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.

A large portion of the senior, male population performed in one of MHS’ favored Homecoming traditions, yet, a few audience members viewed “Mystake” as a demeaning act.

In recent years, a sweeping far left agenda has dictated our halloween costumes, the extent of free speech, and unfortunately now, MHS’ homecoming festivities.

To view “Mystake” as “de-legitimizing” to any group of people is an unquestionable case of victim mentality: the viewing of oneself as subject to the actions of others.

The dance was obviously feminine in nature; however, to find it offensive to MHS’ LGBTQ population is a deep analysis of a rather rudimentary act.

The same goes with the conclusion that the name “Mystake” somehow means it is a mistake to be a gay male at MHS rather than a mistake for non dancers to partake in a dance. It is a large leap to assume that “Mystake” performers, the Mystique girls, or faculty involved in the performance were part of a deeply offensive act.

Furthermore, the dress code is not “sexist.” It simply accounts for the anatomical differences in a male and female body. The reason why women are not allowed to wear crop tops, yet men are, should be obvious. In fact, the disdain for crop tops ignores the clothing restrictions put on Mystake performers, we were told not to wear short shorts without pants underneath, while women are allowed to daily. These restrictions on both males and females exist simply to respect the obvious distinctions between the two sexes.

When blatantly innocent traditions are interpreted as demeaning acts, people are inclined to dismiss these opinions as “Social Justice Warrior.” This constant PC culture, one that clouds the minds of many, is the reason why people are dismissing leftist issues that are otherwise important and essential to discuss. A much too aggressive liberal agenda is the reason why 85 percent  of Americans believe in equality between the sexes, yet only 18 percent identify as feminists (2015 Vox poll). The wave of political correctness from the left is ultimately what is demeaning leftist issues, some of which are actually non-partisan.

Some things are meant to be a joke. Not everything has to be politically correct, especially school traditions.