We’ve heard it all before, the labels, the accusations, the attribution of blame: all things that fall upon boys the second they make the decision to enter the brotherhood of a fraternity, and therefore hand their soul over to every single stereotype that you’ve ever heard about frat boys.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that each guy I’ve encountered who happens to belong to a frat is a perfect gentleman with exquisite manners and a flawless GPA. Quite the contrary actually, unfortunate as it is. Even though my experience with frat boys has been far from ideal, I constantly remind myself that it’s merely a reflection of the person, and not a result of the organization. With so much discussion today of equality between genders (because Taylor Swift is killing the feminism game), I found it appropriate to stand up for frat boys everywhere, as shocking as that might be.
What really piqued my interest in this matter was not the countless invitations I received to fraternity date parties this weekend (mostly because such invites were non-existent, but I consider that a small detail), but instead a quote I found online the other day. It was a list of the 50 most important things a girl should remember in college, and one point said “not all boys on your campus are in fraternities” with the following point being “the best boys on your campus are not in fraternities-go find them.”
I understand that this is simply meant to open our eyes and encourage us to branch out of our comfort zones, but what does this mean for fraternities everywhere? I can’t even begin to imagine the backlash this article would have received if it had been telling college men that the most valuable and respected girls are ones that you won’t find in a sorority. There is so much attention paid to young women in Greek organizations who are determined to prove that sororities are enriching and not just an excuse for a college girl to get drunk every other night, but we don’t think a second thought about writing a frat boy off as a jerk who only cares about hooking up and nothing else. Nowadays, I think it is easily forgotten that double standards are in fact, double. As a member of a sorority, I can’t help but wonder how we are ever supposed to achieve equality if we keep putting down fraternities.
On top of this, the justification of “he’s just a stupid frat boy” does nothing to put an end to the stereotypes that follow these boys every time they leave their house in their letters. Excusing a guy's behavior because he’s in a frat as opposed to him just being a horrible person is not okay. This tells us that all these frat boys are just stupid and the same, but it’s to be expected because they’re in a frat. And I know that we all know this is not true.
Being in Greek life has given me the opportunity to form some really meaningful connections with members of different fraternities, ones who never in my life would I apply the typical frat stereotype to. I’m sure that we all know boys who fit this description to a tee, but what about all the boys who don’t just care about mixing with the “best” sorority or having the most amount of late nights? They deserve more than being written off for joining a brotherhood.
I think it’s about time we acknowledge this.
