Palm - Fall 2008 - (Page 5)

FE ATU R E “I ANSWERED MY PHONE and a woman I didn’t know told me that my little brother was dry heaving and fading in and out of consciousness,” said Joe. “My heart dropped in my stomach.” Joe, whose name has been changed for this article, had left his little brother at his dorm room just two hours prior to receiving that phone call. He’d walked him back early from a fraternity Big/Little Brother event where they’d been drinking hard liquor. “He seemed normal when I left him there,” said Joe. “Then when I didn’t hear back for awhile I started getting nervous so I called them back. They told me they were on their way to the hospital.” Fortunately, Joe’s little brother suffered no major injuries. He even made it to his test the next day after a night in the hospital. Joe’s night with his little brother could be a case study in a place called Guyland, where “Guy Code” rules. According to Michael Kimmel, professor of sociology and a leading scholar in the ﬁeld of gender studies, Guyland is a new life stage for young men. In his book “Guyland,” Kimmel describes this new stage as the perilous world where boys become men. Deﬁned as the years between 16 and 26, it is this stage of life that is changing the way boys validate their identity as men. Guyland is a place where men often attempt to prove their masculinity through sexual conquest, heavy drinking, ﬁghting, and humiliating other men. “Unfortunately all of us have seen guys who think drinking and ﬁghting are the ultimate displays of masculinity,” said North Alabama Chapter President Will Hodges. “Although it may reinforce their positive view of themselves, it makes the word masculine interchangeable with the word regretful.” Suddenly there’s a large pink elephant in the room. Are fraternities synonymous with Guyland? Certainly fraternity stereotypes are. If the movie version of Guyland were ever produced, it would be shocking if it were set in anything other than a fraternity chapter. But the reality is not nearly as deﬁnitive. A growing body of research says well run fraternity chapters combat Guyland, among other ways, by holding members to an appropriate standard of behavior. Dr. Mark Frederick contends that fraternities can be a guiding light through the dark alleyways of Guyland. Frederick, the assistant to the vice president of student affairs for research and assessment at Indiana State University, has developed The University Learning Outcomes Assessment (UniLOA) as an indicator of student growth, learning and development. Early UniLOA ﬁndings report that membership in greek organizations play a role in student development. “Students reporting membership in a fraternity or sorority score higher on critical thinking, diversity, citizenship, membership and leadership, and relationships than students not afﬁliated,” said Frederick. LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO GO According to Kimmel, part of what drives the behavior in Guyland is the search for a place to go that is inherently masculine. A place still ruled by men and free from women. “Men gravitate toward sports,” said Kimmel. “It validates our manhood, bridges generational, racial and class divides; cementing the bonds among men; and more clearly demarcating the boundaries between Guyland and Herland.” “We’re taught that what it means to be a man, is to not be a woman,” said Kimmel. “With the advancements and changes in the lives of women, they’re now in places that used to be male-dominated arenas. Men are confused about what it is that they are supposed to be.” Perhaps another contributing factor, suggests research, is the social norms theory that states that misperceptions about others’ attitudes, behaviors, or beliefs affect a person’s own behavior and choices. Frederick also points to attribution error theory, which states that we tend to underestimate our own behaviors. “This is where a fraternity can do some positive and productive work,” said Frederick. “To assist members in understanding reality as opposed to buying into a false norm.” THE CREATION In essence, what has occurred, is a signiﬁcant shift in the social markers that previously deﬁned the road to adulthood. In the 1950s when these markers were ﬁrst identiﬁed, they occurred at about the same ages for everyone. Now, according to data from the U.S. census, these markers are being completed across a widening stretch of time for each generation. In 2000, 46 percent of women and 31 percent of men had reached these markers by age 30. In 1960, those numbers were 77 percent and 65 percent respectively. “People are living longer, getting married later, and starting careers later,” said Kimmel. “The economy has had a big effect on this, people aren’t retiring at 65 AT O . O RG 5 http://www.ato.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Palm - Fall 2008

Palm - Fall 2008 Contents Navigating Guyland The Next Star 78th ATO Congress NHQ: Headquarters News SIR: Success in Review TAU: Alumni News ITS: In the Spotlight

Palm - Fall 2008

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