Students went head-to-head on Thursday to tackle the controversial topic of lad culture.

The question, ‘Is lad culture ruining our generation today?’ was debated by a panel of six students, including representatives from LUU FemSoc and mental health campaigners.

The event was hosted by Re-Thinkers, a new LUU society which urges students to ‘challenge the status quo’.

The debate comes a month after National Union of Students President (NUS) Toni Pearce accused universities of ‘ignoring a laddish culture on their campuses’.

‘Lad culture’ or ‘laddism’ has received extensive media coverage in recent years. In Leeds, a campaign let to the revoke of nightclub Tequila’s licence following the release of a video which promoted ‘Freshers’ violation’.

Lawrence Thompson, President of LUU Mind Matters, described ‘laddism’ as ‘a culture of intimidation’. He argued, ‘There is no bigger issue in mental health right now than gender inequality, and lad culture contributes to this’.

Students also questioned the influence of lad culture on sexual violence.

Rosie Collington, a political campaigning rep for LUU, explained, ‘People are not born rapists, they become rapists through social conditioning. I think lad culture is a big problem in our society’.

LUU Welfare Officer Freya Govus concluded, ‘We all accept lad culture is a massive problem, but I don’t think it’s ruining our generation. Our generation is pretty cool! Lad culture is just something we definitely need to be wary of’.

Emily Willson
Greg Whitaker

Image: Anne Wyman