My writing this column is a testament to the College’s progress in gender equality, since 40 years ago, key aspects of my anatomy would disqualify me from attending Dartmouth. But I think we can agree that Dartmouth, just like the rest of society, needs to make progress. Female faculty members, for instance, are still underrepresented in math and science departments, and the same trend holds true for students. Recent studies have shown that this phenomenon is not due to an inherent male superiority in these fields. Rather, it is the result of a society in which young girls are told that boys are naturally better at math.
Residual sexism also extends beyond the classroom into our social spaces. Campus microagressions — such as a saying that compares sinking half cups in pong to having sex with an overweight woman — betray hostile and derogatory attitudes toward women. These problems will never be wholly ameliorated unless we begin to address what it means to be a man just as often as we consider what it means to be a woman.
Female gender stereotypes have already been addressed rather extensively both here on campus and beyond. Even the Supreme Court has made rulings that purposefully undermine female gender roles like the stay-at-home mother (Frontiero v. Richardson), and most people I know think women should have careers. These are notable, laudable steps. However, although I have enjoyed the fruits of many women’s rights movements and Rosie the Riveters before me, I have not noticed the same necessary challenges to harmful male stereotypes.
Here at Dartmouth, the concept of the “Dartmouth Man” stands as our version of the masculine ideal. This subjective and amorphous stereotype portrays a high-earning hard drinker with a penchant for wooing women and upholding College traditions; and all too often, the behaviors that this idea inspires harm both individuals and the campus community. Though the Dartmouth Man is obviously College-specific, the alpha male ideal still stands, with widespread legs and a confident grin, in much of the country.
The existence of a masculine ideal is dangerous and problematic. I have never thought about fulfilling the expectations of being a Dartmouth woman, because, thankfully, a historical stereotype does not exist. That idea doesn’t echo in the College’s wood-paneled halls because no Dartmouth women existed prior to 1972. Neither should a concept of a masculine ideal. Rather, every person should be able to decide what it means to be a person, outside of gendered parameters.
The brand of masculinity that the Dartmouth Man embodies is not just harmful to the Dartmouth community (though I do think it is a driving force behind certain “macho” behaviors, like urinating on others and hazing), but also to the men who strive toward it. Constantly feeling impelled to question one’s masculinity can lead to troubling consequences, as men who feel threatened act out to prove their masculinity in a destructive manner. Clearly, there is personal deviancy involved and the fault ultimately lies with the individual, and I am not suggesting that every man who wants to be “The Man” will commit heinous acts, but I do think controlling behaviors stem in part from a desire to live up to bizarre societal expectations.
In addition to overturning and challenging pervasive and problematic feminine stereotypes, we should look to undermining male stereotypes as well. At the College, we must work toward challenging the Dartmouth Man ideal by questioning its dangerous aftereffects.
