Inside Greek U.: Fraternities, Sororities, and the Pursuit of Pleasure, Power, and Prestige » (1st Edition)

One in ten American college students joins a fraternity or sorority, and Greek social organizations produce a disproportionately large percentage of power brokers in business and politics. Statistics show that while these future leaders are on campus, they are much more likely than non-Greek students to engage in binge drinking and to be either the perpetrators or victims of sexual assault. In Inside Greek U., Alan D. DeSantis takes an in-depth look at the lessons that Greek organizations teach their members about gender, drawing on evidence gathered in hundreds of focus-group sessions and personal interviews and from his years of experience as a Greek faculty advisor. Inside Greek U reveals a Greek culture that imbues its members with the sense that "real men" must be unemotional, promiscuous, violent, and aggressively masculine, while "nice girls" should be nurturing, passive, domestic, and purely feminine. These rigid formulations contribute to maladaptive behaviors and beliefs, such as eating disorders, body image distortions, homophobia, and date rape and other sexual misconduct. Inside Greek U. aims to reform the Greek system rather than tear it down or sanction contempt for its members. DeSantis identifies narrow definitions of gender that impede Greek students' intellectual and emotional development and seeks to broaden these definitions, thereby expanding the range of acceptable choices available to fraternity and sorority members before and after graduation.

Elizabeth L. Winter - Library Journal

DeSantis (communications, Univ. of Kentucky) takes an ethnographic approach to investigating what members of Greek organizations at one university can tell us about the impact of Greek life on perceptions about gender among fraternity and sorority members. As a fraternity member himself and a longtime faculty and alumni adviser to Greek organizations, DeSantis takes an empathetic approach to his subject. Based on statistical data about Greek life from various sources, his own experiences with these organizations, and focus group and individual interviews with over 200 fraternity and sorority members, DeSantis's work addresses how traditional-sometimes exaggerated-gender identities are reinforced in Greek organizations, affecting members' views on issues such as sexuality, emotional intimacy in same-gender relationships, body image, and post-college aspirations. Always respectful of his participants, DeSantis produces a sympathetic work that seeks to help future members of Greek organizations to critique and avoid the often harmful gender ideals that fraternities and sororities can perpetuate. This book should be required reading for college students thinking about pledging a fraternity or a sorority. Recommended for academic libraries.

Contents
Introduction: Life at Greek University....................1
1. Understanding Gender....................19
2. Studs and Virgins....................43
3. The Tough Guy and His Date (Rape)....................77
4. Her Laxatives, His Steroids....................115
5. Bros before Hos....................153
6. Soccer Moms and Corporate Dads....................191
7. Cleaning Up after the Party....................217
Acknowledgments....................235
Notes....................237
References....................247
Index....................259