Are you a part of the LAD Culture?

[Quackers]

Probably not considering you're in the off-topic sub-forum of a strategy video games forum.

Anyway here is a summary of a report written by the NUS who assessed female student opinion of male "lad" beheaviour.

New research published by NUS reveals that that 50 per cent of study participants identified "prevailing sexism, 'laddism' and a culture of harassment" at their universities.

Lad culture’ was defined by our participants as a group or ‘pack’ mentality residing in activities such as sport and heavy alcohol consumption, and ‘banter’ which was often sexist, misogynist and homophobic.

Respondents described university education as ‘gendered’ and cited issues such as the characterisation/status of particular subjects, classroom interactions, and negative attitudes towards feminism and gender-related topics.

‘Lad culture’ was thought to be particularly influential in the social side of university life. Extracurricular activities and sports in particular were singled out as key sites, and it was reported that sexism in such environments could spill over into sexual harassment and humiliation.

Nights out were described as key spaces in which ‘lad culture’ was in evidence. Participants highlighted that nightclub promoters (external to the students’ union) engaged in ‘lad culture’ as part of their business model.

For many participants, ‘lad culture’ had been significant in relation to their personal life. Many reported misogynist jokes and ‘banter’ circulating in their friendship groups which made them feel uncomfortable, and pressures to engage in profuse sexual relationships which made it difficult to establish and maintain commitments. Stories of sexual harassment and molestation were common, and there were also accounts of sexual violence.

Sexual harassment and violence were also very much related to ‘lad culture’. This included verbal harassment and ‘catcalling’, as well as physical harassment and sexual molestation. Groping in nightclubs was viewed by some as part of a ‘normal’ night out.

Anyway, I haven't yet read the report in full because I simply cannot be bothered. I will get round to it at one point and before the inevitable dreadful use of statistics and biases prove the above findings to be false.
So assuming this is all correct; what should be done to change the "lad" culture? How can we empower male students to not participate in this vile beheaviour?

Some people might think this type of beheaviour are the actions of a mob. If you do not take part you are socially excluded from the rest; obviously individuals do not want that and will choose to do things they might not do as an individual. Have you ever been a victim of this? Have you ever bowed down to a group pressure?

Anyway, what are your experiances of this type of thing? Are you at a British university? Have you seen this culture in action? Are you a foreigner and can see a similiar problem in your country?

Thoughts?

EDITS:
Here are a few links to LADDISH sites:

http://www.theladbible.com/
http://www.truelad.com/

 

[Antilogic]

I don't think the frat boy culture, as it is called here, is as prevalent at American universities as the movies make it out to be. I'm not sure about universities in the UK, was only in one for a month or two.

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

God no. I couldn't think of anything worse (well I could, it's just an expression that's all).

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Respondents described university education as ‘gendered’ and cited issues such as the characterisation/status of particular subjects, classroom interactions, and negative attitudes towards feminism and gender-related topics.

Sounds like the concern of humanities courses. Not sure how denigration of gender would even enter into discussions of regression models and demonstrations of analytical chromatography.

 

[Quackers]

I don't think the frat boy culture, as it is called here, is as prevalent at American universities as the movies make it out to be. I'm not sure about universities in the UK, was only in one for a month or two.

Aye the US beer pong loving, whooping, red cup plastic drinking dousch is a common theme in some of the more...trashier American films that make it over here.

It does seem to share similiar characteristics to this British phenomonon.
The particular problem that this report always comes back to is the problem with attitudes to the fairer sex. For instance:

Sexual harassment and violence were also very much related to ‘lad culture’. This included verbal harassment and ‘catcalling’, as well as physical harassment and sexual molestation. Groping in nightclubs was viewed by some as part of a ‘normal’ night out.

(From the last point of the quoted section in the OP)

Anything like this happen? I can validate the groping, the last time i went to a nightclub the ladies loved grabbing Quackers. Whilst I was ok with it (Flattering) I imagine a woman wouldn't..Who knows?! Maybe if your a good looking male you can get away with that!

 

[Quackers]

God no. I couldn't think of anything worse (well I could, it's just an expression that's all).

It reminds me, my mother who lived in Australia for a few years would complain to me about how some Australian men would treat their woman. They were "decades" in the past.

Surely, the typical Australian whilst drinking Fosters and BBQg shrimp is catcalling...right?

