In response to the letter to the editor "Hazing is Normal on Campus," in the April 9 issue of The Spectrum, I offer an alternative point of view.
In his letter, Cain Morano would have us believe that hazing is an innocuous ritual useful as an initiation into manhood, that feminists are to blame for the end of chivalry, and that there is one particular way for a man to be and act.
Morano's views are an example of an oppressive and insidious essentialism that would have all of us guarded by a stringent gender policy. It denies each of us all that we are by preserving and mandating a certain model of masculinity marked by aggressive behaviors such as hazing.
A manhood or masculinity that is defined by a barbaric act such as hazing is repressive to all men, especially those men who find themselves outside the limits of what is culturally considered to be normative, including racial/ethnic minority men, gay or bisexual men, poor men and other marginalized and non-ruling class men. As men who are attending a university, wouldn't we be better served by celebrating our achievements instead of lowering ourselves to an ignoble act like hazing?
As men - and as humans - we would be infinitely better off if we focused not on vain rituals such as hazing, but on loving our neighbors, showing mercy to each other and being peace and justice makers.
If the men of this world would stop hazing, harassing, hitting, shooting and killing each other and instead warmly embraced each other in a spirit of affection and kindness, then perhaps our world would be a better and safer place to live.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
