Oh, to be a freshman again. I remember the days when I bought every single book for all of my classes, tried my best to finish all the reading assignments, and got the phone number of every single new person I met. I still have tons of random names in my phone. This new College Freshman meme is taking me back to those days. Here’s the best of the College Freshman meme – see anything you recognize?

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Last week we considered a few stereotypes about men that are true, while Mr. He Said over at COED magazine thew in his two cents about female stereotypes that are accurate. This week, I’m looking at stereotypes about men that aren’t true, from tears to sports to mechanical abilities.

Men don’t cry.

Absolute bullshit. Crying is fantastically cathartic and men should not be denied this privilege. I’ve seen men weep and thought not a whit less of them. Granted, no one wants a soppy, weeping mess snivelling on the couch every other day, but the same is true for women. Men shed tears and that’s reality — they should stop trying to deny it.

Men can fix anything.

Oh, honey. No. You can’t fix that busted GPS/electrical socket/carburetor/hole in the wall. Especially since you haven’t read the instruction manual. Just call in a professional, okay? I promise I won’t think less of you. Read More »

As a member of a Greek organization, I’ve encountered various stereotypes about Greek Life since I first went through recruitment (also known as rush). These range from the understandable to the completely absurd, and I’ll get to those later. What really irks me is that many of these stereotypes are started and perpetuated by things such as the media or one person’s experience, things that can be radically different from what going Greek is really about. In my opinion, this fact can lead members of Greek life to subconsciously embody these stereotypes, simply because it seems like that’s what sorority and fraternity life is supposed to be.

House parties, mixers, hazing, drinking, sex…what seems to be forgotten are the positive facts about going Greek, and there are many. A whole article could be dedicated to someone’s opinion on why going Greek is amazing, but I’m not here to write specifically about that. What I am here to write about are the most common stereotypes that apply to sororities in particular and why these stereotypes are not always truth. (It’s also worth mentioning that  stereotypes can vary from campus-to-campus and person-to-person, depending on individual experiences.) Read More »

MTV’s reality explosions, “Sixteen and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom,” sparked controversy and debate around the nation. Leading to speculation, judgment and even, at times, envy, these shows offered America a small glimpse into the lives of young, teenage mothers. But take away the lights, the camera, and the millions of viewers and wonder what it would actually be like to go through senior year of high school with a baby bump. Would you feel anxious and excited or alone and scared? Would your family and friends support you or leave you and your growing belly behind? Gaby Rodriguez, a student at Toppenish High, took it upon herself to find out the answers to these riveting questions.

With a looming senior project ahead of her, Gaby Rodriguez, a 17-year-old “A” Student, decided to fake her own pregnancy as a social experiment. Spending 6 ½ months of her senior year with a wire mesh and cotton quilt belly, Gaby tried to understand the stereotypes and rumors that go along with teenage pregnancy. She took careful notes of what was said not only to her face, but also behind her back. Only a handful of people knew the truth about her charade, including her best friend, boyfriend, mother and principle. The rest of her fellow students, siblings and teachers were left out in the dark with their criticism. Her boyfriend’s parents thought it was going to be a boy. Read More »

Over the years, college kids have developed a universal stereotype as sex-crazed alcoholic party monsters. And while that may be true for some of our classmates, it’s a little bit off to say that this is all you can expect from campus populations. Or is it?

Just kidding, of course it is. How can you say we’re all the same when there are SO many more stereotypes out there that we can place college students into? Extensive research into the subject–aka watching a few Old School-esque campus-based movies–will give you a little insight into the type of people you can expect to meet once you set out to earn your degree.

But how do you know if all of these stereotypes are true? Things may vary from campus to campus, but overall there are a few people you can expect to make and break the stereotypes that have been established by years of party school movies and headlining college scandals. Here’s a little guide to what I’ve learned to be true and false regarding college stereotypes.

A few weeks ago, CollegeCandy posted a piece on How to Have the Best Vaginia in Town, a post that featured a number of ridiculous, but real vajazzling techniques (which, by the way, was not supposed to be taken as serious suggestions). But even with so many crazy options to choose from, the issue that really took over the comments was the idea of waxing at all.

The opinions were strong and varied and led to an eighty comment debate on the appropriate way to wax your pubic area, if there even is an appropriate way to do that. So with all that backlash, we thought it might be a good idea to create a post that attempts to dive into some of these issues as well as attempt to determine why such a personal choice has become such a public issue at all.

So really, we’re not answering any of your questions, we’re just trying to understand them. This post is not trying to sway you one way or the other. I’m just laying out some differing opinions and creating a forum for discussion. And I thought the best way to do that would be to go straight to your comments. So why is this such a big issue? Why do women have such differing opinions on it? And should we even be attempting to justify something that we ourselves have called medieval torture?  Let’s find out.

