Greek
hazing picked out, picked on by CSU
Daniel
Frias
A
few weeks ago I was over at a friends house
watching the movie Old School after we had
just finished playing basketball at the
a park in Downtown Long Beach. It was my
first time watching the film and I could
not stop laughing. The comical parodies
to fraternity life and pledging were hilarious.
The
movie brought back a lot of memories. I
could identify with many aspects of the
film especially the pledging process of
joining a fraternity. Not that I ever stood
on a wall and held a cinder block in my
hands with a rope wrapped around it that
was also tied to my shlong. Because we all
know that's hazing, and fraternities and
sororities don't haze, right?
Before
we get ahead of ourselves we must first
define what hazing is. Hazing, as defined
by Cal State Long Beach policy, is "any
action taken or situation created which,
regardless of location, intent or consent
of the participants, produces or is reasonably
likely to produce, bodily harm or danger,
mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment,
harassment, fright, humiliation, intimidation,
degradation, or ridicule, or otherwise compromises
the dignity of an individual."
So
basically anything that causes ridicule
or harasses someone is considered hazing.
So do fraternities and sororities haze?
The truth is they do. Of course Greek organizations
will deny this and say their process is
one of education and does not consist in
any way of hazing. This might be true of
some organizations but the bottom line is
hazing is hazing now matter how much you
try and hide it.
Hazing,
however, is not exclusive to fraternities
and sororities, as most people would like
to believe. Incidents of hazing have been
documented in the military, sports teams,
marching bands, professional schools and
other clubs and organizations. Hazing even
occurs in high school.
Yes,
school. Think about it. We've all been victims
of hazing at one point or another without
even knowing it. Being picked on by the
teacher and being made to read out loud
in front of the class is not only embarrassing,
but it's hazing. Having to run laps in P.E.
class and play sports is also hazing.
Having
to read so many textbooks and take so many
exams in class causes mental discomfort
does it not? Well it does to some students
and that according to school policy is hazing.
So how come nobody says anything about it?
Or maybe they do, but what options do you
have other than not taking the class. But
if you don't take the class you don't graduate.
What
about the military and police academy? How
come they are allowed to haze. Well, there
not, but they do it. Waking up early in
the morning and being forced to do physical
activities you don't want to and getting
yelled about by your instructor qualifies
as hazing. Yet somehow it seems to be accepted
or at least tolerated.
Why?
Is it because these institutions serve a
purpose and therefore their actions are
justified? Or is it because people wanting
to join these institutions don't have to
be there and can choose not to join?
If
that's the case then the same holds true
for college fraternities and sororities.
No one is forcing the individual to join.
Volunteers have the option of not joining
which many chose to do.
So
if different groups haze why is it mainly
associated with fraternities and sororities?
Because of the myth that hazing is primarily
a problem for fraternities and sororities.
A myth perpetuated by movies like Animal
House and Revenge of the Nerds. A myth the
media often reports on. A myth, that is
not true.
Hazing
is not just a problem for fraternities or
sororities. It's a problem for all of society.
It's a social problem because hazing is
an act of power and control over others.
In our society we have people with power
and people with out power. And as long as
there is an oppressor and the oppressed
there will continue to be hazing.
Daniel
Frias is a journalism major at Cal State
Long Beach.
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