Harmless and Witty or Dangerous for Women? A Critical Examination of a Campus Ritual

Students at a Midwestern university have a ritual of naming their off-campus houses and displaying these names on house signs. Through a socio-feminist perspective, this paper analyzes the house signs as cultural texts on undergraduate gender and sexuality norms. The ostensibly humors signs reinforce hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity; sexually objectify women; and promote a social scene of partying, drinking and casual heterosexual sex--as standards for campus social belonging. This ritual may impede gender equality in high education and should be critically reexamined by the campus community.