Any sexism?

jill84
Thu, 20 Mar 2014 01:41:14 +0000

I’m a senior at ND. I very rarely visit CC, but I logged in for this question.

I would respectfully disagree with the previous posters. The fact is that there ARE many gender relations issues here at Notre Dame, and that the enforcement of rules DOES seem vastly and unfairly different between men’s and women’s dorms. I raise these points not as a matter of “complaining”, or even as a matter of disagreeing with the rules here–in fact, I think there is merit to many of them.

What I have taken increasing issue with during my four years here is the fact that, while behavioral standards are the same for men and women on the books here, in practice, the enforcement is often very different. I could go on and on about how this affects life at ND (from the fact that women’s dorms are very empty on the weekends/most social gatherings are held in men’s rooms, to the atmosphere surrounding dating on campus, to the vastly different experiences/expectations for female vs. male residence hall staff, to the fact that in most men’s dorms, students can get off with a slap on the wrist for things like underage drinking or leaving dorms after parietals.) Again, I am not necessarily criticizing the standards, but the differential enforcement within the residence halls. It can create a very weird dynamic for female students.

A lot of the residential life/disciplinary standards have been revamped recently, so I have some hope that things will improve over time. I haven’t run into as many gender-type issues in the classroom or other sectors of campus. Some of the things I mentioned may not resonate with everyone’s experiences at ND (which is why I’ve tried to be pretty vague here.) But I think that giving a glowy perspective of gender relations and issues at ND is simply inaccurate. I have absolutely loved ND, but these issues have bothered me more and more over my time here.

My advice? Talk to current students, visit campus, and try to come to your own conclusions. I wish you all the best as you go through this process