Total Frat Move Summary

What is victory? What is failure? How do we know what state we’re truly in? In “Locker Room Talk” Stephen Dunn explores the conception of men boasting about their sexual encounters alongside women and persuades the audience boastful men who are presenting their victory of not yielding to the attractiveness and capability of women by not falling in love have actually failed through rhetorical strategies such as purpose, audience, and genre; pathos, logos, and ethos; and angle of vision. Dunn supports his stance on the journal by providing evidence and examples that emphasize the fear of falling in love to the general audience. Moreover, Dunn persuades the general audience through a reasonable, emotional, and credible approach on why men boast about their sexual encounters alongside women such as “Frankie made it sound dirty, something great you do with a bad girl” (Dunn, Locker Room Talk) and “A young man was telling his friend what he did to this particular young woman the night before, and what she did to him” (Dunn, Locker Room Talk). From Dunn’s angle of vision, even though boastful men feel victorious in their effort to not fall in love Dunn experiences sympathy for their actions as portrayed at the end of the passage “He thought we’d be happy for him” (Dunn, Locker Room Talk).

What is even stranger is that women fully enforce this sexual double standard. Over 99% of woman agree that women enjoy sex as much as men do, yet when asked to describe a woman who has had many sexual partners, over 59% percent of women used words that fell under the negatively connotative ‘Promiscuous’ category, using words like “slut,” “cheap,” “loose,” “whore,” “easy,” and “dirty.” Twelve percent of women even used words that would suggest that sexually liberal woman are psychologically damaged, using words like “insecure,” “lonely,” “desperate,” “needy,” and ‘unfulfilled.” Only 8% of women tagged a sexually liberal woman in the more positive category of “sexually focused,” the respondents feeling that “these women were uncommitted and focused on sex rather than the relationship” (Milhausen and Herold). In addition, “Women were more likely to discourage a female friend from dating a highly experienced male that a male friend from dating a highly experienced female” (Milhausen and Herold). This fact furthers the case for women’s involvement in maintaining the double standard. In a one study researchers found that “Women will endorse a sexual double standard in which women are judged more

The women’s liberation movement (or feminism as it is now known) of the 1960s and 1970s touched every home, business, and school (WA, 705). The movement even touched the sports and entertainment industries, in fact, “There are few areas of contemporary life untouched by feminism” (WA, 717). The word feminism in the early 1960’s wasn’t often used and when it was it was used with condescension or hatred. However, in the late sixties that changed thanks to a new group of women. This new diverse group of women included the: young, old, heterosexual, lesbians, working class, and even the privileged. This diverse group came together and collectively created the second wave of feminism.

In his essay, “Sexism in Practice: Feminist Ethics Evaluating the Hookup Culture,” Conor Kelly argues that the hook up culture prevalent in today’s society is sexist towards females. He argues that this culture gives off the illusion of freedom, but it instead disempowers women. Kelly begins by giving the definition of hook up culture. He defines it as, “the practice of pursuing sexual activity without any expectation of a relationship.” He then states what he believes are the four main factors that contribute to the disempowerment brought on by this culture: a lack of commitment, use of ambiguous language, alcohol use, and a social pressure to conform. Kelly then gives his argument as to why hookup culture should be concerning.

A bold title from a promising author was what persuaded me to pick “Still Needing the F Word” by Anna Quindlen. I am familiar with her work, her commencement speech at Mount Holyoke College being my latest read. As usual, she didn’t disappoint. Throughout this essay, her use of sardonic language cannot be ignored as she touches on deeper issues within our, contrary to popular belief, “pre-feminist” world. As she mocks the world’s oversensitivity towards the use of the “F-Word,” Feminist (if you were wondering), she analyzes the status of women’s rights in modern times through the lens of a study on female undergraduates at Duke University. Now instead of stressing to be the “perfect homemaker,” women must obsess over “being the perfect professional,”

“Just Treatment of Licentious Men. Addressed to Christian Mothers, Wives, Sisters, and Daughters” was one of many articles included in the first printing of the newspaper Friend of Virtue in 1838. The group behind the newspaper was the Boston Female Moral Reform Society (later to be changed to New England Female Moral Reform Society), made up of white women who were set on promoting sexual abstinence, and ridding society of promiscuity, prostitution, and in the process eliminating the sexual double standard. The article, written by a woman known only as L.T.Y., questioned the logic behind the treatment given to men and women who’ve had relations outside of marriage. For men the behavior was ignored- perhaps even expected, but women were cast

