Stigmas surrounding women in higher education are false and condemning
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Centuries after women gained the right to attend university, there’s still negativity surrounding women in higher education. This stigma is found in the subtle growth of conversations that outwardly sexualize college women. It’s unacceptable and causes demeaning, sexist rhetoric to become the norm in an era when women are thriving in academia.
The negativity is directed both at women involved in specific communities on campus as well as those who attend institutions labeled as “party schools.”
Recent trends insinuate that women involved in Greek life are disloyal and unmotivated, with no concrete evidence to back up these claims. Women in sororities bear the brunt of the constant negative criticism about Greek life, especially in online spaces. Assumptions that women join sororities only to party or become sexually involved are entirely untrue and serve to reinforce a damaging stereotype that causes harm for women across campuses everywhere.
Men in fraternities aren’t scrutinized in the same way and aren’t victims of the same bigoted jokes. Sorority women’s reputations directly suffer from the parties that fraternity men orchestrate and throw, causing an alarming double standard.
Studies show that most women join Panhellenic sororities to become involved on campus, participate in philanthropic events or simply to make friends. Evidence also shows that women involved in sororities are more likely to form relationships with their professors, be involved on campus and land internships that jump-start their careers.
Stereotyping an entire group of unique women to fit the stereotype of “sorority girls” ignores the full picture. While there are issues within the Panhellenic community, the many positives of sorority life must be acknowledged.
Certain trends on social media perpetuate harmful stereotypes about women in college with a lighthearted facade. Videos discussing long-distance relationships in college with comments full of jokes about women cheating on their boyfriends may seem harmless, but they send a clear, blatantly incorrect message: all women attending that specific university aren’t loyal.
These jokes are targeted at certain schools. The Arizona State University TikTok trend insinuates that all women who attend ASU are “bops”— a demeaning term that labels a woman as promiscuous — and has sparked major conversation surrounding women attending university.
Women deserve to feel empowered in their educational decisions, not embarrassed or stigmatized.Aurora Moore, Columnist
Schools with some of the most competitive programs in the country are now considered “bop” schools, simply because they’re known to have a party scene. The grades and success of the women at these schools are completely overlooked because of this stereotype. Attending a party shouldn’t cause a woman to be labeled a “bop” — another issue itself.
Women attending university are multifaceted. Every woman has a different culture, background, major, favorite hobby, plan, set of beliefs and life experience. Choosing what college to attend is an extremely personal endeavor that involves lots of effort and hard work. Factors like major programs, financial aid, family and scholarship offerings plague the minds of anxious high school seniors every year.
Entering college is stressful enough without having to think about whether the university you chose will generate negative comments and labels. Stereotyping a woman who chooses a specific university based on preconceived notions is unfair to her and causes unnecessary stress due to judgment she might receive from peers.
Women fought endlessly for the right to be taken seriously in education. Years later, they still aren’t getting the respect they deserve. Being called demeaning and sexist terms simply because of the college you attend and how you choose to get involved isn’t fair — and to be quite frank, the jokes aren’t funny. Women deserve to feel empowered in their educational decisions, not embarrassed or stigmatized.
Aurora Moore is a sophomore majoring in law, society and policy. She can be reached at amoore56@syr.edu.
