College Party Life
College parties at JMU, both on campus and off-specifically off-campus, may seem a mish mash of little planning, teenage hormones, beer induced chaos and the new found freedom, for some at least, from ones parents. This however is just a superficial observation. The college party scene at JMU is highly ritualized, even regimented. According to your social status, the people you know, activities you are involved (mainly sports), and the way you look, act, and dress all affect your experience of a college party.
The universal party night for students is Saturday, JMU students being no exception. For most students at Madison, the week is wrought with worry and toil over books, notes, classes, and exams. One reason to explain why parties sometimes get the way they do, is that Saturday night for students is a catharsis, all the pressure that students feel can be forgotten and they can act freely in what they feel is a worry-free environment.
For me, Saturday Party Time (SPT) starts around anywhere from 8 to 10 that night. The time depends on what kind of party is planned, a very large dance party, or a smaller quieter get-together of some member of the Cross Country Team. In order to get to where I always party, Pheasant Run, I have to take the bus. This is where the night really starts. If I take the bus at 8, I am usually one of only a handful of people on the bus. Usually I go at 10, though, and it is quite evident that a party is going on somewhere. By ten Saturday night there are usually over a hundred students waiting at the bus stop. I don’t even bother dressing up; I prefer jeans and a tee-shirt with a pair of worn sneakers and a hoody with a hole in the back of it. I am no...
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...d gender status (Robbins 2002: 175-78). Females dress in revealing ways so as to become more desirable, thus they not only spend an inordinate amount of time choosing clothing, but also in person grooming and accessorizing. In this way, females present themselves as targets, to be picked up, taken, and/or dominated by the males.
This is also reinforced by the method of dancing that is currently popular among party -goers. The positioning of the male and female, in which the male puts his hands on the female and is able to control her movements with his body shows the acceptance of male dominance and the subordination of females, at least in sexual and dating matters. This is an example of social stratification by gender (Robbins 2002: 216). Women are made to do an inordinate amount of work and preparation for Saturday night, only to be taken control of by males.
Each gender has its little tells and associations, the movie Victor Victoria depicts gender cues very accurately and well. Victor Victoria is a movie about a woman, who wants to have a successful singing career, but in order to do so she must pretend to be a man pretending to be a woman. This movie takes place in the 1930’s in Paris, France during the winter time. One gender cue I noticed was how women and men wore their coats differently. Men tended to wear their coats over their shoulders without putting their arms in the sleeves and women, wore their coats a help their coats together with their hand placed close to their chest, indicating they feel cold. Another gender cues I noticed was when Carole "Toddy" Todd, played by Robert Preston,
It is free will which keeps men away from being enslaved, physically and spiritually. Once a man has free will, he can make decisions on himself, thus he is not belonged to anybody else but himself. This free will is valued by Transcendentalists; it makes a man free of outsider’s control, and the man can create instead of imitating. Transcendentalists also expected the people make their own decisions based on conscience instead of what the authority is saying. In order to achieve that, one needs free will. A great transcendentalist, Emerson, expressed this idea in his essay Self-Reliance. In his essay, Emerson asked people to seek the truth from themselves instead of somebody else. Emerson supported that idea with the examples of great masters such as Newton, Washington, and Bacon. These great masters did not find truth from somebody else but themselves. Nobody taught them, therefore they taught themselves. By creating instead of imitating, those great masters left great legacy for the society. Transcendentalists also believe in action. According to Transcendentalism, everything in this universe is connected to each other. One’s action is going to affect others, and the effects of that action are eventually coming back to him. If an injustice is going on, one cannot excuse himself from not acting to justify the injustice. Not acting to correct injustice is an act to participate injustice; the injustice is eventually going to happen to whoever is indifferent to that injustice at the first time. Another great transcendentalist, Thoreau, used himself as an example of this idea. Thoreau was opposed to the Mexican war and slavery, because he thought those are injustices done by the government. While he strived to correct those injustic...
The large number of sororities and fraternities around campus create a large party environment. Frat parties can get extremely rowdy and a number of them have to be shut down by local police. Obviously, the police being involved to shut something down is never a good thing and is clearly a sign of negativity for the overall atmosphere of any campus. Plus, the constant partying that goes on weekend after weekend really cuts down on the amount of time students spend studying. The excessive partying also takes away the significance of the education that is provided by universities, which is seen as a huge negative impact for universities and students. This argument is completely disputable! As stated earlier, Greek students have higher graduation rates and higher accumulative grade point averages than students who are not a part of Greek organizations. If Greek students can throw parties and continue to achieve admirable grade point averages, why can’t non-Greek students? I was unaware that every time I have a good time at a university, it would be taking away the significance of my education, that notion is honestly illogical and shouldn’t even be considered as problem caused by Greek organizations. This issue seems to be a non-Greek student problem that is being pushed onto Greek organizations. Maybe if they were all Greek students they could continue to party while maintaining a decent grade point
Additionally, in the book US FOREIGN POLICY, Michael Cox (2012) concluded that “China’s peaceful rise has largely consoled its neighbors and the United States that it remains a status quo power. However, as it has risen, there are some (perhaps an expanding number) who predict this will lead to increased regional and global competition” (p.266). Clearly, Michael Cox indicated the point that there might be more competitions in the future relation between China and the rest of the world no matter China rises peacefully or not. In particular, China and the United States will face many intense issues since they are the two giants in th...
