I applaud Kathleen Powers ’12 for speaking out against Yale’s implicit support of the Ying Yang Twins’ misogynistic outlook (“Don’t gender my Spring Fling,” April 26). However, her piece did not address what I find most troublesome about their performance — tomorrow, I will not fully be part of Yale.

I love Spring Fling. Last year, it struck me as the one time the student body came together as a community happy to spend time together. Nonetheless, unlike Powers I will not be on Old Campus while the Ying Yang Twins explain how “If ya ass coulda ran you woulda/But you put that there aside/That’s how my dick got between yo thighs.” I promise I am not an advocate for the death of fun, nor a self-stylized martyr sacrificing my own revelry to make a statement. I will leave the performance to attend the alternative concert in the Trumbull courtyard and hang out with friends because just like everyone else I need a break before finals, and I will not have good time listening to a stranger’s desire to “fuck you ‘til you cry.”

Powers writes that she will remain on Old Campus to observe. I agree with her that it is infuriating to miss “one of Yale’s best events to avoid verbal assault on my gender,” and I respect her decision. However, while I will be interested to hear what Powers sees, it is exactly for the imposition of this “observer status” that I am most upset. I matriculated to Yale with the understanding that I would be a full participant in my college experience. I resent any action, including the Spring Fling Committee’s decision to hire the Twins, that reveals that even after 40 years of coeducation, women are still secondary citizens on this campus. As the Twins declare how much they “can’t stand/when a woman play the role of a man,” Yale will cease to be a place that believes in my right to equal opportunity and safety. To follow Powers and observe would be to accept the Twins’ power to isolate me in a crowd of peers.

During the concert, I will have to separate from my classmates, but I refuse to do so passively and miss out on a chance to celebrate our community. Let us create the just world we wish to see while enjoying the day. My friends and I plan to make our own fun. I hope you join us.

Alexandra Brodsky

April 26

The writer is a sophomore in Davenport College.