Forbes Writer Canned After Blaming Fraternity Woes On Drunk Girls

Anonymous00011 years ago

Look, we all know that drunk girls are a force of nature. One of them can be a nuisance, but a gaggle of them could bring down ISIS if you airdropped them in. But Bill Frezza, a (now former) writer for Forbes, made a classic mistake this week when he wrote a controversial post blaming…well, basically all of the current fraternity system’s problems on drunk females.

Come on, Bill. Be smarter than that. First, let’s talk about Bill’s weird use of the word “females.” It’s oddly clinical, and it makes his post sound like he’s talking about some unknown entity. I blame it on his alma mater being MIT, but still, they’re just babes, Bill, not experimental variables. The problem Bill has is that he makes some decent points and sincerely means well, but all of that gets lost in a jumble of jackassery.

Here are a few nuggets:

“As recriminations against fraternities mount and panicked college administrators search for an easy out, one factor doesn’t seem to be getting sufficient analysis: drunk female guests.”

See? Weirdly clinical, right?

“But it is precisely those irresponsible women that the brothers must be trained to identify and protect against, because all it takes is one to bring an entire fraternity system down.”

Ah, the old “drunk chick who launched 1,000 anti-frat ships” argument.

“…the best way to reduce the incentive to furtively chug half a bottle of vodka before going out for a night of fun is by lowering the drinking age to 18 while encouraging the consumption of beer over distilled spirits.”

First off, no amount of beer availability is going to convince me to give up hitting the liquor bottle–not in college, not now. Secondly, how does lowering the drinking age help? I mean, I’m for it, I’m just not sure how it factors into your argument.

“And so, any time a fraternity hosts an open party, wet or dry, brothers must assume that the house will be filled with ticking time bombs.”

Uh oh, Bill just objectimorphized women. Bad move. Do you want to end up on Jezebel, Bill? Because that’s how you end up on Jezebel.

“False accusation of rape months after the fact triggered by regrets over a…”

You know what? Let’s stop there. Is false accusation of sexual assault a real fear that guys have? Absolutely. Is it so prevalent that you should use it as a pillar in your argument? No.

Ultimately, drunk girls are about as much of a liability to your chapter as drunk guys, because drunk people are morons in general. The only way to mitigate risk isn’t to target one group over another, it’s to monitor your parties carefully. That includes everything from not letting in people who are clearly already trashed, all the way up to protecting both your female guests AND male brothers from potential sexual assault.

It really is that easy. If Bill had said, “drunk people are stupid and sex should always be consensual,” he might still have a job..

[via NY Mag]