[ckwang]

"LOL @ Phi Delta Toolbag."

I would think that's pretty offensive to anyone who's in any sort of "* Phi Delta *" fraternity. In a thread that touches on the offensiveness of stereotypes and subsequent alienation, the irony of both the comment and your LOL reaction should be pointed out. As far as "thoughtful comment" goes, there certainly wasn't much thought put into the phrase "Phi Delta Toolbag".

[arjunnarayan]

Thank you for calling out the negative stereotyping in these comments of frat bros. I realize that "won't somebody think of the bros" isn't going to get much sympathy in these forums, but stereotyping is stereotyping, be it against women, or another group of people just enjoying their activities without harming other people (in this case, the fraternity crowd).

[tessr]

You're right, that hadn't occurred to me. I'm sorry--if I'd been a bit more thoughtful I wouldn't have reacted like that. I was, in part, trying to be appreciative of a comment that was clearly thoughtful.

Penn sometimes jokingly refer to our CS group (which has the abbreviation "DP") Delta Phi, especially when we're planning social events or the like. So it was an amusing coincidence, too.

[katane]

Interesting, isn't it? Our direct reactions tend to be the most honest, but we don't often want to admit that to ourselves for we know that we should be aspiring to be better.

Tolerance might be the opposite of abstraction, and thats a hard reality in a field where abstraction has gained us so much.

[delinka]

Maybe it's just me, but I saw "Phi Delta Toolbag" and immediately imagined a fraternity created for the express purpose of congregating toolbags together ... which seems likely and hilarious. I did not consider it a generalization about fraternities in general.

[redthrowaway]

Nope. I will, entirely unironically, draw from a recent reddit post on this:

"Announcing 'I'm offended' is basically telling the world you can't control your emotions, so everyone else should do it for you."[1]

There are legitimate sources of offense, but "bro, you're totally harshing on frats" is not one of them.

[1]http://i.imgur.com/LQGwx.png

[ckwang]

I'm curious as to why you feel that way. Why is "harshing on frats" as you put it not a negative act? Also, how does the reddit post not apply to the original issue here?

[redthrowaway]

Because frats are not a put upon minority, or any segment of society that deserves our contrition and respect. They're drunken twenty-something white guys whose primary concern is how to be drunker and whiter and twenty-somethinger. They are an outgrowth of an otherwise useful function (university), not useful in and of themselves.

The reddit post is applicable because it is a rejoinder to those who claim offense at that which cannot reasonably be claimed to cause real offense to those for whom such a thing matters.

[delinka]

How do you not see the irony here?

"They're drunken twenty-something white guys whose primary concern is..." <--- Stereotyping. Generalizations. Right here. In your comment.

There are fraternities and sororities whose members are not all "twenty-something white guys" and whose efforts are worthwhile. Do a smattering of research and you'll discover this.