Student’s sex-conquests boast sours election campaign
A University of Waikato student has caused outrage by claiming his sex life will be enough to secure his election to the student union.
Alex Winiata wrote in Nexus Magazine, a student publication, that ‘‘if I had one vote for every girl on this campus I’ve shagged, I would get this role easily’’.
Winiata, who claims on Facebook to be a residential assistant (RA) at a University of Waikato hall of residence, made the comment in a Waikato Students Union (WSU) candidate profile.
He is running for election to one of eight student director positions on the WSU. He rapidly hung up the phone when asked for comment, and repeated subsequent calls went unanswered.
Winiata posted an apology on Facebook, saying that he accepted his comments were in bad taste.
‘‘I meant no disrespect at all. Some people have taken this comment I made in a ‘student magazine’ out of context and reacted disproportionately.’’
Elaine Gyde, a member of Feminists at Waikato, a student discussion group, said Winiata’s comments were dehumanising and emblematic of a lad culture that was harmful to women.
‘‘Imagine if you’re a woman who [had] sex with this guy, and you read that, how that would make you feel?’’ Gyde said.
‘‘You’d feel like a piece of trash and kind of worthless to him because he’d prefer you were a vote rather than someone who had actually had sex with him.’’
And Gyde also thought it was a problem that Winiata was a residential assistant, as the students he claimed to have slept with were under his care at the time.
University spokeswoman Alison Robertson, however, characterised media queries on the issue as ‘‘making a bit of a mountain out of a molehill’’.
‘‘They might be ridiculous comments, but he’s free to say them.’’
Robertson also said that Winiata maintained the comments were
Imagine if you’re a woman who [had] sex with this guy, and you read that, how that would make you feel? You’d feel like a piece of trash. Elaine Gyde Feminists at Waikato
written by somebody else.
‘‘I don’t think it’s worth us making a comment on a student,’’ Robertson said. ‘‘That’s up to him to set it straight.’’
When a picture of his comments in the magazine were posted online a few days ago, they provoked even more outrage on social media.
One Instagrammer said ‘‘lads banter’’ was harmful because it hid objectification behind humour.
Another, who said he was planning on attending the university next year, found Winiata’s comments ‘‘gross’’.
Gyde said there was still a problem even if Winiata had meant the comments as a joke. She also thought his apology was inadequate.
‘‘He’s still running for a position where he has to represent women,’’ Gyde said.
Student union vice-president William Lewis declined to comment on Winiata’s profile.
‘‘Unfortunately, the WSU can’t comment on a particular candidate’s conduct in the election provided it falls within the rules.’’
Most candidates had run ‘‘really positive’’ campaigns.