I believe this is a perfect metaphor for the greek community. There are many aspects that match up exquisitely.
First of all, in a broad general view of greek life, a lot of things go unseen. Greek life for most people are like cells and atoms. Everything about fraternal community would be unknown if not for magnifying certain aspects. Everything about greek life are "fundamental" to its identity much like atoms are fundamental in life. These aspects make up the greek community in its entirety whether they are acknowledged or not. However, once certain aspects were exposed thats now all people can see. Of course I am talking about alcohol, hazing, wild sex,..... basically anything negative has been put on a slide and is now under examination. The problem with this scrutinization is the microscope has been focused too much. Now other aspects of fraternal life are being kept under the radar (service to name one). And now with the magnifying lens being dialed in so far its hard to retract.
With so much focus on the negatives, how are we as a community supposed to dial back the lens of the outside world? That is the question I want to be posed because I am sick of this microscope.
Another thing that has been bothering me is how the lens is only focused on the greek community when the college community is basically doing the same thing.
But, since there isn't a magnifying lens (i.e. greek tv shows or movies) on "regular" college life, these things sneak their way past observers. Everyone one in college "rages." Almost everyone has sex. But if you ask who the drinkers and "partiers" are Fraternal life is the number one answer. How is that fair especially since the lens is focused on the rowdy fraternities and not the ones that are benefiting Ohio State community... I have no idea.. This has just been on my mind lately and I wanted to find out and discuss this issue.
Signing out,
Coz
Dude... awesome metaphor. Seriously like that is perfect for explaining the issue facing greek life to anyone that you meet. Props haha As I sit here and write this I really do not have a definite answer on how to pull back the lens. I'll see if I can come up with something as I contiunue writing.
ReplyDeleteI actually gave a tour for my old friends sister this afternoon of Ohio State. I just thought it would be nice to help out an old friend. While were on the tour, and since I technically wasn't working/getting paid like a usually do for the University, I wanted her to ask all the questions that she wouldn't feel comfortable asking another tour guide. The first thing she came up with was what to do on the weekends. She was refering to actual things like going to a movie, or seeing a hockey game downtown however, her mother insticly thought she was asking about partying. Now her mothers reaction was "well college is the time of your life and I know Ohio State can have it's reputation for being a party school. Are the parties really cool?" Now this struck me as really odd and kinda relates to what you are talking about in your blog. She is speaking about "college life" or the "college community" as you have in your blog. And since everyone aparently "knows" that college kids party and get fucked up then why is it such a huge deal when fraternity life does it? I am not saying that it is right or wrong that Greek Life parties but since most parents know that college is a party and most parents have been to college, why is the greek community taking such hard hits for doing the exact same thing. Is it because some fraternities or sororities rituals are linked to the partying or is it because of previous generations mistakes. And if it is previous generations mistakes then these people are the same people who work in the media and for companies now who scrutinize greek life. Just a weird circle. Im talking too much... peace
I really like this blog Ozzy, super insightful, and a killer metaphor. I think you really hit the nail on the head. We are put under a microscope that looks only at the bad things. One of the things about Greek Life here at OSU is that the people in Greek Life are very often also the part of the student body involved in other organizations. Compare those students to the college students at large engaging in the same actions that we're under the microscope for and I think that we do more good despite those actions than others.
ReplyDeleteWhile that doesn't make some actions any more acceptable, it certainly begs the question as to why fraternities and sororities are singled out as problems when some of the problems are also problems in college culture at-large.
That's a great way to look at it. I agree with everything you've said, and the reality is that the Greek community gets this bad rap because, well, it's easy to ping all Greeks as "fratty" and "raging" college students. Movies and shows impact this impression of course. But I think the worst part, as you mentioned, is that all the good things we do go completely unnoticed by a great majority of people. This, I think, is because of the fact that philanthropy, service and such aren't as "entertaining" or "interesting" as partying and hazing. They don't draw as much attention. "Bad" is "good," in a sense - especially for the entertainment industry. Which makes the fraternal movement a constant struggle.
ReplyDeleteSo legit. I hate the whole being under the microscope thing. Greek life takes so much trash talking, but we are no different that average college students. In my opinion, Greeks are all above average when it comes to college life. We are all committed to bettering ourselves and our communities and the fact that we have the same amount of fun as average college students somehow gets blown out of proportion and overshadows all of the good we do. Basically.... it's a bunch of B.S.
ReplyDeletewow just amazing metaphor. That is just a phenominal way of putting things. I can't believe how much that really hits home on how the greek community is looked up. Excellent post!
ReplyDeleteIf you had a house party and a greek house party and they both got busted by the cops, think of the different ramifications.
ReplyDeleteI think it is that we hold ourselves to a higher standard and that people love to watch those at the top fail. However i do hate being viewed like this. It sucks when I have people ask me about my shirt or my ankle with a taste of disdain. I also agree with both of the Alex's, you have people (like that mom) with a certain stereotype, and then you have people who'd rather watch the failure than success. nice job Ozzy
Great points, Ozzy. While I don't know that everyone in college does these things (just like not everyone in a fraternity does these things), it really is like life under a magnifying glass. Another way to think of it is as life in a fish bowl- where everyone is looking at everything you're doing.
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