In the movie “The House Bunny” a former playboy bunny turns the “unpopular sorority into the stereotypical party girls. The movie “Sorority Boys” also portrays that sorority sisters are snobby girls. “Most Americans, even those non-Greeks who have attended American colleges with Greek systems, know little about the inner workings of these groups—except perhaps for what has been portrayed in movies.” (DeSantis) One could go their whole life and always think that there is nothing more to sororities than partying, because the closest they have gotten to a sorority is through the
Greek Life, or the presence of fraternities and sororities, exists in many colleges and universities. According to Michael Grandillo in an Encyclopedia article, “there are more than 5,500 chapters on 800 campuses throughout the United States and Canada.” Although Greek Life is so common, participation in such organizations can be a controversial topic, particularly when critics suggest that hazing can be detrimental to students' health and college careers. For those who do not know much about Greek Life, or the process that one goes through to become affiliated with this system, there is first a week called “rush week,” where fraternities and sororities host parties in attempt to cajole students into joining their organizations. If members of a fraternity or sorority like a particular student, they will vote to give that student a “bid,” which gives that student the opportunity to pledge their organization. If the student accepts the bid, his pledge process will begin, which generally lasts between six to ten weeks. Assuming the student sticks it through, he will be admitted into organization and will be rewarded with the benefits of membership for the remainder of his life. Despite the fact that some Greek organizations engage in intense hazing practices that may result in reduced grades for pledges, it is beneficial for students to participate in Greek Life because organizations force students to create strong bonds among one another while learning important lessons, they prepare students for their future careers, and they provide students with great networking opportunities.
The history of fraternity and sorority was invented years ago due to the limitation of regulations on student’s activities and clubs. They are mainly known for their work and service within the community and campus. But the questionable act of sorority and fraternity impact on student’s education and life is the main concern. The commitment and dedication of members within sorority and fraternity overtakes majority of student’s life. In the journal, “The Effects of Fraternity/Sorority Membership on College Experiences and Outcomes,” authors Asel, Pascerella and Seifret, provides the explanation of a Greek’s life experience and the outcome of it. Studies has showed that the number of students spend more hours per week participating in extracurricular
or there is class in the morning going out and partying is not going to help
...presents unity and pride within the school, which brings the students and the faculty closer together. This helps the students to feel a part of something and can lead to helping how they feel individually. It can lessen the stress of worrying about the outer appearance and support the attention of the students focus on the studies. In the long run, changing over to school uniforms will be beneficial and help the education system. If the idea was pushed forward and eventually it was accepted, it would not seem so foreign or wrong. Schools should want to build an environment where the students compete based on how well you learn and race to become the top student instead of becoming the most popular. Eliminating that one extra problem of school attire and making school uniform required clothing will become a solution in many of the schools on-going issues.
middle of paper ... ... women know and think that if they don’t act or behave to their expectations they will. looked down upon and possibly neglected by their family and society. To avoid losing friends and family, most male and female, construct their own role in their life.
Uniforms in public schools system have reduced social barriers between students. Uniforms promote equality for all students regardless of income or status. There would be absolutely no controversy created over who has the most fashionable clothes in schoo...
Masculinity and femininity are two terms, which have been interpreted differently throughout history. Both the males and the females have responsibilities and duties but these duties differ based on one’s gender. Gender has played a prodigious role in the economy, politics, and the society. Everyone starts making interpretations of the strengths and weaknesses based on one’s gender. These interpretations are not always based on his or her ability but is usually based on his or her gender. Males tend to be judged as extremely strong and unfashionable in terms of appearance. Whereas, females are judged as expensive and very fashionable. Males and females both differ in their abilities and their enjoyments. Fashion, entertainment, and strength are three topics, which are used to define masculinity and femininity in the 21st century.
The social construction of gender leads to the creation and sustainment of sex roles that we have been taught to adhere to since birth that results to social doings through the creation of gender – who we talk, how we dress and who we associate with. Men are taught to masculine qualities like not crying and women are taught to do feminine characteristics like playing with dolls and wearing dresses. A prime example of this is in the article written my Diane Reay, that analyzes the construction female behavior, where those who identified as “girlies” care about their appearance and we regarded to as stupid by their classmates. Those who challenged the feminine norms, where referred to as “spice girls” and labeled as bitches or little cows by their teachers because they where thought to be negative influences to the rest of the class. Reay states that, “boys maintain the hierarchy of social superiority of masculinity by devaluing the female world,” (Reay, 2014, pg. 257) by esteeming males over females, it creates gendered expressions that depict once gender more promising that the other in society, where self-declared tomboy Jodie stated that, “Girls can be good, bad or- best of all – they can be boys,” (Reay, 2014, pg. 257) which solidifies the social norm of males being better than
Imagine a world where there was no organization, and it can be related to a public school. Imagine a world with no violence and gangs and class separation, and you can relate it to a parochial or private school. This is quite possibly due to the fact that the private and parochial schools use uniforms. Public schools have recently stepped up to their 'A' game around the country by implementing a new dress code. This dress code involves the required clothing in uniforms, which for a boy may include, a blazer, a polo shirt, a tie, khaki pants and dress shoes; and for a girl, a polo shirt with a plaid skirt, white socks and dress black shoes. This type of attire in school puts students in the mindset for future life, while making them feel as if they are accomplishing a great deal. While uniforms were first used in England as a source to ostracize poor children who could not afford attire, their purpose has changed drastically over the past century to represent the complete opposite then their origination. The use of uniforms have been par...
A new experience, a change from the norm, looking out for myself, and living on my own: for me this is college. The transition of high school student to college seemed immensely overwhelming and even a bit scary. The shift opened a can of worms and created challenges, both good and bad, behind every corner. Due to the change of scene, I am now dealing with the everyday acceptance of the greater world around me: the town, the people and my new life.