Last night's "Gender Unplugged" forum in the Top of the Hop drew six senior panelists and over 120 other students together in an impassioned dialogue about gender relations on campus. A recurring theme was the negative role the Greek system has played in relations between the sexes.
The six panelists, all members of the Class of 2000, were Courtney Banghart, Lisa Bianchi, Chris Cerf, Michael Evans, Jane Peachy and Tom Wellington. The discussion was moderated by seniors Lucy Buford and Louisa Serene.
The panelists each spoke of their perspectives on gender relations at Dartmouth before the floor was turned over to the audience members, who responded to the panelists' statements and to each other, with the panelists occasionally joining back into the discussion.
Banghart, a basketball star and member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, began by attacking the stereotype that female athletes are lesbians, calling it "unfortunate." She went on to criticize the lack of support for gender relations at Dartmouth, and concluded by praising sororities as a "social space for women."
Evans, who is unaffiliated and an African-American studies major, emphasized a need for seniors to avoid "complacency" in the process of shaping their values about male-female relations. He urged students not to "stay in that niche" of one's personal comfort zone.
Peachy, who identified herself as an "ex-athlete and ex-sorority girl" and a current co-chair of the Dartmouth Rainbow Alliance, read a passage by Kate Bornstein asking why we don't question "whether our gender stays exactly the same" throughout life. She described the categories of male and female as "limiting" and asked why there is no discussion at Dartmouth of transgender issues.
There are people who "don't fit into the category of man or woman," she asserted, asking why there aren't more Dartmouth students who "come out" as transgendered. Peachy said that even though Dartmouth is a coeducational institution, men and women are still separate in many activities.
She questioned wether single-sex organizations like fraternities and sororities help, noting that the positive aspects of the Greek system often cited by its proponents "only perpetuate this rigid system of gender."
Cerf, an economics major from what he described as "an inner-city background," told of the challenges he faced in adapting his ideas of gender relations from the inner city to Dartmouth. He also criticized a tendency he said some Dartmouth students have to make a certain group of friends and enemies during their first year and to remain too rigid, not allowing those relationships to change over time.
Bianchi, a drama major and member of the Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority, spoke next. In her speech, which often drew laughter and applause, Bianchi spoke of the image of the "typical Dartmouth male" who was "ranked number three in the U.S. in Playboy or whatever" and admitted to having been drawn to the stereotype in her decision to attend Dartmouth. She contrasted this with a quotation from a reserve-corridor table graffito: "Female beauty in Dartmouth is yet to be discovered." Why are the stereotypes of Dartmouth men and women so different, she asked. She closed by stressing the need for a "gender-neutral ideal" for evaluating each other.
Last to speak was Wellington, a member of the Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity, who called himself "the typical Dartmouth guy." He repeatedly referred to himself as "a recovering misogynist" in recounting his personal history, which included a background which discouraged him from seeing women as potential friends.
He explained that his fraternity experiences only reinforced these views. "I felt extreme pressure to regard women in a negative light," he said. After an off-campus experience that changed his views, Wellington said he became unhappy with the way the Greek system affects gender relations on campus.
After the panelists' remarks, which lasted about half an hour, the remaining hour was spent in a discussion which focused on the need to improve the way men and women at Dartmouth interact with one another, often pointing to single-sex fraternities and sororities as a culprit.
At one point, Wellington said, "The Greek system has to go" in order for gender relations to improve, a statement which drew extended applause. Later, he said, "People who say that there's no sexism in frats are crazy."
Other facets of the discussion touched on the feasibility of co-ed dorm rooms, the importance of male-female platonic relationships, the way gender relations extend into the classroom, the role of alcohol in sexual relations, the presumption of heterosexuality in the way we talk about gender relations, the need to create "new gender roles" for the Dartmouth community and the importance of the College's role in organizing more forums to discuss gender issues.
