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William and Mary Student Op-Ed Justifies Vandalizing Fraternities

William and Mary Student Op-Ed Justifies Vandalizing Fraternities

“fraternities are a microcosm of the patriarchal, classist and white supremacist structures”

Aditya Mohan of the William and Mary student paper The Flat Hat also suggests that removing graffiti that’s been painted on frat houses is a form of censorship.

Fraternity Spray Paint Protests Justified In Their Accusations

The spray painting of “rapist” and “rape” on the fraternity houses was a much-needed action against terrible and powerful institutions. There are legitimate concerns both about erasing the vandalism and letting it stay: Erasing it would constitute censorship and possibly the silencing of survivors, while leaving the text may make the already traumatizing environment of fraternity row worse for survivors…

Within universities, fraternities are a microcosm of the patriarchal, classist and white supremacist structures that exist in society. It is important to recognize that instances of sexual violence are never isolated.

Rather, they are the manifestations of a culture with an ingrained imbalance of power that normalizes the violation of autonomy of one by another. And therefore, while sexual assault statistics should be enough to convince you that fraternities should be dismantled, I think it is a good idea to look at what lies at the essence of fraternities to see why they embody the culture of authoritarianism and inequality.

On the surface, the primary feature of fraternities is that they’re usually only inclusive to those whom fraternities recognize as men. There can be no justification for this segregation. Cis men in most societies — and particularly in our western society — have held power over women and forced non-binary and trans people into hiding. Fraternities’ hold on social power allows them to objectify women and reinforce the gender binary.

That is what is immediately apparent to most of the campus community. This is a symptom of a larger structure that enables people born with privilege to retain their privilege.

Hat tip to the College Fix.

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Comments

“The spray painting of “rapist” and “rape” on the fraternity houses was a much-needed action against terrible and powerful institutions.”

In the old days in Ireland, a bard would protest the “terrible and powerful” lords of the land by writing songs that made fun of them and then, if (when) that didn’t help, starving themselves to death right there on the lord’s doorstep. It was the ultimate protest.

Ahh for the good old days.

Not good. Defacing property is wrong and may lead to violence. What would be said if a frat member was to shoot an intruder. Picketing is a much better solution.