Caroline Kitchener describes on the Atlantic web
site the gross hazing rituals many female students submit to in order to join
the “frattiest eating club” at Princeton (““There Is No Pressure for a Girl to
be a Girl”). The club is known for the heavy drinking, and all the accompanying
(often naked) shenanigans it encourages; and Ms. Kitchener (herself a Princeton student) says women already outnumber men among the aspiring
applicants. What do all these exceptional young women pursue as they apply for
membership in a club with somewhat questionable reputation? Apparently, they
now want to “join for the debauchery, not in
spite of it”; and few look back with any regret. So, why would this kind of
debauchery be so attractive, even to stellar female students at Princeton?
Ms. Kitchener essentially
accepts the answer given by some of the proud female members – they need a
temporary refuge from being judged all the time on the basis of outdated gender
stereotypes; and they want to be able to relax, be themselves, and be free to
indulge in this and that, without being criticized by anyone. This sounds
plausible, though judgmentalism has long become a (or perhaps “the”) new mortal
sin in highly educated social circles. But the explanation Ms. Kitchener
endorses sounds too much like a self-serving rationalization (and excuse) for
the behavior she describes – and,
naturally, does not quite criticize.
According to
psychologists and neuroscientists, the capacity for self-control is a limited
resource; and when it is chronically overtaxed, the result is often loss of willpower,
or – in scientific jargon – “ego depletion.” So students who find themselves in
this predicament may be more likely to succumb to – or even seek – all sorts of
avenues for self-gratification. For obvious reasons, this tendency would be
stronger at Princeton or Harvard as opposed to, say, Florida Atlantic
University; but it may be a lot broader – and could even partly explain the
whole counter-cultural revolution of the 1960s.
In all sorts of academic
and professional environments women still seem to face stronger pressures than
men – but men in highly stressful jobs have long sought ways to unwind or
rejuvenate themselves, too (with alcohol, drugs, and orgasms; but also through
sports, punishing fitness regimes, “fight clubs,” extreme competitions, etc.).
And if now young women want to join in on some of these activities, why should
they be judged? Perhaps the time has finally come for what one male member of
the Princeton club describes as “equal opportunity slobbery” – so that the
first few waves of feminist activists did not fight in vain…
