Belligerent Banners

Imagine this: you're eighteen years old, fresh out of high school, finishing a long road trip to your new home. The excitement and nervous jitters of beginning college are consuming your body and brain. You're about to meet the people that will become your best friends for life. You're about to finally have the opportunity to study what you're interested in. You're about to come out of your shell and experience life long journeys. Then, as you drive down the street, a fraternity catches your eye with banners hung on the house saying, "Rowdy and Fun, Hope Your Baby Girl Is Ready for a Good Time", "Freshman Daughter Drop Off", and "Go Ahead and Drop Mom Off Too". What would your reaction be? Would you laugh at the seemingly inappropriate joke? Would you be offended? Or, would you simply just be scared? Everyone has a different reaction.

Adrienne Lafrance wrote an article for the website known as "The Atlantic" entitled, About Those Banners at Old Dominion describing the incident and the publics reaction to the "offensive banners." She then discusses how many react
ions were laid back, one person even stating "it's just boys being boys." However, the most interesting aspect of the whole incident were the comments left on the bottom of this article.

The comments range from women and men being infuriated by these banners to others stating that "it doesn't matter and no one cares" or even people stating simply that "frat guys being stupid isn't news." One commenter known as "Blogvader" wrote, "This is the most overblown story I've seen in a while." Another blogger responded to this comment stating, "There is nothing 'overblown' about this story for the reasons outlined by the author in this piece. Those banners were offensive and an insult to women. How can you not understand that?"

The people who are commenting on this article are most likely men and women between the ages 18 and 30, possibly some a few older, due to the fact that the fraternity was targeting young college students. The people writing the comments are appealing to college boards by trying to prevent these events and help eliminate the rape culture. The other half are appealing to those who make incidents like this headline news, attempting to prove that this episode is not shocking or newsworthy. The controversy in these comments are very apparent as well. People are claiming that this event "is no big deal" and that it is just "frat guys being stupid" however this is a huge issue because the fraternity is encouraging the rape culture. When people are expressing that these banners are not "newsworthy" they're allowing others to believe that encouraging tasteless behavior and rape culture is okay, which it is not. 

There is clearly a distinct line between the fears presented in the comments. Half of the commenters fear lesser events which are not relevant to society as a whole are going to become news rather than events that are important. The other half of the commenters are worried about themselves or others actually being abused, taken advantage of, or just simply scared to attend college. From my personal experiences and beliefs, those who believe these banners were wrong came across more reasonable. Rape is not a "funny" topic, it is not something that should be made into a joke, therefore I see this as a very serious issue. Being a freshman in college for only a week now, I have already noticed a significant difference in the way males approach women and how they speak to others. Sometimes this can be very terrifying and college should not be a place were one feels scared or unsafe. Overall, the comments on the article were extremely varied and everyone is simply going to have a different opinion on the issue.

Citations:
LaFrance, Adrienne. "About Those Banners at Old Dominion." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 26 Aug. 2015. Web. 27 Aug. 2015.

Sigma Nu Fraternity Suspends ODU Chapter after Display of Sexually Suggestive Banners." WTVRcom. N.p., 24 Aug. 2015. Web. 27 Aug. 2015.