Beyond bad behaving brothers: productive performances of masculinities among college fraternity men

Abstract

Research on fraternity men focuses almost exclusively on problematic behaviors such as homophobia and sexism, alcohol abuse, violence against women, sexual promiscuity, and the overrepresentation of members among campus judicial offenders. Consequently, little is known about those who perform masculinities in healthy and productive ways. Presented in this article are findings from a qualitative study of productive masculinities and behaviors among 50 undergraduate fraternity men from 44 chapters across the US and Canada. Findings offer insights into participants' steadfast commitments to the fraternity's espoused values; their acceptance and appreciation of members from a range of diverse backgrounds; strategies they employed to address bad behaviors (including sexism, racism, and homophobia) among chapter brothers; and the conditions that enabled them to behave in ways that contradict stereotypes concerning men in collegiate fraternities.Keywords: college men; gender; masculinity; fraternity "They are drunken, promiscuous, academically disengaged lovers of pornography, sports, and video games who rape women, physically assault each other, vandalize buildings on campus, and dangerously risk their lives pledging sexist, racially exclusive, homophobic fraternities" (Harper & Harris, 2010, p. 10). This view of male undergraduates is reflective of what is generally reported about them in the higher education and social science literature. While it is true that a fraction of young men engage in some of the most alarming acts imaginable, not all are as destructive as news stories and social science research suggest. Higher education and student affairs scholars (e.g. Davis & Laker, 2004;Davis & Wagner, 2005;Edwards & Jones, 2009;Harper & Harris, 2010;Harper, Harris, & Mmeje, 2005;Harris & Edwards, 2010;Harris & Harper, 2008) have recently argued that an increase in gender-specific services and educational interventions crafted specially for college men will lead to decreases in their self-mistreatment and a range of destructive acts associated with misguided masculinities.With the exception of cheating and academic dishonesty, Dannells (1997) found that the majority of college students who are sanctioned in campus judicial processes for property destruction, vandalism, public drunkenness, and other violations are International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 2014 Vol. 27, No. 6, 703-723, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2014 Downloaded by [Harris University] at 04:36 18 May 2014 men. Hence, Kimmel (2008), as well as Harper and Harris (2010), argue that at times college men behave stupidly and without good judgment. But what about those who are actively engaged on campus, make good grades, achieve healthy masculine identities, act responsibly and with honor, and respect women and themselves? Who are they and what can they teach us? Unfortunately, little is known about undergraduate men who act in these ways and embody such positive attributes. Some researchers (e.g. Harper, 2008;Harper, Byars, & Jelke, ...

Why is fraternity membership associated with sexual assault? Exploring the roles of conformity to masculine norms, pressure to uphold masculinity, and objectification of women.

“…Certain characteristics of the fraternity organization, such as members’ ideas about masculinity, reputation on campus, and racial composition, likely influence the attitudes of its members. For example, a qualitative study of 50 fraternity members across the United States and Canada documented fraternity organizations that engaged in “productive masculinity” in which members felt it was important to uphold their stated values by intervening when something racist, sexist, or homophobic happened (Harris & Harper, 2014). Similarly, Anderson (2008) conducted an ethnography with a large national fraternity chapter that actively rejected traditional forms of masculinity and instead embraced gay men, women, and racial minorities.…”

“…Finally, university administrators may want to look to fraternities who engage in productive masculinity for ideas on how to reduce sexual violence. Harris and Harper (2014) identified several conditions that help fraternity men engage in productive masculinity. For example, developing mission statements that include phrases such as "treating others with respect" and upholding those mission statements helped members engage in productive masculinity.…”

Narratives of queer men of color in culturally-based fraternities making meaning of masculinities

“…Though research exists about hegemony masculinity in fraternity life broadly (see Biddix, 2016 for a review of the literature), as well as the productive masculinities that also manifest (Anderson, 2008;Harris & Harper, 2014), it was important to survey the scholarship specific to culturally-based fraternal organizations. Namely, a subset of scholars has studied masculinities in the context of culturally-based fraternities (e.g.…”

Curricular and co-curricular activities associated with organizational values as identified by members of men's college social fraternities

“…Text-based data in response to open-ended survey questions and narrative responses have been identified as qualitative data sources (Kendrick & Wellman, 2002). Qualitative techniques have been regularly used in examining fraternity men (Alexander, 2020;Harris & Harper, 2014;Garcia, 2020). The research methodology in this study was inductive analysis, where researchers were most concerned with how detailed information can be classified into categories (Fraenkel & Wallen, 2006).…”