{"id":18456,"date":"2017-03-30T11:44:19","date_gmt":"2017-03-30T15:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/?p=18456"},"modified":"2022-03-16T12:51:10","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T16:51:10","slug":"lad-culture-on-college-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/lad-culture-on-college-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"Lad Culture on College Campus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The National Union of Students (NUS) in the United Kingdom recently released a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nus.org.uk\/Global\/Campaigns\/That's%20what%20she%20said%20full%20report%20Final%20web.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">report<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which defined lad culture and shared their research findings, urging universities to do more to combat \u201clad culture\u201d on campus. The report titled \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">what she said: Women students\u2019 experiences of \u2018lad culture\u2019 in higher education,\u201d outlines students\u2019 current experiences of UK campuses\u2019 lad culture. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Lad Culture at British Universities (PBD)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YuLAHKKjqYI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><b>Lad Culture in the UK<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The report defines lad culture as \u2018\u2018one of a variety of masculinities and cultures in UK university communities, which men and women may dip in and out of, but which may shape their identities and attitudes.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The report compels by including direct quotations that highlight the experiences of students on campuses in the UK. They highlight the differences and complexities in what constitutes lad culture and how gender affects academic experiences on campus. Many students talk of being victim to misogynistic jokes such as \u201ca drinking song about rape.\u201d Another student recounts an encounter during her first week of university: <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I was like \u2018go in and buy some jugs\u2019 and he grabbed my boob and said \u2018I\u2019ll have this one.&#8217; He\u2019s one of my really good friends now\u2026but I just found that so unacceptable.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similar stories are echoed throughout the report. Many are followed by the same surprised reaction as the woman above. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/women\/womens-life\/10657789\/Sexist-lad-culture-can-British-universities-ever-get-rid-of-it.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Telegraph<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> also found that women feel \u201cbelittled during seminars,\u201d and are &#8220;sexually harassed in student nightclubs,\u201d and that some students even felt that \u201cbeing groped in nightclubs [is] part of a \u2018normal\u2019 night out.\u201d Because lad culture is attached to a group, some students feel helpless to stand up against unwelcomed acts and jokes. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As defined, <\/span><b>lad culture is not exclusively for men<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The Telegraph recognizes that women may be complicit and contributing to lad culture in order to fit in socially. Sarah, a recent graduate from Cambridge University, explained to The Telegraph that women often \u201cjust laugh it off because otherwise you look like you have no sense of humour&#8230;you don\u2019t know what to do.\u201d The group mentality serves to establish these actions as normal and further ostracizes those who do not feel comfortable with some of the sexism that may stem from lad culture. The NUS report also includes an explanation from an interviewee: <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[It\u2019s a] culture in which misogyny and sexism is seen as cool or masculine. A lot of it revolving around sexist jokes and banter so that the sexism is trivialised so that people who challenge it are made to seem like kill-joys or people with no sense of humour.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NUS report characterizes lad culture as a group that\u2019s contributing greatly to the prevalence of sexism and misogyny on campus. Crucially, the supposed group mentality surrounding the culture further normalizes sexism and misogyny, allowing actions and jokes, such as those described by students above, to continue unchallenged. <\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><b>International Students and Lad Culture<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a female international student, my understanding of lad culture is limited to this perspective. I asked some of my fellow international students to share what they thought lad culture was and if they had experienced it. The five female students I talked to did not feel lad culture had impacted them strongly during their semester exchange. Two Australians noted that their interaction was mostly with international students, so it was difficult to experience lad culture or even English culture fully. One of them noted that she sees some vague resemblances to the lad culture in Australia. She proceeded to show photos of the distinct outfits worn by lads in Australia, and videos of the dance they do called \u201chacking.\u201d These students did not see lad culture as being associated with drinking and sexism on campus, but rather distinct outfits and other cultural elements apart from the sexism and misogyny published in the NUS report. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At Durham University, Kate McIntosh <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.palatinate.org.uk\/lad-culture-only-a-british-norm\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">interviewed<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> various international students on lad culture. The students discussed societies as contributing to the group mentality aspect of lad culture. An Irish student claims they \u201cheighten lad culture,\u201d and Victor from Sweden saw the lad culture as\u00a0\u201cmen and boys collectively, in a group, taking up a lot of public space, being loud and seeking attention.