All Frat Boys are Rapists/All Rapists are Frat Boys

I’ve been thinking lately about the stereotype/cliché that frat boys are date rapists, and it’s been bothering me.

I’m not concerned for the frat boys’ sake. I’ve heard awful things about many of the frats on my campus, so if the reputation keeps girls away (or at least keeps them conscious of the dangers at frat parties) that’s definitely a good thing. And denouncement of date rape is always a good thing.

I’ve been feeling, though, that the frat boy cliché is just an easy way out of the issue. If the campus date rape problem is limited to frat houses, then it’s quite a simple problem: girls just shouldn’t go to frat parties or date frat boys. I don’t worry about people thinking that all frat guys are date rapists, but I do worry about people thinking that all date rapists are frat guys.

An example: a male friend of mine, when the issue of sexual violence came up, said "I’d say that at least 75% of the rapes on campus are committed by frat guys." I immediately disputed that, and he just said "Well, *I* still think that’s true."

I’m Canadian, and Greek culture isn’t nearly as big at our universities as it is in the U.S., so his statement bothered me even more. Regardless, in either country, date rapists are not just the obviously obnoxious guys who have "girls drink free" parties. The people committing sexual assault are not a specific type; some of them are frat guys or athletes, others are nerds, others are indie kids, others are musicians, others are in student government, and many don’t fit into any easy category.

Date rape doesn’t just take place in frat houses, it takes place in non-Greek student housing, campus bars, parking lots, classrooms, libraries and really any other location where someone can sufficiently isolate their victim.

I think that using the Frat Guy as the stereotype of a date rapist continues to obscure these difficult, uncomfortable, frightening realities. What do you all think? Do you think the frat guy cliché is an easy out, or do you think it plays no role in obscuring the facts?