It’s Friday night at a fraternity party, and the guy next to you is drinking jungle juice he said was only five dollars. You go to get a cup, and they only ask you for three. Women are forced to pay more for a lot of things (feminine hygiene products, healthcare, birth control, the sacrifice of the wage gap, etc.) and we can all admit it puts women at a disadvantage and enables the patriarchy to succeed. But to allow women only to pay less for this one thing—a drink at a fraternity party— is playing into rape culture.
It is easier for women to obtain that alcohol, and so they are enabled to drink and become drunk. I have no evidence to suggest that this discrepancy in prices actually encourages women to drink more, or faster, or to get drunk quicker than the men around them. But I have been told from fraternity men that women are like bait for the parties, whether they “intend” for that or not. When fraternities get a lot of girls to attend the party, more people overall show up; and in return, they let the ladies drink for cheap.
I understand that two dollars is not an earthshattering difference; I’m just suggesting that the principle of the entire thing is askew. I’ve been told this is a common practice among many or all of the fraternities on our campus, thinking that they are doing the ladies a favor, flattering them by letting them have cheaper drinks. My question is, can we think a little deeper beyond that flirting and that flattery to what the price difference actually suggests? Would you actually be upset if as a woman you paid the same price for a cup as the guy who pointed you to it?
Allowing women to drink for a cheaper price may not actually make them drink faster or consume more, but it sets the premise that women should have easier access to alcohol, because they are a commodity the fraternities need to entice people to their parties, not to mention reestablishing a gender binary. Parties already set up a risk for a lot of behaviors, including rape and assault; making it easier for one group to access alcohol over the other is, on the part of the fraternities, idly standing by while bad situations develop.
I am not a commodity. If we are to choose to attend these parties and drink whatever concoction they are trying to profit off of, shouldn’t we hold these groups somewhat accountable for the ways these social gatherings are structured? Maybe all the fraternities need are the gentle nudge of women willing to pay the full “male” price, if not for yourself, then for the women around you.