Frat Star
Chug!Chug!Chug! Saturday’s are for the boys! Don’t be such a (insert offensive term). These are the sayings that can be found in any fraternity across the entire country. In this article I will dive into the deep sociological aspects that are associated with these institutions. 1776, the year our country became independent, also the year that the first American fraternity was founded. Their roots run deep in the fabric that is the American college system, claiming that the purpose they serve is a positive one. In https://www.wsj.com/articles/should-colleges-get-rid-of-fraternities-1442368892 Georginna L. Martin argues that despite their bad reputation, “The fraternity system is a vital part of university life that plays an important role in shaping young men for the better.” The most appealing aspect of fraternities is simple, brotherhood. These boys claim each other as blood as they spend four years together, creating relationships that will last a lifetime. They also have bonds with alumi which favor them when they enter the professional world. Martin makes the point that frats hate the connotations that are associated with them and do their best to resist them. 
While this mindset makes a point on why to join a frat, if you aren’t a wealthy hetero-sexual white male who enjoys drinking and easily fits in with the average frat boy, frats bring nothing but trouble. Sexual abuse, binge drinking, hazing, all go hand in hand with fraternities. The frat leaders saying they don’t like being associated with these labels Link for photo doesn’t mean that they don’t do it partake in these heinous acts.
In her book “Dude You’re a Fag” C.J. Pascoe is exploring the social hierarchy of high school in regards to masculinity. How boys flaunt their masculinity by performing certain acts that society deems acceptable simply because “boys will be boys.” Well frats are just the next level of this mindset. The boys in frats are genuinely the ones who succeed in this show of masculinity in high school, they have been thinking this way for their entire lives, believing that they are owed these things like sex, alcohol, and to not have to worry about important things. They simply want to party and run the campus. Elizebeth Armstrong details this point in her article, https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/05/05/frat-guys-gone-wild-whats-the-solution/the-threat-to-young-women outlining her frustration with frats and how they take the power away from young females, demoting them to nothing more than objects. Frats use their exclusivity as a false sense of importance and they use this sense to justify their shameful acts.
With this many problems stemming from these institutions it raises the question of why don’t universities ban frats. For one it's the money, universities are always about the money, and frat fees bring in a healthy addition to the budget. Armstrong also makes the vital point if universities banned frats they would lose what little oversight they have over them now. These problems are in a small way fixing themselves however as fraternity affiliation falls these past few years. With more and more students deciding to stay independent fraternities start to lose their dominance. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/content/the-decline-of-the-greek-empire-us-fraternities Is an article by Jon Marcus that illustrates this trend and how it is due to numerous reasons and what this means for the frats. Marcus points to these bad connotations as a major link to this decline in participation, boys don’t want to be affiliated with these labels which shows how the social conscience of at least some of our younger generation is growing more compassionate.
Great piece! It's always fun to read about frats given I've never experienced a campus with them. One direction that would be interesting to pursue is the effect of peer pressure into the activities of the frats, similar to how the male students in "Dude You're a Fag" use insults to pressure the other male students to fitting within the ideals.
ReplyDeleteAwesome article! I come from an area where colleges rely heavily on fraternities to encourage students to come to their school, and for funds. It is interesting how fraternities started as a group of students or "brothers" that would volunteer their time around the community to help raise money for their school and perform community service. Sadly overtime they have adapted a culture that relies heavily on hyper masculinity and binge drinking. This is just the tip of the iceberg though, the problem that results from these fraternities starts at a much younger age. There has also been so many hazing related deaths in the U.S. which have had a large impact on how fraternities are run. Overall very interesting article, there is so much to be said on this topic.
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ReplyDeleteReally interesting article, I find it interesting that since frats are such a part of college culture that colleges want to keep them around as to better keep an eye on them. The administrations of these colleges get that frats will not disappear and decide they don't want their students to cause problems for them outside of campus. It is a shame that frats have not stayed true to their original intentions.
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