Kids Gone Wild? In Praise of Hazing

[rucky]

I don't think I'll have to say much to solicit opinions on this one...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0606200294jun20,1,2095825.story?coll=chi-opinionfront-hed

Kids gone wild? In praise of hazing

By Gary Alan Fine, a sociology professor at Northwestern University and the author of "With the Boys: Little League Baseball and Preadolescent Culture."
Published June 20, 2006


Hazing is good for America. Those of us who have been through fraternity (and some sorority) initiations, at one time a hallowed part of campus life, know that they develop shared feelings of honor and pride. But such rituals have been toned down in today's no-risk, litigious, surveillance society. Where once we accepted the rough-and-tumble of youth culture, now everything is examined through the thorny eyes of lawyers.

Recently, Northwestern University suspended some members of the women's soccer team from some 2006-07 regular-season games for hazing. Some players also received probation and others unspecified "additional disciplinary action." The men's swim team and the Northwestern Wildcat mascot squad also were punished in separate incidents.

The truth is that in almost all instances hazing is not harmful. Girls will be girls (and boys, boys) and any punishment will be ineffective. And hazing rituals have real benefits.

Initiations require mutual support and bonding among members. The initiates give up some of their dignity, smudge their reputations, because they know that others in the group will have done the same. They gain a confidence that their mates will support them through college and after. Those more senior know that the initiates wish to join with such intensity that they are willing to let themselves be humiliated. You agree to become the butt of a collective joke, shrouded in secrecy. No one will ever know, so one's public self is preserved.

(more)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0606200294jun20,1,2095825.story?coll=chi-opinionfront-hed

[Kutjara]

1. Sure, hazing is fine...

...as an introduction to a rigidly hierarchical, controlling culture that prides clubbiness and 'us vs. them' tribalism over community. In a society as alienated and psychopathic as ours, I can think of no better way to welcome new members to the lunatic asylum.

[rucky]

2. I think the writer has way too broad of a definition of hazing...

because wearing beanies is not the same as being paddled, and both are considered "hazing"

Now, what I think he's describing I would not consider hazing: the creation of artificial barriers put upon a group that they must overcome can work to build a sense of community and self-confidence - just as long as their safety is assured and the person laying the barriers is responsible and professional.

[Kutjara]

3. I agree, his definition is a million miles from what....

...I saw during my college days. Some of the frats at my college would strip guys naked and tie them to trees fifty miles from home with nothing but a quarter clasped between their asscheeks. Others would make pledges drink larges amounts of liquor and then drive them far away from home with no money. Still others would carry out their humiliation rituals in the main quad, in full view of passing students (the writer's idea that these are 'private rituals' is simply wrong).

Throughout the world, elites enforce dominance relationships by the use of such rituals. While wearing a stupid hat or having to sing an embarassing song in public may be harmless, it isn't representative of the kinds of hazing I've seen.

[yurbud]

9. you only have to look at guys like Bush to see how "healthy"

this is.

[yurbud]

7. and the only acceptable homosexual activity is ritual

sadism and humiliation in a frat house.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

4. sure. the hazing I experienced in JR High didn't effect me one bit..

:tick: :tick: SADISTS! :tick:

[dusmcj]

5. dumb (two-legged) animals. nt

[lakeguy]

6. bullsh*t

i joined a fraternity in college and there was no hazing. we didn't need to take away each other's dignity in order to bond or become friends. what a load of crap.

[yurbud]

8. this guy was raped with a mop handle at his frat and has

Stockholm Syndrome.

There is no other explanation for this.

Unless it's satire.

[yurbud]

10. frats are for people who want to contine their high school

social behavior of in and out crowd and naked cruelty.