<p>My D is an AU grad, and told me shortly after starting there that the tongue-in-cheek term is not “Gay U”, but “Gay Jew” because of the large number of both gay students AND Jewish students. So, Pbunny, I have to ask, how do you feel about “a huge population” of Jews in your face “all the time”? </p>
<p>But here’s the deal, Pbunny: Urban campuses will tend to have larger gay populations because urban areas are more gay friendly and have more LBGT resources. If you can’t handle it, stay rural.</p>
<p>Agree with Sikorski – if this was Pbunny’s concern, she would have asked about public displays of affection. And that isn’t what she asked… </p>
<p>Regarding rural campuses, not sure that is always going to be the case. I am sure there are quite a few openly gay students at Grinnell, just to give one example.</p>
<p>Ok, seriously back off. All of you. I asked because I want to know what sort of scene is at the college that I might go to. I’m not a feminist and I wouldn’t call myself a liberal–nor heavily conservative. I believe in people being happy above all. But I think its fair of me to want to be aware of the type of assumptions and stereotypes that people are naturally going to throw at me. And, seeing as it IS college, I want to know my dating scenario.</p>
<p>I seriously can’t even respond to either the black comments nor the Jewish comment. When people start lumping groups like together, yes, you do sound ignorant and unaware.</p>
<p>Pbunny, do you really not see that your post asking what “type of assumptions and stereotypes…people are naturally going to throw at me” is itself laden with assumptions and stereotypes about gay people?</p>
<p>But if that’s what you want to know, here are my takes on those colleges.</p>
<p>American: good at what it’s good at–politics, international affairs, social studies–but not great in the sciences; it’s put a lot of resources into the arts in the last 10 or 15 years, and gotten a lot out of that investment; the kids there tend to be very political, and they tend to lean left, but there are conservatives and there are kids who are apolitical; it has a big gay population, but it has a bigger straight population. It also has a large Jewish population, but more non-Jews than Jews. And it has a lot of rich kids, but that doesn’t mean I think everyone who goes there is rich.</p>
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<p>Oops, I missed this part. I have heard complaints from straight women that there’s a shortage of straight men, because AU is both heavily female and gay-friendly. So that could be a valid concern.</p>
<p>Smith: first-rate college for women. It has a big gay population, but AFAIK, it has a bigger straight population. When I meet a Smith alum, I am much more likely to think smart than lesbian. Certainly, Smith has even fewer straight men than American!</p>
<p>Sarah Lawrence: no clue. I know of it, but I don’t know a lot about it.</p>
<p>I don’t see how your request is any different from someone looking for a college that’s racially homogenous, but yours is a real concern. Some people want a certain environment in college in order to be comfortable and it’s fine because no one wants to force someone into a situation they’re uncomfortable in. And I’m sure there are a lot of people who wouldn’t want you at their college if you think this way. You definitely worded it very poorly though.</p>
<p>As you probably know, most colleges in the U.S. lean left and many left-leaning institutions will typically have their fair share of open LGBT students. It is entirely up to you if this ever becomes a problem at one of the colleges on your list. </p>
<p>Like Sikorsky said, though, even the renowned “Gay U’s” will likely have an even larger straight population so you should get along just fine.</p>
<p>I would think that only a racist would find the groups of African-Americans and gays to be essentially equivalent. Being gay means engaging in a certain behavior, a behavior the OP wants to avoid. Having dark skin color has nothing to do with behavior, and is only a superficial characteristic that some people put way too much emphasis on.</p>
<p>Well, I suppose it’s just as true, complete and correct to say that being gay is about “a certain behavior” as it is to say that being black is about skin.</p>
<p>Of course, I don’t think that’s saying much.</p>
<p>^^ Given what the OP stated about what makes her uncomfortable, I would bet that the OP would be completely comfortable being around people like that. I believe she meant individuals who engage in gay behavior, regardless of what they claim is their self-identification.</p>
<p>There are other arguments you can make for your position, but the point about African-Americans is completely off-base.</p>
<p>Assuming you are a woman from your post, what part of feminism are you disavowing? The part that got you the right to vote? Or the right to have jobs other than teacher, nurse, and secretary? Or the part where you are no longer the property of your father and then husband? Go ahead and chuck out feminism if you are also willing to give up those hard won rights that millions of other women around the world still don’t have – but you are lucky your gumball came down the slot in the time and place that it did and you can even consider going to college and studying whatever you want to.</p>
<p>It also seems to me that now you have seen the responses to your initial post, you are trying to backtrack. You did not ask about the impact on your dating life in the initial post – clearly your concern was about lesbians being “in your face”. Your question wasn’t about how a large gay population would affect your dating life. If you were truly concerned about making sure you have a great dating life, you might welcome a bigger lesbian population (more men for you!).</p>
