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Homophobia at Bryn Mawr

stonewall's picture
Submitted by stonewall on Mon, 02/03/2014 - 6:00pm

One of my good friends on the rugby team came to Bryn Mawr her freshman year with plans to join the soccer team. On her first day the team seniors talked to the new players and one of the things that they took pride in/ bragged about was how they were the only "straight" team at Bryn Mawr. This made my friend really uncomfortable and she quit the team that week.

I don't know all of the soccer players but I do know that this isn't the first time that I've heard from players on the soccer team that the team has some homophobic people on the team. This summer I worked at Bryn Mawr with a girl on the soccer team and we would occacionally talk about our teams. So one day I brought up the story my friend told me. The girl I worked with admitted that it happened and that she didn't think it was right.

I'm surprised that this is a thing at Bryn Mawr and really want someone to explain this to me because I don't understand how it wasn't addressed.

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jccohen's picture

'homophobic people on the team'

Submitted by jccohen on Tue, 02/04/2014 - 10:00pm.

ecrispell,

Would you say that teams think of themselves as having their own 'cultures,' that is, a set of (at least somewhat) shared behaviors, norms, beliefs, etc.?  What I'm wondering is whether the players from the soccer team who spoke to your friend and the other new players that day saw themselves as representing the whole team...and how other players on the team might feel about this.  For example, the person you talked with over the summer didn't share those beliefs/assumptions and seemed unhappy with the team's behavior in this regard.  If, as we discussed in class today in relation to the Hall article, any group/community/team is in fact more diverse within itself than we might think, what are the implications for someone on the team stepping out and articulating a different perspective?  Or would it take someone outside the team to really challenge this homophobia on campus?

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