 

[Borachio]

^ Yeah. Australian guys have a poor reputation for misogyny, I'm told.

Ladettes are more my interest.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/5251042/Rise-of-ladette-culture-as-241-women-arrested-each-day-for-violence.html

A benevolent interest, I should add.

 

[Quackers]

Sounds like the concern of humanities courses. Not sure how denigration of gender would even enter into discussions of regression models and demonstrations of analytical chromatography.

I'm quite sceptical of this. I've done humanity courses at a college (thats 16-18 year old in the UK) and never encountered this type of gender hate which the report seems to be implying. Anyway, aren't STEM products 95% blokes anyway?

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Not so much in the life sciences, from my experience and some evidence I heard at some point (maybe I'll dig it up).

I'm curious as to the details of this "gendered" education though.

 

[Quackers]

I don't classify Biology as a science. That probably has the edge in females, for some reason.

When discussing chemistry, physics, statistics, computer science et al it gets to a big lecture hall of smelly blokes right?

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

Surely, the typical Australian whilst drinking Fosters and BBQg shrimp is catcalling...right?

He might just as well be reciting the entire the Justin Bieber discography in Shakspearean form whilst on a pogo stick given that analogy.

It has been proven in the census that in our 200 year odd white history that 7 people have drunken Fosters whilst throwing shrimp on a barbie.

Of those seven, five were terribly sunburnt Brits doing this in a limp attempt to fit in after getting pummelled in the surf and deciding for an easier option

 

[Dachs]

Surely, the typical Australian whilst drinking Fosters and BBQg shrimp is catcalling...right?

@ Australians supposedly drinking Foster's

 

[Kennigit]

I'm proud that the number 1 game played in the south in daylight is called cornhole.

RUSH ALPHA BETA GAMMA FALL 2013 "SOUTHERN GENTS FOR SOUTHERN BELLES" FALL RETREAT WHAT HAPPENS IN N'AWLINS STAYS IN N'AWLINS

i'm actually not joking about cornhole, southerners play it all the time.

 

[sophie]

No, [copulate] the Dodgers!

 

[BvBPL]

How can we empower male students to not participate in this vile beheaviour?

How do you empower someone to not do something? Have you been taking lessons from Peter Arnett?

 

[azzaman333]

I don't classify Biology as a science. That probably has the edge in females, for some reason.

When discussing chemistry, physics, statistics, computer science et al it gets to a big lecture hall of smelly blokes right?

Big lecture hall for statistics? HA! We had no more than 15 statistics graduates last year.

Also, about a third of them were females.

 

[Arwon]

@ Australians supposedly drinking Foster's

Also they're not shrimp they're prawns.

Also Australians really aren't any worse than Brits in these areas, in my experience of the latter.

 

[Quintillus]

I don't think the frat boy culture, as it is called here, is as prevalent at American universities as the movies make it out to be. I'm not sure about universities in the UK, was only in one for a month or two.

Depends on how common you consider it to be in the movies. It certainly isn't like everyone is part of it, at least at most universities. On the other hand, most universities have at least somewhat of a frat boy culture - how much varies widely. And even where the frats aren't as influential, some elements of that culture may be present outside of the frats. For example, you may have people who have nothing to do with organized fraternities or sororities playing beer pong and drinking from red Solo cups.

American universities do rather run the gamut on this, though. Washington and Lee down in Virginia has 90% of its students in fraternities or sororities; they probably aren't as rowdy as what you'd find at, say, Ohio University, but that's still going to leave a big frat boy culture. Then you have universities without any fraternities or sororities, and everything in between.

My university had about 40% of its students in fraternities or sororities, and while I didn't have much to do with them and few of my friends were in one, they certainly had a substantial influence on the weekend entertainment culture. How "laddish" they were, I'm not really sure, as I mostly avoided them. They did have heavy alcohol consumption; the other "laddish" traits probably varied by the fraternity. A couple of the more infamous ones had been de-certified shortly before or while I was there (although at least one of those continued to exist unofficially).

How to solve the issues? I'm not really sure; I'm not familiar enough with the mindset of those who are in that culture.

 

[Bugfatty300]

Well, at least Fancy Lads don't engage in such behavior.

 

[Atticus]

I thought the lad culture is more associated with football, beer and pub activities, that it's a working class and not university thing, and only lightly misogynistic and homophobic.