There’s a difference between young women who choose to attend an all female college and young women who go to a co-ed college expecting a fairly equal number of men and women and discover that there aren’t. At least a decade ago, there was an article about UNC-CH–which at the time was 60% female and climbing—and the impact that had had on campus.
There was a time when lots of MIT males looked askance at their female classmates because it was so much easier to get in. At some LACs, it’s that situation in reverse. The males in the AGGREGATE are less qualified than females and the female students know it. At some small schools like Vassar a fairly large percentage of the student body may be openly gay, so if you are a straight female the pickings can be pretty slim. I’m NOT talking about getting a MRS degree. I’m just talking about having a chance to have some romantic experiences in college. And, as you get older and move up to being a senior, the pickings are even slimmer.
I know young women who ruled out Haverford because of the nearby presence of Bryn Mawr, which they felt skewed the “real” ratio for social purposes. But there are also a lot of other colleges in Philly.When you go to a rural LAC where it’s less likely you’ll meet people from other schools it’s more of an issue.
I agree that the issues are the “'same old” ones. “Reviving Orphelia” was a popular book about the issue a good number of years ago.
Also…it’s just reality IMO that medication has made in much more common for students with mental health issues to attend college. A generation ago, a young woman with anxiety, depression, or suffering from an eating disorder was highly unlikely to graduate from college. Now, thankfully, they can. But yes, there are more young women with these disorders on campus now so the percentage of female students on campus with these issues has increased. It doesn’t mean that the percentage of young females with these issues in the US has increased. Maybe it has—I don’t purport to know. But a LOT of the freshman females with these issues had them before they entered college.
Back in the day, lots of young women had these issues–looking back the Homecoming Queen at my high school almost certainly had anorexia, but none of us had ever heard that word.