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Stanford takes sexist ‘Female Bodies and Alcohol’ webpage down

Ashley May
USA TODAY
Stanford University

Stanford University wiped a webpage titled Female Bodies and Alcohol Wednesday after readers expressed outrage.

The webpage, which can be seen as an archived version on the Wayback Machine, went into detail about why women get drunk faster than men, how women behave under the influence of alcohol and “women and alcohol emergencies.”

The page’s cheeky language, paired with a laser-focus on women infuriated readers. For example, the page made several references to a man's "bigger frame," and women's hormonal changes when menstruating.

Lisa Lapin, associate vice president of university communications, told USA TODAY the page has been live "for many years" and hasn't received criticism until recently. She said the information cited came from a Cornell University site and Gannett Health Services campaign.

"It was It was groundbreaking in 2006-07 for educating women about alcohol dangers," Lapin said.

Women make up the majority of alcohol-related emergency medical transports at the university, Lapin said.

Under the sexual intent and aggression section of the Stanford page, the site stated “research tells us that women who are seen drinking alcohol are perceived to be more sexually available than they may actually be. Therefore, women can be targeted with unwanted attentions due to that misperception.”

The section goes on to say men who think they've been drinking "feel sexually aroused and are more responsive to erotic stimuli, including rape scenarios. For some, being drunk serves as a justification for behavior that is demeaning or insulting, including the use of others as sexual objects."

This comes after former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman after a campus party and sentenced for six months in jail. This week, Stanford also announced a stricter alcohol policy on hard liquor at most on-campus parties that some criticized.

Critics: Stanford's new alcohol ban won't prevent sexual assaults

In a statement posted on the updated Female Bodies and Alcohol page, Stanford says "we would like to apologize for an outdated and insensitive article on women and alcohol that was here. The content of the article did not reflect the values of our office. We are sorry for the harm that the article may have caused people who read it."

The new page is now titled Alcohol Metabolism: An Update from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and includes information from the NIAA Alcohol Alert.

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