"Inside Greek U. provides an in-depth investigation of how fraternities and sororities bolster traditional, and potentially damaging, definitions of gender and sexuality." "Using evidence gathered in hundreds of focus group sessions and personal interviews, as well as his years of experience as a faculty advisor to Greek organizations, Alan D. DeSantis offers unprecedented access to the world of fraternities and sororities. DeSantis, himself once a member of a fraternity, shows the profoundly limited gender roles available to Greeks: "real men" are taught to be unemotional, sexually promiscuous, and violent; "nice girls," to be nurturing, domestic, and pure. These rigid formulations often lead to destructive attitudes and behaviors, such as eating disorders, date rape, sexual misconduct, and homophobia. Inside Greek U. shows that the Greek experience does not end on graduation day, but that these narrow definitions of gender and sexuality impede students' intellectual and emotional development and limit their range of choices for years to come."--BOOK JACKET. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

DeSantis (communications, Univ. of Kentucky) takes an ethnographic approach to investigating what members of Greek organizations at one university can tell us about the impact of Greek life on perceptions about gender among fraternity and sorority members. As a fraternity member himself and a longtime faculty and alumni adviser to Greek organizations, DeSantis takes an empathetic approach to his subject. Based on statistical data about Greek life from various sources, his own experiences with these organizations, and focus group and individual interviews with over 200 fraternity and sorority members, DeSantis's work addresses how traditional sometimes exaggerated gender identities are reinforced in Greek organizations, affecting members' views on issues such as sexuality, emotional intimacy in same-gender relationships, body image, and post-college aspirations. Always respectful of his participants, DeSantis produces a sympathetic work that seeks to help future members of Greek organizations to critique and avoid the often harmful gender ideals that fraternities and sororities can perpetuate. This book should be required reading for college students thinking about pledging a fraternity or a sorority. Recommended for academic libraries. Elizabeth L. Winter, Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Alan D. Desantis is professor of communications at the University of Kentucky. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.