Comment # 1: Shaving down there is no worse than shaving ur legs or ur arm pits for that matter. It’s all in what u (as a woman) like. 

Can it be that simple? Can it be as easy as girls, to do what you want to do because you want to do it, whether that means living with an entire forest or going bare. Be comfortable and confident in your decision and just go with it. Don’t worry about what other men or women think. It’s a nice thought, but that’s easier said than done, especially after reading comments like the one below.

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According to an article on Gawker, there are only three types of students left in college: the snob, the dropout, and the cheater. We at CollegeCandy found this analysis to be total bullsh*t spewed by someone who hasn’t seen the inside of a lecture hall in 10+ years rather flawed, for it omitted several all-too-common college students.

Based on our own scientific research and findings (read: actually being in college), we have decided to share the stories of the most obvious of Gawker’s lost stereotypes.

These are their stories. [Insert Law and Order 'ching ching' sound here.] Read More »

My friend called me her favorite Oreo.

“You know,” she said, “black on the outside, white on the inside.”

I stared at her, trying to figure out what I could possibly say to that. She thought she was genuinely complimenting me. I mean, I don’t even like Oreos.

We had just gotten our SAT scores back and I had done really well, surprising even myself at how much knowledge cramming I had retained. But apparently my friend thought scoring well on a standardized test is something that doesn’t fit with the black race. I just changed the subject because I didn’t want to seem touchy or like a drama queen, but instances like these have happened to me so many times. I’m fed up!

Do I get classified as an Oreo because I’m a voracious reader (apparently all those SAT flashcards paid off)? Or because I might seem reserved when you first meet me? Or is because of one of the other billion facets of my personality? Yes, I would seriously contemplate selling my soul to be front and center at a Lil Wayne concert, but I also can’t help but belt out Taylor Swift songs when they come on the radio. Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston both have works on my list of favorite literature, as do Shakespeare and Jodi Picoult. Oh, and if you see me out dancing, I might be bouncing around to the latest hip hop song, but I could just as easily be showing off some complicated salsa step I learned during the two years that I took salsa classes. Read More »

If I had to come up with one thing I’ve learned since becoming a post-grad it would not be how to set a budget or how to meet people without classes or student groups. It would be that all those stereotypes about unemployed college graduates trying to find what they want to do next in life are wrong. Believe it or not, I don’t spend all day on the couch or in bed. I don’t go days without showering. And I’m not living in some cockroach infested apartment – although I feel like that will happen once I truly live on my own.

Unfortunately though, it’s pretty hard to convince the masses otherwise. Upon meeting someone for the first time, I feel like I always have to defend myself as a “post-grad” because the bulk of people I’m meeting are either unemployed and unmotivated, still in college, or are at least ten years older than me – and they have no clue. You would think that having some kind of detailed plan such as the LSAT and freelance writing to fall back on would help, but no – it just leaves people scratching their heads.

If they’re not scratching their heads, I get a lot of “You must miss college.” Uh, duh. Of course I miss a lot of things about college (there’s a reason people refer to it as the best time of their lives), but considering I have only been a “graduate” for the past few months, it’s not something I’m sulking over too much. And in all reality, I miss a lot of things a lot more than college — you know, things like not having to pay back student loans! Read More »

Having just “celebrated” banned books week in America, I started thinking about the importance of reading, the beauty of stories and how much books enrich all of our lives. And most of my thoughts came back to one single theme:

W.T.Eff?

Banning books? Seriously? First Obama gets attacked from those crazy moms who think he’s out to brainwash children by giving them talks on the importance of education and now reading is bad for children, too?

The whole thing is just absurd. Have people even read the books they’re trying to ban? How can a story about a pooh named Winnie who likes to eat honey and play in the woods with his other anthropomorphic friends possibly be bad? It seems like a book that is deemed “good” and “appropriate” these days is a book that will not inform your child of the existence of sex, racism, violence, homosexuality, the devil, bad language, and any other concept that will cause children to ask you awkward questions. The whole banned books thing will probably cause my AP Literature class to be renamed AP Literature That Will Morally Damage Your Soul.

Does this mean we should ban Pokemon as well, since the little animals “evolve,” which therefore enforces the idea of evolution and is therefore anti-Christian and therefore is Satanic? Winnie the Pooh may be the poster child for the obesity epidemic, his friend Eeyore for depression, and Kanga for single moms everywhere, but that doesn’t mean our younger siblings can’t read about them. I happen to like Tigger, even if he does have ADHD. And although Harry Potter may have “witchcraft and wizardry” and whatnot, it’s still one of the most significant contributions to literature in our lives, and as such, should be available to anyone who wants to read it.

So let’s take the attention and money away from banning books and focus on some more important things that should be eradicated from this planet. Because in 2009 there are so many things worse than kids in capes flying around on broomsticks or finding a lion in your closet. Read More »