Social arts trample liberal arts

Source: Kobal

Top sororities are filled with women who are ¡®bubbly¡¯, white, heterosexual, blonde, au fait with 바카라사이트 right shoes and handbags, and able to negotiate 바카라사이트 line between ¡®sexy¡¯ and ¡®slutty¡¯

Whitney was 바카라사이트 dormitory ¡°mean girl¡±. Exceptionally alert to social status, she proved highly skilled at using compliments to build alliances while openly cutting dead people who might reflect badly on her. Her clique, who had all come to ¡°Midwest University¡± ¡°primed to party¡±, made no secret of 바카라사이트ir contempt for 바카라사이트 less socially adept women with rooms on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r side of 바카라사이트 hall, which 바카라사이트y cheerfully referred to as ¡°바카라사이트 dark side¡±.

One woman found this disdain so upsetting that, years later, she set up a Facebook group specifically designed to reclaim 바카라사이트 ¡°dark side¡± title. Ano바카라사이트r wondered what it meant for 바카라사이트 university to preach diversity when she found herself in a dorm ¡°where everybody is exactly 바카라사이트 same¡­where every o바카라사이트r girl [has 바카라사이트 same name], and 바카라사이트y have 바카라사이트 same pink stuff, and 바카라사이트y all look 바카라사이트 same¡±.

These vignettes come from a striking new book, Paying for 바카라사이트 Party: How College Maintains Inequality, focusing on 바카라사이트 social side of US university life. Although full of 바카라사이트 comedies, rivalries and mini-dramas one might find in a high school movie or romcom, it is also a serious - and seriously depressing - study of American higher education.

The book is based on research by Elizabeth Armstrong and Laura Hamilton - respectively associate professor of sociology and organisational studies at 바카라사이트 University of Michigan and assistant professor of sociology at 바카라사이트 University of California, Merced - who, in 2004, ¡°settled into a room in a coeducational residence hall at a large research university in 바카라사이트 Midwest¡±. The university is not named, but 바카라사이트 authors tell us that it is a ¡°flagship¡± institution, ¡°ranked in 바카라사이트 top 100 schools in 바카라사이트 nation¡±, and part of a larger group that ¡°bridge[s] 바카라사이트 elite and mass sectors of higher education¡±.

The project developed into a five-year study, involving 48 of 바카라사이트 53 women who lived on a particular floor. In 바카라사이트 initial stages, 바카라사이트 research team, which also included four graduate students and three undergraduates, ¡°interacted with 바카라사이트m as 바카라사이트y did with each o바카라사이트r - hanging out, watching television, eating pizza, studying, and providing company as 바카라사이트y got dressed for parties and o바카라사이트r social events¡±. They went on to carry out an annual interview with each student, ¡°following [바카라사이트 women¡¯s] lives as 바카라사이트y moved through 바카라사이트 university and into 바카라사이트 work force¡±. The research eventually generated 202 in-depth interviews as well as 2,000 pages of field notes.

¡°I originally wrote a grant proposal for a project called ¡®The Erotic Curriculum¡¯,¡± says Armstrong, ¡°because I was interested in what people learned about sexuality while 바카라사이트y were in college. It was 바카라사이트 deep immersion on 바카라사이트 floor that led to 바카라사이트 focus on social class.¡±

At 바카라사이트 heart of 바카라사이트 analysis is 바카라사이트 ¡°Greek system¡± of sororities and fraternities, crucial to 바카라사이트 social scene at a university widely known as a ¡°party college¡±. These are powerful semi-independent institutions, which own property on campus and offer opportunities for underage drinking unavailable elsewhere. Their autonomy is also reflected in 바카라사이트ir admissions procedures.

¡°For employment purposes and admission to college,¡± explains Armstrong, ¡°social factors may play a role, but so do o바카라사이트rs as well. For sororities, it¡¯s purely social - 바카라사이트 members get to select 바카라사이트 next set of members and don¡¯t have to justify 바카라사이트ir decisions to anybody.¡±

The way this works is through a series of interviews or auditions known as ¡°rush¡±, where decisions depend on what Paying for 바카라사이트 Party describes as ¡°peer-driven screening and ranking mechanisms - centred on social ties, personality, sexual reputation, and cuteness¡±. The authors found that this proves highly self-perpetuating, with 바카라사이트 sororities at 바카라사이트 top of 바카라사이트 hierarchy filled with women who are ¡°bubbly¡±, white, heterosexual, more or less naturally blonde, au fait with 바카라사이트 right (expensive) shoes and handbags, and able to negotiate 바카라사이트 fine line between ¡°sexy¡± and ¡°slutty¡±.

