The Orbis

Graphic Art by Orbis [Click to enlarge]

At Vanderbilt, there is no shortage of parties. Fraternities, sororities, and many other organizations have parties during the week and on the weekends. While many of the parties are harmless, a great deal of the parties can be extremely degrading to women.

Unfortunately, most of these degrading parties are given by fraternities. At a party with the theme "CEOs and Business Hoes" men wore suits and ties, but women wore short skirts, revealing shirts, or dresses that left little to the imagination. The "GI Joe and Barbie" themed party was not much different, except the men wore camouflage instead of suits. By encouraging women to dress and act the part of "ho" or "Barbie," the fraternities are encouraging men to perceive women simply as things to be looked at.

As a result of these parties, men not only perceive women as less than they are, but women may begin to think less of themselves. Referring to a woman as a "ho" is one of worst ways to insult her because the woman is being seen as easy, cheap or worthless. Being called "Barbie" is not much better. Barbie is simply plastic-nothing real and completely brainless. A "Britney Spears Look-Alike" party furthers this image of women as only things to look at. Themes such as this also tell women that women such as Britney Spears are better and they should try to imitate these women in order to be loved, accepted, or wanted by men.

Adding to the problem is the availability of alcohol. Even at parties that do not have a specific theme, it is much easier for women to get alcohol if they are wearing something revealing or sexually suggestive. Some men may think that if a woman is wearing something revealing, she will be "easier" and he will be much quicker to give her alcohol if she asks for it. Some people may defend this as a man simply doing as a woman asks, but the woman may not realize exactly what she is doing at the time or what she is asking for. Many of these situations can lead to problems such as sexual assault or rape accusations, but men may defend themselves by saying the woman was asking for it with what she was wearing.

These parties fall directly into society's stereotypes of women as either easy (if the women choose to participate in the party) or prude (if they do not take part). As school-supported organizations, fraternities should not do anything to promote negative stereotypes of women. No other organizations have parties encouraging women to dress suggestively or make alcohol readily available to nearly anyone who asks for it.

Of course, there is nothing that forces girls to attend these parties or drink the alcohol that is offered to them, but the fact that society has shown that girls who do are more liked by boys, just feeds in to the low self-esteem accompanying girls who do not partake in these misogynistic parties. It has become part of the fraternity "culture" to throw parties and the social scene at Vanderbilt would be nothing of what it is without them, but is it necessary to theme parties that obviously imply less clothing? If a girl showed up to the Barbie party as "snow boarding" Barbie, would she receive the same positive attention? It's doubtful. Perhaps in the future we will see themed parties that will not objectify women merely as low cut tops, bare legs, and heels but until then, who's up for an Olympic theme party as they were originally performed? In the nude.

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