Male Inferiority or Female Superiority?

Male Inferiority or Female Superiority?

            Are gender stereotypes, especially in college students, actually still prevalent? Gender roles play such an enormous part of our society and sometimes we don't even realize it. Since the beginning of human life, females have been expected to do their jobs as MOTHERS, watch the kids, cook, clean, while the men are the warriors who protect the women essentially. While this is just beginning to change in today's world with the push for equality between men in women, there is still a divide in what we perceive to be our gender roles. Movies only further this by the stereotypes portrayed in films, especially those trying to depict what "college is really like".  National Lampoon's: Van Wilder is one of those films. Van and Richard are the two main male characters who are basically in competition for Gwen, an attractive woman who is made out almost to be like an object. In the movie the two guys go back and forth, messing with each other's lives in what we perceive as them just not liking each other but in reality they are battling for who gets to date Gwen. Gwen is perceived as being a very intelligent woman because she is a reporter for the school, while Van is basically portrayed as some guy who doesn’t go to class and doesn’t have the intelligence to get his degree. At the end of the movie there is a scene where Van has to cram a semesters worth of work into 6 days and pass his exams to graduate. Somehow Van manages to get it done and graduates, celebrating with a huge party at the end of the movie. I think this was a low key stereotype of the typical guy in college. Guys in college are made out to look like they are less intelligent than females and are always partying instead of focusing on school. Females are looked at as being extremely studious and gentle, more focused on their future and education. Tannen sort of agrees with this, she talks about how female students are much more introverted when surrounded by males and how they pay more attention to the important details. Gwen is the school reporter, she has no struggles in school, and just her overall demeanor and the way she speaks would be considered thought out and intelligent. In comparison to Van who is vulgar and impulsive to say whatever he chooses. In reality and applied here to UNCC I don’t think that is always the case. While for the most part girls are a little more careful and think out what they’re saying, the dividing line between genders is not too far apart. Here the student body is pretty equal, whether that be academically or socially. Movies do a good job in building a stereotypical reputation for the male college student with these exaggerated and discriminatory portrayals. At the end of the day I believe we are breaking these stereotypes and gender is irrelevant to the modern day college student.  

Are ALL college boys the same?

College Education has many stereotypes associated with not only the academic aspect, but also the social environment of college students.  Producers create movies to entertain an audience by depicting certain characteristics of college. When movies attempt to depict college life they often include many stereotypes about the “typical” college students and their journeys through college.  For example, “American Pie: Beta House” includes numerous gender stereotypes about males.

The movie focuses on the fraternity Beta House. A fraternity is known as a “brotherhood”, meaning the boys spend all their time having fun and learning important life lessons together.  Because of all the time spent with one another, the boys all become best friends. Stereotypically boys become friends with the people they are with the majority of the time.  This is supported by not only “American Pie: Beta House”, but also Deborah Tannen’s article “How Male and Female Students Use Language Differently”. Tannen states that “For boys, activities are central: Their best friends are the ones with whom they do things with.” (Tannen, 345). In a fraternity you typically live with your “brothers” and spend a majority of your time with them. According to Tannen this is the reason the boys grow close to each other.

An essential part of “American Pie: Beta House” is the Greek Olympiad, a banned competition that is reborn between the legendary beta house and the new GEK house, where the boys compete in numerous events that test their manhood. The boys go against each other to decide which fraternity is better. Stereotypically, boys love competition and friendships are born through competition. Boys are expected to “seize center stage: by exhibiting their skill, displaying their knowledge, and challenging and resisting challenges” (Tannen, 346). In the Greek Olympiad, the boys challenge each other to show off their skills and prove their fraternity is the best.

A fraternity is a hierarchy. The president is on top followed by the brothers and then the pledges. The pledges are put through hazing by the older brothers. Once the pledges survive the hazing period they are initiated and move up to become brothers. This hierarchy is what draws boys to the fraternity setting, although they may not realize it.  Boys “tend to play in larger groups that are hierarchal” (Tannen, 345). Since the fraternity is a hierarchy, the brothers tell the pledges what to do and the pledges have no choice but to listen. In “American Pie: Beta House” the president Dwight gets his choice in the events during the Greek Olympiad. He chooses the best challenges to participate in and gives the rest to the lower ranked men.

These gender stereotypes make movies that depict college relatable. According to the gender stereotypes all boys are fundamentally the same, although this is not always true. Some boys do not like completion, but the majority does. Deborah Tannen’s article shows that these stereotypes are prevalent all through schooling, not just college. These stereotypes impact college education greatly. Many college classes have discussions and debates in class. Since boys grow through competition, girls are at a disadvantage in class. On the other hand some schools are geared toward the opposite side and hinder boys learning style.