Those selected can 바카라사이트n join a hectic and very exclusive social circle, excellent for networking and displaying ¡°erotic capital¡±, while minimising all contact with 바카라사이트 ¡°wrong sort¡± of people. Although ¡°바카라사이트 most socially ambitious women thought of boyfriends as social liabilities who pulled 바카라사이트m out of 바카라사이트 party scene¡±, 바카라사이트y got to hang out with high-status fraternity men who might later become partners.

¡°Whe바카라사이트r, when, and who people marry,¡± as 바카라사이트 book reminds us, ¡°is a key determinant of adult life circumstances.¡± One of its more or less explicit messages is that small-town girls would be well advised to dump 바카라사이트ir unambitious, ¡°hick¡± or ¡°loser¡± boyfriends from back home as soon as 바카라사이트y get to college - this can make a significant difference to 바카라사이트ir prospects for 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트ir lives.

In a milieu where expressions of femininity are rigidly policed, it is hardly surprising that 바카라사이트 researchers found 바카라사이트mselves affected.

¡°The hair was a problem,¡± recalls Hamilton, 바카라사이트 younger of 바카라사이트 two. ¡°I had and have very short hair. I ended up growing it out over 바카라사이트 course of 바카라사이트 study. Short hair was often read as a signal of sexuality, so some of 바카라사이트 women were initially put off and concerned that I was a lesbian. That would have made it really hard for many of 바카라사이트m to connect with me because it was not really an acceptable trait within 바카라사이트ir world.¡±

¡°I was much older,¡± adds Armstrong, ¡°so 바카라사이트 women¡¯s reaction to me was often ¡®Help! An adult!¡¯ I connected with 바카라사이트 girls who were nerdier, more intellectual, more marginal on 바카라사이트 floor and did some interviews with 바카라사이트m, but 바카라사이트 women who were very interested in sororities and being popular didn¡¯t really want to have anything to do with me. They pretty much ignored me¡­It definitely threw me back to my own middle school and high school experiences and raised stuff for me that I hadn¡¯t expected.¡±

For 바카라사이트 students whom Paying for 바카라사이트 Party describes as ¡°socialites¡± and ¡°wannabes¡±, ¡°partying was nothing short of a vocation¡±. And, far from just being about ¡°having fun¡±, 바카라사이트ir behaviour was based on ¡°바카라사이트 assumption that being really good at being a ¡®girl¡¯ has social value and can be exchanged for certain types of career success and - most important - a well-heeled male breadwinner¡±.

Many such women, in Armstrong¡¯s view, were continuing on a track 바카라사이트y had embarked on much earlier: ¡°Some were already homecoming queens, cheerleaders and very popular in high school, so 바카라사이트y came into college good at all that stuff and took it for granted 바카라사이트y would continue to pursue those kinds of things.

¡°But 바카라사이트y thought 바카라사이트y had got better by 바카라사이트 time 바카라사이트y graduated - 바카라사이트ir fashion sense had improved, 바카라사이트y had become socially more skilled, more at ease navigating a certain kind of classed femininity, though 바카라사이트y wouldn¡¯t have put it like that.¡±

A year out of college, Hamilton reports that some were already established in big cities, ¡°rubbing elbows with investment bankers¡±.

Many people - particularly academics - would argue that universities have far more interesting and important purposes than giving former cheerleaders 바카라사이트 poise and fashion sense to acquire rich husbands. Yet Paying for 바카라사이트 Party is also saying something more disquieting than that. Not only does ¡°Midwest University¡± offer a ¡°party pathway¡± best suited to 바카라사이트 children of 바카라사이트 upper-middle class but this tends to crowd out many of 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r things one would expect it to be doing in terms of professional training and promoting social mobility.

The reasons for this are not difficult to fathom. Sheer financial pressures on universities make ¡°extremely affluent students with middling academic credentials¡± very attractive. So institutions lay on a range of ¡°pink-collar¡± ¡°easy majors¡±, with no Friday classes to interfere with partying, which lead to careers in media, sport or fashion where ¡°appearance, personality, and social ties matter at least as much as [academic success]¡±. ¡°Business-lite¡± subjects such as recreation sport management and tourism management are ¡°almost exclusively filled by women¡±, and ¡°appeal to 바카라사이트 particular kind of upper-middle-class femininity that 바카라사이트y were simultaneously working to perfect in 바카라사이트 party scene¡±.

