Earlier this month, a Syracuse alumnus anonymously penned a blog post for The Elite Daily titled “The Types of Girls You Encounter at Syracuse University.” The post gained more than 550 Facebook likes and shares on Twitter since it was posted on July 19.

After a brief introduction to the author’s dating life at Syracuse University, he went on to describe a total of eight categories that all Syracuse women fit into: athletes, preppy girls, the 1 percent, “green” girls, international girls, sorority girls, familiar faces in the library and Whitman and, finally, Jewish American princesses.

Not only does the article feature sexist, racist undertones and problematic stereotypes in many ways, but it also fails to accurately represent the authentic variety of women at SU.

Objectifying attempts at humor include statements like, “The jappiest of the japs can be found at Syracuse…I have had my fair share of Weinbergsteinfelds and Kloppenkleinbergfeldmansteins.” Or, “One undeniable truth about the library is that you can always look around and find friends from the Far East. I’ve met students from China, Korea, Tokyo, etc. By met, I meant banged.”

The writer’s anonymous byline is the most telling component of how problematic this blog post is. Anonymity is usually accompanied by a desire to not be associated with specific content, especially in 2012 when bylines on the Internet will always follow you, thanks to Google name searches and hyperlinking.

The author purposely left his name unattached to this subject matter, which forces me —and should force readers — to question the validity of the writing. Going incognito in this article also allows the writer to avoid responsibility for his work and leaves readers unsure about the legitimacy of these arguments.

As a female student at Syracuse, I am not offended by the fact that I do not fit into one of the eight shallow categories mentioned in The Elite Daily article, but I am disappointed in the writer’s lack of perception about his peers at his own alma mater.

There is a general ignorance about stereotyping and perpetuating false ideals surrounding young women on college campuses. Yet the one place this ignorance and negative typecasting should not come from is our own campus.

While stereotyping and making problematic generalizations is a problem spread wider than just one university, we as a campus should be able to get our entire student body on board with ethical ideals.

It’s a shame that after four years as a Syracuse student, this individual continues to make assumptions about his female counterparts, and everyone with or without a college education knows what happens when you assume.

Human beings are more interesting and nuanced than the eight oversimplified generalizations — especially women and especially Syracuse women. A few alternative “categories” that come to mind when describing female students at Syracuse include: social media enthusiasts, literary experts, technology gurus, employed contributors to society and professional sports junkies. All I did there was take a quick glance at my Facebook newsfeed.

Media consumers and SU students should be able to expect more from online news outlets, Syracuse alumni and each other. If our own fellow Orange men and women don’t uphold a universal moral compass, it’s impossible to expect others to do the same.

Krystie Yandoli is a senior women and gender studies and English and textual studies major. She can be reached at [email protected] or followed on Twitter at @KrystieLYandoli.

Published on July 24, 2012 at 2:34 pm