This week many '97 women will face one of the most degrading aspects of the Greek system at Dartmouth. During rush, many fraternities invite naive freshman women to attend and hostess their rush parties.
But "hostess" is a misleading term ' instead of having a friendly and comfortable evening, most women feel that they have been invited simply to decorate the fraternity for prospective pledges.
Last year I was one of these women.
Only two weeks after arriving fresh from Minnesota, I looked in my Hinman Box one morning to find a slick invitation requesting me to "Grace the brothers of ___ fraternity with my lovely presence during formal rush." Formal attire required, of course.
I naively assumed I was being invited to my first college formal, and unpacked my high school Homecoming dress in excitement. On the way to the house, with two other "lucky" invites, I quickly noticed that there were no other women wandering around the freezing campus in heels. Before I even arrived at the house I was nervous.
Once inside, it became clear that no other women were coming.
I felt extremely uncomfortable and embarrassed among so many strange men, and I wrapped my jacket tighter around my dress.
Very soon the entire house seemed to be looking at us, and I began to feel like I was on display. One brother seemed to feel as embarrassed as I did, and he pulled me away from the circle of smirking men around me.
I asked him what was going on, and he explained that the house usually asked some women to attend rush parties to "make the prospective pledges feel more comfortable."
I wondered why they didn't invite women from the same class as the potential pledges, or friends of the brothers, if the real objective was to create a comfortable social scene. I realized then that I had put myself in an extremely compromising and degrading situation, and left without even removing my coat.
Now I know the true nature of this tradition.
Each year the brothers of some fraternities flip through the Freshman Book and invite the "prettiest" women so they can impress their prospective pledges.
They can only invite freshwomen, since they are the only women on campus who don't know the real purpose of the invitations.
This is also the reason for the ambiguity of the invitations, offering no explanation, but requesting formal attire and graceful, lovely presence.
Most freshwoman are excited for the parties, but once they arrive, they quickly realize that they are only there to be checked out and examined, and most leave disgusted and humiliated.
This experience is an extremely negative introduction to the Greek system at Dartmouth. It exemplifies the degrading treatment of women that fraternities are infamous for.
The evening I spent "hostessing" was one of the most uncomfortable and humiliating evenings I have ever had, and I hope this column helps '97 women decide how they want to spend their first nights at Dartmouth.