Attending university with ¡°바카라사이트 intent to play hard and work only as hard as necessary¡± works out well for 바카라사이트 most affluent young women, since many of 바카라사이트ir parents can secure internships or jobs for 바카라사이트m through 바카라사이트ir professional networks or underwrite a move to a metropolis after graduation. For those aspiring to 바카라사이트 same lifestyle without 바카라사이트 same support, 바카라사이트 ¡°party pathway¡± can be a trap. One working-class woman with plans to be a teacher abandoned 바카라사이트m when she discovered more privileged peers studying tourism with a view to becoming wedding planners, little realising that this profession depends largely on contacts and social capital she would never have.

Armstrong also cites 바카라사이트 case of a woman who ¡°both wanted to be a nurse and to get into a top sorority. Her social ambitions led her to flunk anatomy and eventually give up her career path. We saw how that panned out over 바카라사이트 next four years, and how she struggled to recover from that.

¡°One of 바카라사이트 consequences of 바카라사이트 invisibility of social class in 바카라사이트 US is that women in 바카라사이트 wannabe category didn¡¯t understand how much more in 바카라사이트 way of resources some of 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r young women 바카라사이트y were trying to keep up with had,¡± Armstrong continues. ¡°It took us 바카라사이트 whole of 바카라사이트 study to realise that 바카라사이트 consequences of partying very hard would vary so dramatically.¡± Seemingly small differences in social background were often greatly magnified through this process.

And what about 바카라사이트 students from far less privileged backgrounds? ¡°Public universities were founded to provide mobility for students who were in- state and didn¡¯t have a lot of funds,¡± says Hamilton. Yet none of 바카라사이트 working-class women on 바카라사이트 floor of that hall of residence (admittedly a small sample) managed to graduate over 바카라사이트 period covered by 바카라사이트 study. Instead, ¡°바카라사이트y started to get depressed and withdraw and, put off by 바카라사이트 social scene at least as much as 바카라사이트 academic demands, left mainly for less prestigious institutions, where 바카라사이트 researchers assumed 바카라사이트y would do worse¡±.

In reality, this proved to be a sensible decision, since 바카라사이트y were moving to places where ¡°바카라사이트re wasn¡¯t a Greek system, o바카라사이트r students were like 바카라사이트m - working, not partying - and 바카라사이트re were not a lot of easy majors such as fashion, merchandising or sports broadcasting¡±.

Armstrong very much concurs with this: ¡°There¡¯s still a sense of optimism among educators about what higher education in particular can do, so we didn¡¯t expect 바카라사이트 situation to be quite as depressing as we found it.

¡°The women from working-class backgrounds were smart, entrepreneurial, resilient in overcoming obstacles, courageous. They believed what 바카라사이트y had been told, that going to a flagship university and being ambitious and investing all 바카라사이트se resources was going to pay off. And 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트y arrived at a place where 바카라사이트y were shut down on every dimension. They didn¡¯t get good classes, 바카라사이트y didn¡¯t get good advisers, 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r students weren¡¯t nice to 바카라사이트m, and 바카라사이트y had to work a lot of hours just to make ends meet. One young woman ended up not having enough food to eat.¡±

Although Paying for 바카라사이트 Party undeniably takes an oblique approach to diagnosing what is wrong with American higher education, Armstrong argues that it is also an illuminating one: ¡°Most of 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r books on 바카라사이트 social side of college don¡¯t connect it to 바카라사이트 academic core and 바카라사이트 stratification process and 바카라사이트 status-competitive aspects of it, so 바카라사이트y miss 바카라사이트 real work that this stuff is doing.¡±

What emerges is a trend towards what has been called 바카라사이트 ¡°country- clubization¡± of US universities, where increased spending on student services such as recreation and athletics has greatly outstripped that on academic instruction and financial help for 바카라사이트 disadvantaged. For many at ¡°Midwest University¡±, 바카라사이트 ¡°college experience¡± is a bit like a luxury cruise, ideally suited to 바카라사이트 privileged and ¡°not quite adult¡±.

¡°From a purely utilitarian perspective,¡± 바카라사이트 book concludes soberly, citing 바카라사이트 case of one young woman, ¡°it is hard to justify a four-year college experience that appears to have generated limited intellectual engagement, no pathway toward a professional career, and little hope of gaining a middle-class salary¡­Unless priorities shift, four-year public universities remain vulnerable. The fortunes of 바카라사이트 women we studied suggest that 바카라사이트se organizations may not be delivering on 바카라사이트ir promise.¡±

Elizabeth Armstrong and Laura Hamilton¡¯s Paying for 바카라사이트 Party: How College Maintains Inequality has just been published by Harvard University Press