A more recent story in the Daily Universe titled "‘Swiped’ right off her feet: Marriage by Tinder at BYU" focuses on a dating app that provides images of single men and women in your area and lets you either swipe left or right depending on if you find them attractive or not. This kind of article pushes at the heart of the single story being told of BYU girls that marriage is their one focus and apps like tinder are a great way to reach that goal. Another story in the Daily Universe titled "Leaving with a diploma but not a ring" has an almost sinister underlying tone that if you don't get married while attending BYU, than you should just forget about your chances. It gives an impression of women at this school that marriage is the sole thing on their mind at all times and that to graduate simply with a degree but without a ring would be the most disappointing thing that could possibly happen.
The story "25 Things Mormon Girls Love" permeates every aspect of being a BYU Mormon girl. It highlights all things superficial about this particular stereotype and boils down a whole group of people to simply hot girls who like Pinterest and want to get married. This particular article received quite a bit of attention, not just in the BYU community, but also on the internet. This single story is limiting because the rest of the world does not see the amazing talent, intelligence, drive and accomplishments of women at BYU. All they see is a group of girls, not women, who have one desire in life and who fit into a nicely created mold created by stereotypes. There are many social implications for this, the main one being that this group is not taken seriously and that those within it that do not subscribe to the stereotype are somehow skipped over and not seen as relevant. If we focus so much on the marriage hungry section of women here we lose the opportunity to recognize the diversity that exists. In an article entitled "Dating and Marriage at the Zoo" the author, Kevin Barney, describes a study which found that the importance BYU students placed on marrying was 88% for women, and 87% men. This article goes on to cite other statistics about from a study done at BYU, all focusing on marriage and dating. Overall, I believe that the single story being told about women at BYU is a disservice to the many here that still want to get married but also wish to go to school, see the world, and do many things that do not involve man hunting simply for the sake of marriage.
This is a really interesting one to do because it surrounds us daily yet we don't think of it as some minority group. It's useful to step back and see this through the world perspective and see how many BYU girls are trying not to be stereotypical BYU girls
ReplyDeleteTotally agree, I think that women here at BYU are some of the most talented young women in the nation on top of being beautiful and moral. That is a big draw and very attractive to many people around the nation. However I think the stereotype of BYU girls that just want to get married is perpetuated greatly because of the big push in independence and feminism, and since BYU is an anomaly in that many, many girls desire to get married and have a family it is pushed as something newsworthy
ReplyDeleteGood analysis. I know several women on campus who feel marginalized because they've chosen not to focus on marriage right now, and I feel for them.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you!! So many girls on campus believe that if they don't leave campus with a ring on their finger, then they will be alone forever, but that is so completely false. We should be at school to gain an education first and foremost. If you find a spouse along the way, then good for you, but if you don't, there is still hope for you.
ReplyDeleteYou go grrrrl. I think girls at BYU have way more going for them than girls elsewhere. They're punished for their ability to prioritize
ReplyDeleteThe less needy you are by having your own thing going makes you that much more attractive.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that girls are often stereotyped as baby hungry or marriage hungry. I do believe that there are a lot of girls out there that are anxious about marriage and having babies, but I think it is a generalization.
ReplyDeleteSuper interesting. This really is the stereotype on campus... that a lot of girls just want to get married. Some, I believe, push back too hard on that stereotype. But it is around, and it's too bad.
ReplyDeleteI think you are completely correct but I also think one of the biggest problems with views about BYU women is how those who get married early are often overlooked. Yes, they are congratulated for being married but then their other achievements, like getting a degree, are forgotten. I think we, as single students, sometimes take that away from them in stereotyping them as typical marriage hungry girls. Maybe they weren't part of that stereotype either. We just need to be careful not to overcorrect on the stereotype.
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