Throughout the book, Bogle places particular attention to gender differences. Supporting Bogle’s findings, there is still a double standard for men and women. Participation in the hookup scene is risky for women, while men have few, if any risks. Women who behave too “sexually” in the hookup culture have to recognize that there are repercussions. These repercussions include damaged reputations, being labeled, and being ostracized by peers. Women can get labeled, damage their reputations, or ostracized by having too many partners, hooking up with two guys that know each other well, dressing in a seductive manner, constantly hanging around a fraternity house, or drinking too much.

Feminism has been an explored topic since the early 19th century and has remained an important conversation in our society still today. At the time when Roxanne Gay was approaching this topic within her collection of essays, there were some major feminist triumphs occurring. 2014 was a time where Rape on college campuses was finally announced a national issue. In 2003, there were just 74 women in congress, yet 2014 was the year where we finally hit 100 women in congress. With all of the support and the successes of feminism at this time, it was crucial that Roxanne Gay discuss the way in which she fully supports the feminist movement, while staying true to herself. In "Why I am a Bad Feminist," Roxane Gay colloquially portrays how she imperfectly performs feminism in her daily life and how to deal with the constant struggle of trying to achieve "ideal" feminism while also being human. Gay touches on the fact that as a society, we place a high degree of pressure on women to be perfect. Whether the perfection lies in their looks, actions, or personality traits, women are constantly held to unrealistic standards. Gay effortlessly sheds light on this situation using rhetorical strategies to describe how she does not meet these standards. These rhetorical strategies include imagery, to create a picture of what she is saying, as well as a strong use of ethos and pathos, revealed throughout her essay. Instead of being ashamed she shares how to embrace her inconsistencies while still trying to be a feminist and role model.

In the book, Slut!—Growing up Female with a Bad Reputation by Leora Tanenbaum, she collects a multitude of testimonies from women who have been subjected to sexual harassment, physical abuse, rape, incest and slut-bashing from all ethnicities and locations around the globe. One astonishing truth approaches you at the beginning of the book. Tanenbaum enters a table that shows the positives and negatives of being a sexually active man and a sexually active woman, unfortunately the truth is absolutely ludicrous. The table states a total of two positives of being a sexually active woman; hot and sexy. On the contrary, it states three negatives for sexually active men, compared to the twenty-eight negatives for sexually active women. This list consists of names from “slut” and “Jezebel” all the way to “prostitute.”

Citation: Armstrong, E. A. et al. ""Good Girls": Gender, Social Class, And Slut Discourse On Campus". Social Psychology Quarterly 77.2 (2014): 100-122. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.

Kalish, Rachel. "I'm Not Gonna Not Have Sex": The Male Peer Group And Men's Sexual Decision-Making." Conference Papers -- American Sociological Association (2015): 1-19. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.

The media also constantly highlighted Knox’s other transgressions from traditional feminine notions, namely: “monogamy”, “non-aggression, cooperation and chastity” (Jewkes, 2004; Brennan & Vandenberg, 2009). Headlines that refer to her as a “lust-crazed” and “sex crazed American” with a “sizzling sex life” and “6 men on the go” underscored a discourse of promiscuity and her propensity for unconventional, polygamous relationships. The Mail on Sunday offers an account of Knox’s “sexually aggressive behaviour” in which she tried to “compete with men on their own terms’ in order to “capture [their] attention” (Churcher, 2007). In order to do so, the article contends, Knox played sports and engaged in physical activity, and once came “home looking like one of the guys, covered in mud after playing tag

Bogle, K. A. (2007a). Hooking up and the sexual double standard among college students. New York: Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA).

When did feminism become the new f-word? One important thing I have learned from this class is how oppressors tried to diminish the power behind the term “feminist”. Stereotypes emerged like the belief that all feminists are lesbians, hate men, and burn their bras. Robert George, a HWS first-year, shared his thoughts on what a

Expectations about appropriate gender role characteristics and sexual behavior have evolved throughout history, especially for women. In the 1700’s and 1800’s, the men’s role included earning an