By Brittany Steadman
The Student Honor Association kicked off a new campaign emphasizing the baring of midriffs, low necklines and backs with a series of posters that some find offensive.
The Student Honor Association put up posters with the name “Goldifox and the Three Bares” in buildings around campus and in the dorms at BYU to remind students of the dress and grooming standard incorporated into the Honor Code.
“The campaign is a fun and encouraging way for students to catch the spirit of the Honor Code,” said Joe Miller, 21, a sophomore from Chicago majoring in English.
Miller, an employee of the Student Honor Association, thinks the Honor Code makes BYU a unique school and wants students to remember what they signed their names to.
“We want to illustrate gospel principles in modesty with this campaign,” Miller said.
The Student Honor Association realizes that the posters may cause some controversy.
“With anything that anyone does there are always people who disagree or who get offended,” Miller said. “Our goal is to lift and build, not point fingers at people.”
Emily Johnson, 21 a junior from Minnesota majoring in French thinks the campaign is very inappropriate.
Johnson is the co-president of VOICE, a club to promote equality on campus and said the campaign sends the message that women are only valued for the way they look.
Women should be able to set their own standards, Johnson said. “It”s silly to set any kind of standard for the way a woman should dress.”
Johnson also thinks labeling the poster “goldifox” is offensive.
“It”s completely ridiculous to use terminology that says you”ll be foxy and attractive if you look a certain way or dress a certain way,” Johnson said.
Brian Chudleigh, President of the Student Honor Association, said they wanted a campaign that would be creative and capture people”s attention.
“We just want to show that it is possible to be modest and good-looking at the same time,” Chudleigh said.
Johnson also thinks the campaign should be targeted at men as well as women.
“The campaign is dictating to women that their ultimate value is the way they look – modest or not, while men are valued for how they think,” Johnson said.
The Student Honor Association said they have many campaigns that are directed towards men.
“Women were the target audience for this campaign,” Chudleigh said. “We also have campaigns that focus on haircuts and shaving that are exclusively for men.”
Jennifer Nations, 20, a junior from Bakersfield, Calif., majoring in communication studies, thinks the campaign should focus more on honor rather than on portraying how women can be foxy.
“It doesn”t seem like they are accomplishing their mission to promote honor by having a poster like that,” Nations said.
On the other hand, there are people on campus who think the campaign is needed.
Katie Parris, 20, a sophomore from Tennessee majoring in pre-elementary education, thinks the campaign is a good idea.
“I think it is provocative when inappropriate skin is showing and I notice it,” she said.
Parris thinks the Honor Code is important and should be followed by everyone.
“The posters shouldn”t offend people because it is part of the Honor Code and people should be living it anyway,” Parris said.
Steve Baker, director of the Honor Code office, said that although the Honor Code office is not affiliated with the Student Honor Association, he thinks the group can spread a good word about the honor code.
“The whole idea of the association is to educate and bring awareness to what the Honor Code is all about,” Baker said.
The Student Honor Association has other posters dealing with slits in women”s clothing.
The jingles on the posters are “if you can see your thigh the slit is too high” and “wear your honor to your knees,” Miller said.
