Bro-pacalypse: the TFM movement.

Some of you may have heard of Total Frat Move for those who haven’t you should take a look. It is a website dedicated to the fine men and women of the Greek community. The problem is that it shows none of the good things that Greeks do but instead chooses to focus on the “Frat”, Fratty, TFTC (To Frat To Care) , alcohol induced, female objectifying lifestyle stereotyped onto Greeks.   Total frat move is an impeccable example for Micheal Kimmel’s Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men . The premise of guyland is this: Today, growing up has become more complex and confusing, as young men drift casually through college and beyond—hanging out, partying, playing with tech toys, watching sports. But beneath the appearance of a simple extended boyhood, a more dangerous social world has developed, far away from the traditional signposts and cultural signals that once helped boys navigate their way to manhood—a territory Michael Kimmel has identified as "Guyland." Micheal Kimmel in my opinion gives some awful stereotypes into what it means to be a man. Some of his examples have a grain of truth but others are blatant generalities presented as "facts". TFM and its content are perfect examples to his book in reference to the transition age 16- 26 for men. A wet dream for Micheal Kimmel but I have something to say about it. I am not generalized and I refuse to follow the stereotypes expected of me and I think others would feel the same way.

                It is so wrong what is being portrayed. I am a member of Greek life so I may have a bias. For me Greek life is not about what they portray. Few and far between are the articles that are in anyway useful.  I feel I am not the only member of Greek life that feels this way and avoids the “TFTFC” lifestyle. I joined a fraternity to make an impact on my community not add a mountain of solo cups to a landfill. I wanted to boost my resume and do something worth doing.  I will just read off a couple of the top of the year wall posts I found worth sharing.

·       *  For some reason my Chik-fil-A sandwich tasted like the First Amendment. TFM.

·       *  There's nothing quite like a nice, cold beer after a long day of drinking nice, cold beer. TFM.

·       *  Keeping her sexually satisfied and emotionally disappointed. TFM.

·       *  Girl: "I won't sleep with a guy without dating." Me: "Well, I won't commit to a car without a test drive." TFM.

·        * You know she's a keeper when her first choice is the iron piece in Monopoly. TFM.

                For my Greeks who agree with me I ask you to send in letters as well.  For those who disagree with me on this and like TFM the way it is and think in some way it benefits us I do not even know how to change your mind. Look at what is portrayed, would you want your children, employers, relatives to see this website and reflect its values onto you? To you live your life by the Frat lifestyle? Is that really what you want to be you want people to see you as Frat?

                So now you have an idea of what actually goes on this website. I would like to make a change I think that TFM has the viewership to make a big change. So I ask this from the people over at TFM. Quit pushing this stereotype so hard, not everyone in the country has money to blow and makers mark in the cabinet, we do not all have trust funds and go golfing. Some people work hard to change things and would appreciate some honest help. If you are going to continue advertising as a website for the Greek Ladies and Gentlemen start writing articles for ladies and gentlemen.  All I ask is to hold your selves to a higher standard and make a difference. Write articles about the good things being done, write about the different community service events, fundraiser events, academic achievement and  philanthropy’s that the Greeks across our fine nation do. Otherwise you are dooming Greek as a whole, no dean is going to look at your website and feel confident in the Greek life on their campus and I do not imagine my future employer looking to good at me for being Greek if they think I am TFTC.

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Justice?

                I am assuming that most of you have seen or heard the news in the last couple of weeks pertaining to the manhunt for Chris Dorner. Just in case though I will fill you in about what had actually happened. Chris Dorner was fired by the LAPD for accusing a partner on the force of misconduct. The Manifesto of Chris Dorner gives an inside look to what is wrong with our justice system and the corruption that is occurring. Dorner has had an inside look at the corruption and exposes it rightly so as it should not be allowed to be swept under the rugh anymore. The Manifesto also gives us a great look into the mind of a killer and the hive mind that is our society.

               

               There is so many different thing that are incredibly messed up throughout this whole thing. The fact that the LAPD is accused of misconduct and squashes all evidence of the event. An honest officer who was in the right getting fired for crossing the “blue line” a certain we look out for our own attitude on the force. Then the Manhunt was another whole story, shooting at innocent people because they assumed that they were Chris Dorner solely because they may have been black and driving a silver ford ranger. But what is worse the LAPD and its conduct or the fact that as a society there are people that can now feel sympathy for a murderer some even calling him a hero for showing what is wrong with the system. Sure he did not go about it in a great way eventually ending up supposedly killing himself but he definitely did get the attention drawn to the LAPD.

                Once again the conversation on gun control will be in the news again and everyone will get blamed but those whom are actually responsible. What do you think about this does it scare you we have people not necessarily rooting for a cop killer but rooting for the underdog trying to expose the system or maybe even the fact that our system can be so broken that this kind of action seems necessary to some people. I personally think that the blatant racism in the force is the worst part about this whole case. The LAPD has confused multiple people with Chris Dorner simply based on skin color. The justice system has been put to the wayside for this whole case. The LAPD and its officers decided that they were rightfully the judge, jury and executioner. They did so by firing upon people who were not correctly identified as Chris Dorner as well as burning down the house that Dorner was holed up in during his final hours. They sufficiently sentenced him to death without any plans of bringing him in. 

