On Tuesday, The National Union of Students (NUS) Women's Campaign announced that it would be banning clapping at their feminism conference in Solihull, England, in favor of using "jazz hands" instead.
Some delegates are requesting that we move to jazz hands rather than clapping, as it's triggering anxiety. Please be mindful! #nuswomen15March 24, 2015
The initial request came from the Oxford University Student Union's Women's Campaign, in order to avoid provoking stress in some of the attending members.
@nuswomcam please can we ask people to stop clapping but do feminist jazz hands? it's triggering some peoples' anxiety. thank you!March 24, 2015
Whooping at the conference was discouraged for similar reasons.
Whooping is fun for some, but can be super inaccessible for others, so please try not to whoop! Jazz hands work just as well #nuswomen15March 24, 2015
The initial reaction to the motion on social media was predominantly of a...how shall we say...mocking nature.
What about attendees with no hands, @nuswomcam?? #JazzHands are inaccessible to those people. This seems very problematic and exclusionary.March 24, 2015
Some delegates are requesting that we move to jazz hands rather than clapping, as it's triggering anxiety. Please be mindful! #nuswomen15March 24, 2015
Right, I try to create a safe space at my lectures. No clapping--only jazz hands.And no hissing--that marginalizes people with lisps. @NeroMarch 24, 2015
And some believed the regulation undermined the idea of feminism altogether.
Nothing says empowered like a fear of applause. Way to go, ladies! #nuswomen15March 24, 2015
"Jazz hands are used throughout NUS in place of clapping as a way to show appreciation of someone's point without interrupting or causing disturbance, as it can create anxiety," Nona Buckley-Irvine, the general secretary of the London School of Economics Students' Union, told the BBC. "I'm relatively new to this and it did feel odd at first, but once you've used jazz hands a couple of times it becomes a genuinely nice way to show solidarity with a point and it does add to creating a more inclusive atmosphere."
Just...leavin' this here.
You should also check out:
The New Hollywood It Bag Looks Like a Capri Sun and Costs $1,600
5 Beauty Hacks You've Definitely Never Heard of Before
10 Very Serious, Very Important* Ways to Spend Your Tax Return