<p>I would suggest that your challenge in dating (and friendships) in college might be in finding people who can stand your brand of wanting people to be “happy above all”. One thing that allows people to be happy is allowing them to live openly with whatever their sexual orientation happens to be without flack from roommates and classmates.</p>
<p>pbunny: someone suggested asking your gay guy friends for their advice and suggestions. I think that’s an excellent idea. 1) you know them and they know you to a degree, 2) they aren’t random internet strangers.</p>
<p>I suspect they will tell you that you shouldn’t worry about being hit upon by lesbians – and if that happens, you brush it off like you’d brush off some unwanted attn from a guy.</p>
<p>You also seem to have issued a concern about being labelled as Lesbian if you attend a certain school. Ask them how they feel when they are misidentified as hetero. You may get some enlightening answers.</p>
<p>Do you really think that conversation is going to go well? Hmm… “I am worried that I might have to observe gay behavior or someone gay might hit on me in college. Are these the right colleges for me?”</p>
<p>I suspect the OP has several gay acquaintances, not friends. I think people who have close friends and/or relatives who are gay mostly wouldn’t even ask this question. And I suspect the OP knows the question is out of line (which is she started the post with “I am not a homophobe, but…”). She knows it is actually a homophobic question.</p>
<p>Sorry to piggyback on this question guys, but I have a similar one. I am in no way a heterophobe, but I was reading recently about several of the colleges on my list and heard a lot about huge straight populations. I’m just not sure that I would be comfortable with a huge population of straights in my face all the time.
This is what I heard:
Alabama is called “Literally 98% of our students are straight U” because that is how boring it is
Mississippi students have joked “we’ll beat the gay out of you!”
Fayetteville (University Arkansas) is nicknamed “Straighter-than-a-line-town,USA” </p>
<p>Are these statements true? For gay guys here, do you notice it regularly/is it ever a problem?</p>
<p>Hopefully you realize this is completely ridiculous. Gay people live every day with straight people in their face, so I honestly have very little sympathy for you complaining about ~20% of the students at certain colleges being gay. There will be gay people wherever you go, and you might even be forced to observe same sex couples kissing. Just remember, you’ll always be in the majority, and you can literally go to any mixed sex party and observe multiple straight hookups if you want.</p>
You’re assuming that everyone’s definition of feminism is believing that women should have rights that they didn’t have in Victorian society. While that is undoubtedly a part of it, some people define feminism as going beyond that. There’s no need to jump on OP for not being a feminist when we’re not exactly sure what she (or he) means by that.</p>
<p>I think a lot of you are jumping on the OP for nothing. Pbunny did say:
He/she just wants to confirm whether or not what is being said is true. So if those assumptions and stereotypes are not true, you could say so more courteously, instead of throwing accusations. He/she never said that anything is true. They wanted to know if what he/she heard was true.</p>
<p>You don’t get to just make up your own definition. Definition from the OED:</p>
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<p>All of those rights I listed were gained because of this type of advocacy. The right of women to vote in the US became an amendment to the US constitution less than 100 years ago. I know a lot of young women take this for granted and consider it somehow to be ancient history that they don’t have to think about or even be grateful for. And would prefer to ignore the plight of women elsewhere in the world who aren’t lucky enough to have the same rights.</p>
<p>The OP wants to make homophobic statement and stake out a position on feminism. Totally within her rights. But she can’t really expect that people will somehow think she really means that she has cuddly, warm feelings for gay people and for the women who worked so hard to give her the rights she enjoys today if she makes those statements. If she DOESN’T mean what she said, then she should either state it differently to start with or clarify what she does mean without backtracking and trying to act like she really meant something different in her original post.</p>
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<p>And what will happen if the OP decides it is true, goes to a different college that they think might be more conservative, and ends up with a gay roommate? Is that person supposed to “not act gay” so the OP can be more comfortable? Say the rooomate want to listen to music by gay performers, or put up a poster of a woman they think is cute, or date another woman in the dorm. This can happen at almost any school except those that have rules against it. If the OP wants to avoid all gay people and gay behavior, I guess colleges like Liberty would be best. There are certainly gay students there, but they need to hide their identify, which would be what the OP seems to be looking for.</p>
<p>By the way, unless the OP is a ■■■■■, you can be pretty sure it is a woman since they wanted to know about Smith’s reputation.</p>