What do you truly know about Greek life

Taylor Ross

1/23/12

                So I am not a person who would consider myself a “blogger” I have done many blogs for miscellaneous things but, I have never been one to express my thoughts well into words unless it is about something that truly gets me all kinds of hyped up. With this in mind; the topics I plan to write about are going to be of things that are most prevalent and important in my day to day life. For my first blog the only thing I could think about was my fraternity. I do not want to speak solely about my fraternity but, my experiences through my fraternity will be seen. Feel free to disagree with what I have to say but at least read my words with an open mind.

                As with many large groups of people those of us who choose to go Geek face some serious stereotypes.  The media portrays the Fraternity/ Sorority lifestyle nearly always in a bad light. Movies like Animal House, Old School, and T.V shows such as Greek show poorly upon what it means to be a member of the Greek community. The medias portrayal is one in which all members are tasked as troublemaking, constant partying, and hazing. Sure these attitudes can be seen in members of Greek communities but, it is unfair of people to assume that all members are the same without knowing them. Personally I hate stereo types. They are a stupid thing that the human brain once developed to better ensure our survival. Now we have long since lost the need for it anymore but the use of these stereo types has been engrained in us for so long it can be difficult. All stereotyping is really is a simplified and standardized conception about the characteristics or expected behaviors of an identifiable group. The problem with this is that stereotyping can lead to prejudice and that can lead to discrimination.  It may sound whiney and pretentious for me to complain about prejudice against those who identify as greek. It would only sound pretentious to those who view the Greek community of low importance and those people who think that there are different levels of prejudice. Those are the people who are the most in need to learn more. Personally I view all prejudice as the same. Some people face more prejudice but it is all the same in its vileness.

                When people head off to college with preconceived notions based on the media and its portrayal of different kinds of groups I feel as if they miss out on many opportunities. I feel as if joining a fraternity was one of my best decisions so far in my life. I cannot imagine where I would be if I had invested more into the medias portrayal of Greek life.

1.       You'll make real friends: some of the best friends I have ever had I have met through the Greek system. When we call each other brother it is not in the same way most people. We don’t just say brother we mean it. It is amazing how close to being a family a group of people can be.

2.       You'll learn responsibility: Without my participation in the Greek system life would be a lot more difficult. Currently I am new member educator for my chapter, member of our Greek council plus all year round we are organizing philanthropy events, fundraisers, and socials.

3.       You'll make connections: Networking, networking, networking possibly the biggest pitch given in order to gain new members for any organization.  The people you will meet through the Greek community can at some point help get you a job. You can make great friends through these connections and even better memories. It’s amazing the situations in which we can run into a member of the Greek community.

4.       You'll gain a good dose of self-esteem: There is no better feeling than truly accomplishing something big. My chapter set up a huge haunted house for St. Jude Childrens hospital we did not make a lot of money for them in the end only donating 500 dollars but we all got to be proud of what we had done.

5.       You'll earn points on your resume: In the Greek community you will put on hour after hour of community service on your resume. Teambuilding workshops you will more than likely attend. Plus all the real business skills you learn by setting up all of these different events.

Some fun statistics from greekadvisor.com to help clear away some ideas you may have about  Greeks still.

There are over 9 million Greek members nationally

Of the nation’s 50 largest corporations, 43 are headed by fraternity men.

85% of the Fortune 500 executives belong to a fraternity.

40 of 47 U.S. Supreme Court Justices since 1910 were fraternity men.

76% of all Congressmen and Senators belong to a fraternity.

Every U.S. President and Vice President, except two in each office, born since the first social fraternity was founded in 1825 have been members of a fraternity.

63% of the U.S. President’s Cabinet members since 1900 have been Greek.

A National Conference report shows a high percentage of the 4,000 NIC fraternity chapters are above the All-Men’s scholastic average on their respective campuses.

A U.S. Government study shows that over 70% of all those who join a fraternity/sororitiy graduate, while under 50% of all non-fraternity/sorority persons graduate.

Less than 2% of an average college student’s expenses go toward fraternity dues. (U.S. Office of Education)

Over 85% of the student leaders on some 730 campuses are involved in the Greek community.

1 st Female Senator was Greek

1 st Female Astronaut was Greek

All of the Apollo 11 Astronauts are Greek

Over $7 million is raised each year by Greeks nationally

The Greek system is the largest network of volunteers in the US, with members donating over 10 million hours of volunteer service each year

71% of those listed in “Who’s Who in America” belong to a fraternity

As Alumni, Greeks give approximately 75% of all money donated to universities

There are 123 fraternities and sororities with 9 million members total

There are 750,000 undergraduate members in 12,000 chapters on more than 800 campuses in the USA and Canada