Three little letters – “T,” “F” and “M” – are causing a pretty big stir. To thousands of college kids across the country, when combined, the letters TFM mean “total frat move.”
Behind the TFM name is a website. Best described as TFLN (Text From Last Night) meets BroBible, the website compiles reader submitted content of all things considered frat moves including wall posts, photos, links, and even apparel. While some of the content promotes the great elements of college Greek Life, other content blatantly displays its worst (think hazing, alcoholism, drug use, homophobia and sexism).
For those of you with sense of humor like mine, it is easy to get addicted to this site and laugh it off. You know submissions from people naming themselves things like “In Frat I Trust” and “Pretty in Pearls” are simply exaggerations and extreme spoofs on fraternity and sorority stereotypes. But it is also easy to see why some people are extremely upset about the way the site portrays Greek Life to those who are not members of it. An article in The Unofficial Stanford Blog shows this point of view. The most interesting part of the article comes from the comments section following it – the section itself has almost turned into another version of the TFM website, with almost 200 people giving their opinions about the site’s content and the blog author’s stance.
TFM is all about celebrating and embracing “bro-culture” so a good question to investigate is where does this intense love (and consequently hate) for for the frat fellow come from? The answer is that it has always been around. In a society which jumps from trend to trend like a child with ADHD, the trend of worshipping “bro culture” is pretty ever-present. Some times it ebbs and sometimes it flows like a newly tapped keg. Right now sites like TFM prove the keg is tapped and the bro-beer, whether good or not, is flowing.
Time.com talked about this bro-culture earlier in 2010 when the website brosicingbros.com was getting a lot of media attention. The article discusses the history of bros.
“Bros, by any other name, have been around for decades. They predate Animal House and continue to show up in pop culture in MTV series like Jackass and Bromance and in movies like I Love You, Man and The Hangover,” the article says.
Sites like TFM are using the Internet to turn the bro image into a visible and desirable market.
What do you think of TFM and the way bros are using the Internet to celebrate and promote the bro lifestyle? Is it a horrible representation of Greek Life or a fun way to laugh at the culture of it? Let me know your opinion in the comments section below.