: “Promote and model ethical values and good character as the foundation of performance” and “Build a safe and caring school community.”

It’s evident that the play on words “Mystake” advocates that men and other people who dress and act homo-expressive are a “mistake.”

Understandably, the building wanted to parody Mystique’s name, but to address the group as “Mystake” only further’s the building’s lack of respect for feminine men. Although the group of feminine acting men at MHS is small, it doesn’t give members of Mystake the right to belittle and make fun of our culture.

It should also be noted that the people who decide to participate in “Mystake” are allowed to wear crop tops in parody, but female students are not permitted to in the most casual of situations. Men in feminine clothing are viewed as so much of a joke that they allow them to bypass already sexist dress codes.

The same people who will dismiss me and this article for being “SJW” or “too sensitive” are the same people who don’t have to deal with day-to-day ostracization because of self expression.

I guarantee that if all the gay feminine presenting people participated in “Mystake,” that the straight people who act in would not feel as comfortable.

Now imagine feeling that uncomfort on a daily basis through the halls of Marquette. That is what we as feminine presenting people face everyday and “Mystake” is a slap in the face from an establishment that claims to support us.

I am not saying that we must completely get rid of “Mystake,” but there must be major changes made so that next year’s senior men don’t continue this cycle of delegitimization.