I am very close to all this, both geographically and professionally, and have long thought 'oh AHP really needs to walk us through all this' so thank you for granting my wish!
All your points about why frats don't have the same social media presence for recruitment are spot on; I'll just add that I've been told, with complete seriousness,…
I am very close to all this, both geographically and professionally, and have long thought 'oh AHP really needs to walk us through all this' so thank you for granting my wish!
All your points about why frats don't have the same social media presence for recruitment are spot on; I'll just add that I've been told, with complete seriousness, 'the boys aren't responsible enough to move in and be on campus early.' (Their recruitment happens halfway through the semester instead of in August.) So I'm fascinated by who gets infantilized when, and how.
Performative masculinity is more tied to the power infrastructure, so it is less visible. It intentionally plays down appearance almost in opposition to feminine performance. Look more closely at that fraternity rush. The young women compete on one set of terms for entry into the class structure, the young men compete on another.
The fraternities have their own view of what makes a good fit, who can be seen as a member. They are just as much about preserving and extending existing power structures. Athletics are part of it, but the school football team isn't a social club and I doubt the players, the ones on the field for the big games, have time for fraternity life. They're there for a chance with the NFL.
The fraternity Rushtok, if it were to exist, would be superficially boring. There would be no flamboyant plumage to admire or criticize. Still, I would love to say AHP's take on it. The entire idea of an organizationally based social life is completely alien, but I'll bet what is visible of the fraternity rush process would be fascinating in its way.
Your line about boys who ‘aren’t responsible enough to move in and be on campus early’ has really haunted me. I am guessing that doesn't refer to an ability to remember to shower and wash their dishes? And if it means they can't be trusted with the girls on campus out of term time, what changes in term time — and for whom? So. Many. Questions.
Absolutely. I think the primary concern from the people making those statements has been about alcohol, and liability--the idea that frat recruitment involves a lot of drinking, and therefore holding it during the semester when there's more people around, and when the houses can require 'study hall' for new members in some theoretical resemblance of paying attention to coursework, might provide some sort of guardrail against the worst excesses...But yes. The unspoken thing here about separating frat and sorority rush, along with the different codes of comportment, who has access to alcohol and controls that access for others--it's all really troubling.
I am very close to all this, both geographically and professionally, and have long thought 'oh AHP really needs to walk us through all this' so thank you for granting my wish!
All your points about why frats don't have the same social media presence for recruitment are spot on; I'll just add that I've been told, with complete seriousness, 'the boys aren't responsible enough to move in and be on campus early.' (Their recruitment happens halfway through the semester instead of in August.) So I'm fascinated by who gets infantilized when, and how.
Performative masculinity is more tied to the power infrastructure, so it is less visible. It intentionally plays down appearance almost in opposition to feminine performance. Look more closely at that fraternity rush. The young women compete on one set of terms for entry into the class structure, the young men compete on another.
The fraternities have their own view of what makes a good fit, who can be seen as a member. They are just as much about preserving and extending existing power structures. Athletics are part of it, but the school football team isn't a social club and I doubt the players, the ones on the field for the big games, have time for fraternity life. They're there for a chance with the NFL.
The fraternity Rushtok, if it were to exist, would be superficially boring. There would be no flamboyant plumage to admire or criticize. Still, I would love to say AHP's take on it. The entire idea of an organizationally based social life is completely alien, but I'll bet what is visible of the fraternity rush process would be fascinating in its way.
Your line about boys who ‘aren’t responsible enough to move in and be on campus early’ has really haunted me. I am guessing that doesn't refer to an ability to remember to shower and wash their dishes? And if it means they can't be trusted with the girls on campus out of term time, what changes in term time — and for whom? So. Many. Questions.
Absolutely. I think the primary concern from the people making those statements has been about alcohol, and liability--the idea that frat recruitment involves a lot of drinking, and therefore holding it during the semester when there's more people around, and when the houses can require 'study hall' for new members in some theoretical resemblance of paying attention to coursework, might provide some sort of guardrail against the worst excesses...But yes. The unspoken thing here about separating frat and sorority rush, along with the different codes of comportment, who has access to alcohol and controls that access for others--it's all really troubling.