Conversations, dispatches and ideas from the Bush Theatre.
In 2014, the US Department of Justice uncovered ‘substantial evidence’ that sexism in a Montana county attorney’s office led to prosecutors dropping not only rape cases but also humiliating victims in the process. When a mother had asked a county attorney why the adolescent boy who had assaulted her five year-old daughter had only received two years of community service, the attorney responded, ‘boys will be boys.’
Our upcoming production with Headlong about a female stockbroker navigating the world of the City is called Boys Will Be Boys.
We’re interested in exploring how the phrase is used as a hashtag on social media. It seems harmless enough to repeat, and indeed it’s used repeatedly as a hashtag across Twitter and Instagram. Over the rehearsal period of Boys Will Be Boys, we’ll be delivering a weekly round-up of the hashtag, the good, the bad, and the plain old ugly.
1. This #BoysWillBeBoys is a classic response to a tweet from the US Daily Mail about the racist gang rape of a disabled black teammate …
@DailyMail @MailOnline just a bit of banter that got out of hand. No need for the law to interfere #boyswillbeboys
— Leigh Owen (@leighowen) May 25, 2016
Totally harmless, right.
2. This one with grown men playing in a ball pit.
City Museum Fun! #boyswillbeboys pic.twitter.com/KKuBvjRyBk — Amy Harris (@abcaharris) May 25, 2016
Okay this does look fun even to me and I’m made of sugar and spice and all things nice.
3. This one from David Beckham.
Maybs Harper Seven Beckham is rubbish at ice skating.
4. This one where the hashtag is subverted…
Maybe I’m angry bc women are four times more likely to be sexually/domestically abused than they are to get hit by a car. #boyswillbeboys — Caitlyn (@Caitlynbuja) May 26, 2016
Or is it?
5. This one playing gender divide and rule with a brother and sister.
#spiderkillers one of them is all boy and the other is terrified can you guess which is which? #guesswho #kidswillbekids #arachnophobia #boyswillbeboys A photo posted by Kaitlin Pigg (@kaitlin_pigg) on
Damned if you do. Damned if you don’t.
6. This one is serious.
#WhenIWas in college, a classmate held a knife to my throat and threatened to rape me. #BoysWillBeBoys pic.twitter.com/4IB31sNwwL
— Mandy Peterson (@mandyrpeterson) April 25, 2016
7. This one with banker lads.
More bankers enjoying our food… and balloons! #londonhotdog #freefood #boyswillbeboys #knightsbridge pic.twitter.com/KvPD2kGENA — BunchofGrapes (@bunchgrapessw3) May 12, 2016
Looks like pure balloon and beer bantz.
8. This one where he likes coding cos he’s a boy, duh.
Taking over the world – “if I can just get this code to compile…” . . .#boyswillbeboys #maker #makerfaire #robot… pic.twitter.com/L3D7Txnz8b — Shahin Ghasemi (@shahingh) May 6, 2016
And not because he just likes coding.
9. Finally, naww this cute little boy smacks his mum’s bum, just like his dad!