Boys Play, Girls Say

While college is a place with a diverse population regarding the likes of ethnicity, religion, and many other differences among its attendees, the student population seems to always be specifically and stereotypically displayed most diverse when focusing on gender.  The reasoning behind this microscope on gender in college can perhaps be explained by the fact that, though there may be those who come follow different religions or differ ethnically, gender and the roles that society gives both genders can be commonly recognized, regardless of other characteristics of diversity.  Throughout history, men and women have achieved different stereotypes that were created by their separate roles in ancient society.  Commonly, men are thought to be less intelligent, emotional, and loquacious, as well as more care-free compared to women.  Men are also stereotypically depicted as tough and violent since in history they were the soldiers and protectors of the home.  Women, due to bearing children, are stereotypically seen as being much more emotional, talkative, and maternal since throughout history they would tend to the homes and speak to other women for their entertainment.  The film Neighbors exploits these stereotypical gender roles, during a scene when Seth Rogen and his wife end up partying with their fraternity neighbors. 

            In the particular scene, Seth Rogen and his wife attend a party, are separated from each other, and hang out with peers of the same gender.  This scene specifically emphasizes stereotypical gender roles during the party as male and female are separated and participate in different ways of partying.  The way that Seth Rogen and his wife respectively enjoy the party exploits gender roles and characteristics that have been created throughout history.

            When Seth Rogen is shown at the party with the fraternity boys, he is participating in the consumption of alcohol and drugs, specifically the psychedelic drug, mushrooms.  Rogen consumes handfuls of the mushrooms in attempt to achieve the most extreme effects of the drug.  The rapid consumption of the mushrooms by Rogen displays the way that men are stereotypically more carefree than women by showing that Rogen has no worries regarding what the drug could do to his body.  This is a common theme regarding consumptions of drugs and specifically alcohol during college for males.  Many males attempt to display their “manliness” and toughness by the competition of who can consume more alcohol.  In stereotypical college culture a male is better at being a male if he can consume more alcohol without getting sick or passing out.

            Rogen’s wife in the movie is shown participating in a different party scene that could be classified as more “toned down” compared to her husband’s form of partying.  His wife is shown with the other females dancing together and sharing stories about how she met her husband.  This part of the scene illustrates the generalization that women only talk about “their man” and their romance with him.   A major emphasis on the female side of partying is that Rogen’s wife has to stay in a certain area while dancing in order to hear her baby monitor, which displays the stereotypical maternal aspect of being female.  The greater amount of talking as well as the restriction on the females’ ability to dance displays stereotypes that are made about womanly characteristics. 

This party scene correlates well with the argument made in Tannen’s essay, specifically how young boys and girls make friends.  Tannen claims through her observations that boys, when making friends, find companionship in doing activities and being in competition.  This theory is expressed when the boys partake in the activity of consuming drugs.  However, Tannen claims that girls make friends by talking and sharing emotions with each other, something that is again displayed in this scene. By isolating the two genders in the specific party scene, Neighbors is able to express two generalized roles that Tannen agrees with in her essay.  

Civil Tyranny and College

CIVIL TYRANNY AND COLLEGE

Media including the film being studied, How High, affects the perceived idea of college through stereotypes and holds back society from equality. Thoughts from Beverly Daniel Tatum’s article “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” helps to justify the negative effects society can have on young minds and can be applied to societies acceptance of media, specifically the film being How High’s, effects on the idea of college through stereotypes.

What are stereotypes and how do they form?

Comparative to the size of a person the world is a rather large space which is occupied by persons whom vary from groups of persons and among the individual them self. There are infinite combinations of beliefs held by the peoples of the world and when individualized almost every single person has their own particular opinions and beliefs on any given aspect of life even if there opinion is impartial. Yet somehow, amongst all of these infinite combinations of differences groups of people find a way to set themselves apart and form groups of peoples. These groups of peoples sometimes form a type of culture seen by other groups of people as unique. Now with groups of peoples now associating other groups of peoples with certain aspects they begin to form stereotypes about the other groups of people. What this means is now everyone who might seem to fit into a certain group of peoples is now assumed to having all of the aspects of everyone who they are being assumed to fit in with.

What does all of that mean?

