Crushing Nattys. Watching the game. Roughhousing. Case races. Wizard Staffs. Call of Duty– Boys will be boys.
Michael Kimmel, a prominent sociologist and professor at SUNY Stony Brook recently came to Bowdoin to discuss what it means to be a man in college today. His talk was incredibly insightful and thought-provoking, while maintaining an air of humor amidst the seriousness.
He discussed everything from frat rituals, such as the infamous “elephant walk” (just urban dictionary that one…) to hookup dynamics in college. I’m fairly certain that every person who attended the lecture was thinking to themselves, “How does this older guy know about the inner workings of every weekend of college life…?” Mr. Kimmel conducted over 400 interviews for his book, Guyland, and pieced them together in in a perceptive and insightful way in both his book and his lecture.
Kimmel raised the point that masculinity as a concept does not receive the same sociological examination that femininity does. He talked about the invisibility of being a white, middle class man and how such a mentality affects every person, every day whether they notice it or not.
Nobody can deny the “bro” culture at Bowdoin. Guys here tend to excuse their actions, claiming that they are “just being guys.” Last year, I saw a male student obliterate a big screen TV, while a big crowd of his friends cheered him on. Though it was undoubtedly amusing, it is also an incredibly accurate example of Kimmel’s main points. Kimmel discussed the independence that college brings, and how this newfound independence makes boys want to prove their masculinity by doing things like hazing, breaking things, etc. He talked about initiation rituals across the world and how American college society is the only society where boys initiate boys instead of men initiating boys. According to Kimmel, this lack of adult facilitation renders the initiation rituals less meaningful, and perpetuates the culture of immaturity.
The takeaway I got from the lecture was not one of drastic need for change, but rather it was more of awareness.
So the question he raised really was will boys be boys? And how long do we have to wait until they become men?
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