Having only been at Dartmouth for a couple months, it is hard for me to fully judge how much of a variety there is in terms of masculinity on campus, but by far the most prevalent group I have noticed are the fraternities. The Greek culture at Dartmouth is a major part of college life for most people and plays a major social role, especially for upperclassmen. The stereotypical frat member is the embodiment of this form of masculinity: somewhat of a jock, tough, rowdy and loud, drinking and partying every weekend and having no regrets. Based on the little exposure I have, I would guess that there are quite a few at Dartmouth who fit this stereotype pretty well, and I think that for those that don’t, there is somewhat of an unspoken pressure to conform to it as closely as possible, thus the rituals of hazing and other traditions designed to prove someone is worthy of joining the organization, a harsh test of “masculinity”. Those who don’t want to drink as much, or go out as much, or who are too quiet or too eccentric or exhibit some other deviation from the stereotypical norm are isolated in ways, unable to quite fit in with the rest. Even though there may be other social outlets for those who don’t quite fit the mainstream mold, there is still something to be said about the fact that they are more or less excluded from a part of Dartmouth’s community that makes up most of the social scene. Although there are many positive attributes to the Greek system here, I think that this is something that isn’t quite right, and hope that in the future the system will be more open to those who don’t exhibit so many traits that are stereotypically “masculine”.

-Lindsey