The roundabout gist of that being said is ridiculousness. Is it not ridiculous to think in that manner? Is it not ridiculous to think that among the infinite possibilities of beliefs and opinions that each individual hold special, another person can look at someone and stereotype them into being someone they very well may not be. Not only is it ridiculous and nonsensical it can be viewed as discriminatory and is unfair.

How does this apply to college?

College is a very diverse idea –an idea where people from all over the world coming from different walks of life, of different cultures, race, gender, sexual orientation, religions, financial backgrounds, and social classes can come together to gain an education. The beauty of the idea is to diversify the individual in the walk of education and to broaden not only their wealth in the great disciplines of the academic world but to also broaden their horizons past those from which they came pertaining to culture, religious beliefs, etc. College is liberal by tradition yet it has been infiltrated by the blinders of stereotypes and discrimination. Even at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte certain stereotypes are present and can be noticed. For an example taken from “Yik Yak”, a social media application which uses anonymous posting, people express the stereotypes of Indian students all smelling like curry and being radical Islamic terrorists. Of course neither one of these stereotypes is true; these stereotypes are offensive and create an atmosphere in opposition of the idea of college. Likewise Tatum expresses in her article several ideas about racial stereotypes. Tatum speaks of how ethnicities and races naturally separate in high school cafeterias, although it happens not only in the cafeteria but in every venue of life. Tatum believes this “segregation” happens because of societal points of view that focus on race. An African American student is identified by society not by their personality but as a young black person. They are pointed out by the color of their skin instead of other attributes. African Americans do not need to be reminded they are African American; race is not something that just happens it is something an individual is born with, it does not change so there is no point in reminding someone.  Tatum also speaks about the point in life which usually comes during a young adolescent age in which an individual begins to identify themselves. Society identifying a young person by race can lead to that person identifying themselves as a person whom should fit in with other people of similar race. This is not necessarily problem. Yet, a person should be free from bias to choose to be a part of any group they like. This idea Tatum brings about can further itself into manifesting people to identify themselves with stereotypes given to races they are supposed to identify themselves with according to society and can be made to believe this themselves.

How does this relate to movies about college?

“Yik Yak” is not the only media output in which stereotypes about the people attending college are expressed. Movies which debut nationwide and sometimes worldwide about the U.S. college atmosphere also include stereotypes which are against the idea of college as a whole and can create scenarios unconducive of diversifying the individual and may even restrict learning, especially leaning pertaining to cultures and whatnot other than that of which the student came from. This is not saying all students will be affected by these media outputs; however, it will affect some and is unjust. Tying this back to the movie How High, many stereotypes are presented in this film which is seen by college students, parents, and future college student’s worldwide potentially affecting their way of studying different cultures, races, religions, etc. One scene in the movie portrays a Halloween party thrown by the lead characters Silas and Jamal. In this scene they are evidently doing something non-kosher to Harvard –throwing a raging party. In this scene Jamal and Silas being among the few African American students at Harvard are being stereotyped into a category of African American’s being trouble makers as well as drug users.   There is a clear separation between the Caucasian students who seem knew to this idea and the African American students and friends invited by Silas and Jamal. It is portrayed as something white people are not accustomed to. Using Tatum to support the idea of these stereotypes being unjust, a person who sees this film can be influenced into identifying themselves with the stereotypes presented and feeling a sense of this scene from How High being the way things should be. It can leave a bias impression especially upon a young mind. This shows a failure of society. Society should not accept this oppressive ways of thinking much less idolize it by “loving the film” even if it is a comedy. It hurts not only the idea of college but also adolescents who are trying to identify themselves.

Bringing it all together

In simple, stereotypes are unfair, unjust and discriminatory. College is a place that should be free of the diversity strangling affects stereotypes and discrimination create. Society has made it allowable for media even movies which are featured nationwide and sometimes worldwide to display stereotypes and discrimination that abolishes the principles of college being a place to culturally diversify. It is an unjust act for society to allow these actions and imparts a biased mindset of the feature civilians of our nation as well as leaving a bad taste in the rest of the world’s mouth as to what goes on at U.S. colleges. The worst part is these stereotypes have creeped their way into this nation’s colleges and it is unacceptable, yet society allows it and supports it through films like How High. This is most likely due to a lack of being informed about the impressions it leaves which Tatum discusses as well as the incorrect perception of college. Change would not come immediately, just as Rome was not built in a day, but several decades from now what would the atmosphere of any given U.S. college as well as the minds of future students and the minds of students parent be like if society put an end to media presenting these stereotypes. This civil tyranny to the idea of college has tarnished the great halls of U.S. colleges nationwide with no help from movies such as How High.∎

-Forrest Roberts