[20343] in APO-L
Gender Specific Activities
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Liston Bias)
Wed Mar 24 10:58:02 1999
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 10:39:00 -0500
Reply-To: Liston Bias <bias@POBOX.COM>
From: Liston Bias <bias@POBOX.COM>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
In reading all the post on creation of gender specific chapters and
acknowledgement for of the 1976 gentlemans agreement, I cant help but
think about who is making the decisions about what we can & can not do. In
many chapters today, there exist the possibility for students to never
have a chance of becoming a brother in their college career no matter what
they do or say. The not-so-obvious examples are the chapters that would
allow a pledge to complete the pledging program only to vote them out
because they do not embody the spirit of the organization. This vote
could result from an unwanted advance on influential member, conflict of
interest, perceived threat, personality conflict, etc. The more obvious
examples arise from gender specific chapters. In respect to gentlemans
agreement, the time has arrived when the first females are graduating from
institution where they never had the opportunity to experience Alpha Phi
Omega because of a decision/agreement that was made before they were even
born. For the all-male chapters that are currently out there, Im certain
they are thrilled with the vote of confidence they received from 1998
delegation. A delegation that surely had little/no representation from
the females at said institution seeking unatainable brotherhood.
I can't see a day when this fraternity would be okay with starting
all-male or all-female chapters. Legal consequences would probably
prevent it anyway. As someone who recharted a chapter in the past, I can
certainly attest to how difficult it can be to get the numbers right for
Regionals Director & Nationals. We had no problems finding members of
both genders to be involved, however, it was lopsided one or the other
(cant even remember which) and we needed to even out of numbers. By
adhering to the desires of the few individuals wanting an
all-male/all-female chapter, you will exclude those who have yet to come
from ever making a choice. As for separate-but-equal, that seems even
less likely since there is truly no such think in my mind.
Is it possible, however, to establish gender specific activities within a
chapter? I know that many organization have mens or womens night out, but
those functions are usually unofficial in nature to avoid the perception
of discrimination. Do any chapters have official activities that cater to
one gender or other?
Take Care,
Liston
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- Liston Bias The essence of pleasure is spontaneity.
Alumnus of Oklahoma State Univ -- Germaine Greer
Alumnus of Florida State Univ
bias@pobox.com
http://www.pobox.com/~bias
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