Starting tomorrow, swarms of young college coeds will shed their North Face jackets and Ugg boots, gather up their gals and embark on their perennial migration to the sunny beaches of Cali, Cabo or the Big Easy for spring break. These girls long to retreat from the rigors of academia and sprawl out on the warm sand to relax. College men, on the other hand, typically follow in hot pursuit, hoping to catch glimpses of browned skin exposed through teeny bikinis.
Testosterone, to borrow from Shakespeare, doth make fools of us all. Even some of the best of us men can't help but think from below the belt on occasion. Our Molotov cocktail of hormones has at long last transformed us from the squeaky-voiced and pimple-faced phase to the vital, fertile stags of Marquette. We dream of sowing our wild oats with Johnny Appleseed-scale ambition.
As the only male Viewpoints columnist, I rise to defend my fellow brethren and our healthy libidos. Growing up outnumbered by women in my family and circles of friends, I've come to realize that women in their own ways are every bit as flawed as men. But there are lines — lines which, when crossed, summon a deeper, greater instinct that moves good men to protect afflicted women.
After a dance hosted by my fraternity on Friday, I watched a movie with my date, who was a close friend I'd asked to come in lieu of my girlfriend who is studying abroad. It was very late by the time the movie was over, and she called a LIMO to take her home. She lives near 24th and Kilbourn, less than a block outside Student Safety Patrol's boundaries. I thought about taking the LIMO with her to walk the block to her front door and taking a LIMO back to my apartment, but how dangerous could one block be?
Later I discovered it wasn't the walk home but the actual LIMO ride itself where she was harassed. While trying to exit the van, a male passenger whom she did not know blocked her from leaving and asked her to let him stay with her for the night. She refused his repeated solicitations and ultimately had to push him out of her way to clear a path to the door. She walked the one block to her home in fear.
She shared a similar story of another female friend from that weekend. Walking home on Wisconsin Avenue Friday night, a van full of guys pulled up next to her. Sticking his head out the window, one of them called for her attention with "B*tch" and asked for directions. She ignored them, but they continued shouting obscenities at her until she eventually told them (at a distance from the van) how to reach their destination.
I've always dismissed women's complaints of men hitting on them. You can't blame a guy for trying, right? But hearing that my friends had been so viciously disrespected by men was shameful and appalling. Is this misogyny still so prevalent?
Whatever your preconceptions of fraternities may be, the ones on this campus have a mission for brothers to help one another become the highest caliber of men they can be. Respect for women is a foundational value for fraternity men, and decent gentlemen may have a hard time understanding that women don't always experience the same basic courtesy from other men.
Those of you looking to party this spring break, take my advice. Women, keep safe company and remember you can do better than a shirtless bro in a visor on the beach who seems like fun despite the way he treats women. Men, don't be a bro. Warm weather and no classes don't give you a right to let your reproductive organs make your decisions and guide your behavior. Don't throw gentlemanly manners to the wind at the first barely-covered set of breasts you see. And ditch the visor, you look ridiculous, man.