I found the cover picture for the “Harassed On Campus” (Feb. 26,2004) story extremely offensive. The picture depicting a naked female torso wearing just black lace garter stockings and a yellow construction sign “men at work” strategically placed over her vagina was unnecessarily sexually explicit.

Why did the UP choose such a blatantly sexist and objectifying image to convey how FAU college women are being harassed on campus? It is hypocritical to write an article about the improper behavior of construction workers sexually harassing young women and simultaneously representing college women in such a misogynist manner.

Media representations of women as sex objects are demeaning and dehumanizing and contribute to the sexist ideology that systematically oppresses women in violent ways. The cover picture was just as harmful as college students getting sexually harassed in the Breezeway or raped in their dorm.

–Katerine Rodriguez