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it came to the most discussed and apparently prevalent aspect of lad culture&#8211; sexism and misogyny&#8211; the students were conflicted. Thomas, an international student from Hong Kong, spoke about sexist behavior as part of Durham\u2019s lad culture, but Teresa suggested that sexism wasn\u2019t as prevalent. When asked if she had witnessed or experienced sexism on a night out, she explained: \u201cNever in these three months [since arriving in October], to be honest.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An anonymous interviewee from France discussed the concept of \u201cpulling\u201d as linked to British lad culture. He had experienced lad culture in Durham, \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">more so with the British \u2018lads\u2019 than the international ones,\u201d he said. He explained the difference <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">between Durham and France. At Durham, there is a \u201cconstant mission to \u2018pull\u2019 and [there is] pride and honor associated with that the next morning. It kind of seems like it\u2019s okay for the \u2018lads\u2019 to drool all over the girls, but not vice versa.\u201d In France, \u201ceverything related to \u2018pulling\u2019 had a bit more emotion attached. It wasn\u2019t just a quest to pull a girl, it was the quest to pull the girl that really genuinely is interested you.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps, in a way, international students are part of their own subculture on campus. McIntosh concludes that the interviews exposed the indefinite nature of lad culture. She said, \u201cDurham\u2019s international students seem confused by the workings of lad culture; it is both a source of frustration and surprise. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps their experiences can help remind British students that <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">on an international scale, university lad culture is not an unchallenged norm.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><b>What\u2019s next?<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cultures, like groups, are not strictly defined, and people may move between them. The NUS states that lad culture is strictly a culture and therefore, lad culture does not constitute the existence of lads. It is therefore attempting to move away from characterizing the person as a lad, preferring to characterize specific actions and ideas as ladism instead. But the NUS recognizes its limited role in changing lad culture and recognizes the need to work with others to create \u201ca safer, more positive, more empowering culture\u201d on campuses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Improvements have been made at the policy level. British Universities and Colleges Sport, the national governing body for sport in higher education in the UK, requires each of its members to provide a <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/c1593.r93.cf3.rackcdn.com\/BUCS_anti-social_behaviour_and_initiations_policy_-_October_2013.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">code of conduct on initiations and alcohol abuse in sport<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. However, the NUS found in their report that policies such as this are not necessarily followed with cultural change. As such, \u201c\u2018lad culture\u2019 as a phenomenon needs to be combatted through cultural change in addition to robust policies and procedures.\u201d In summary, the NUS notes that they will further examine lad culture through a commission that it promises to convene, as \u201cthe student movement must take action to combat the emergence of \u2018lad culture\u2019 in higher education and the negative impacts this is having on students.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lad culture does not have to include sexism and misogyny. In the 1990s, youth subcultures in the UK were studied by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B0088OVZYK\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B0088OVZYK&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=t03e90-20&amp;linkId=636e34d41b45d78219dcc96f67a15f2e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stanley Cohen<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as the Mods and Rockers. Rockers rode motorcycles and wore leather jackets, whereas Mods rode scooters and wore suits. Culture, the NUS affirms, is fluid and changing. In <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/men\/thinking-man\/11533238\/Why-Im-proud-to-call-myself-a-lad.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Telegraph<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a self-professed lad sees lad culture as going to have a beer at a pub and shout at a football referee on TV, and he sees nothing wrong with that. Lad culture is currently characterized in the NUS reports with sexism and misogyny, but one hopes that it will change in the future. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The National Union of Students (NUS) in the United Kingdom recently released a report, which defined lad culture and shared their research findings, urging universities to do more to combat \u201clad culture\u201d on campus. The report titled \u201cThat\u2019s what she said: Women students\u2019 experiences of \u2018lad culture\u2019 in higher education,\u201d outlines students\u2019 current experiences of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":18591,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/lad-culture.jpeg",830,533,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/lad-culture-224x144.jpeg",224,144,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/lad-culture-300x193.jpeg",300,193,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/lad-culture.jpeg",830,533,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/lad-culture.jpeg",830,533,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/lad-culture.jpeg",830,533,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/lad-culture.jpeg",830,533,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Kate Korte","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/author\/kate-elizabeth\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The National Union of Students (NUS) in the United Kingdom recently released a report, which defined lad culture and shared their research findings, urging universities to do more to combat \u201clad culture\u201d on campus. The report titled \u201cThat\u2019s what she said: Women students\u2019 experiences of \u2018lad culture\u2019 in higher education,\u201d outlines students\u2019 current experiences of&hellip;","featured_media_src_url":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/lad-culture.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}