Hegemonic Gender Conformity, Greek Life, & Title IX: An Analysis of Sexual Assault

Enman, Shelby

Publication

Hegemonic Gender Conformity, Greek Life, & Title IX: An Analysis of Sexual Assault

Enman, Shelby

Date

2021

Additional date(s)

2021-05-19

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Justice reported that about one in four of all college females are victims of rape or sexual assault on their respective campuses (Fisher et al., 2000). Despite these trends, recent changes to Title IX present additional barriers to survivors of sexual assault on campus. While several studies have pointed to individual behaviors such as alcohol causing increases of assault on college campuses, this research seeks to contribute to a smaller body of work that identifies institutional factors that contribute to the prevalence of sexual assault on campus. Sororities and fraternities play significant roles in perpetuating cycles of gender-based violence on college campuses. The researchers draw on a purposive sample of college sorority women to conduct an IRB-approved study. Researchers will distribute online surveys to investigate institutional factors that reinforce rape culture and dominant gender narratives within sororities and fraternities at a predominately white institution in the southern United States. This study seeks to more critically understand factors such as the construction of space, party culture, and expectations of gender conformity as contributors to rape culture. Particularly, in light of the recent changes to Title IX, this work additionally seeks to identify ways in which new institutional requirements impact survivors' potential to report instances of sexual assault on college campuses. Finally, this research aims to provide an analysis of race and class in predominantly white sororities in relation to rape culture. Implications for practice, education, and research include the development of knowledge of institutional risk factors on college campuses, strategies for rearranging institutional norms in ways that result in more protective factors, and preliminary insight into how new Title IX requirements may impact college students' willingness to report sexual assault on college campuses.