From my general experiences there are two types of bro culture: Negative and Positive
Negative Bro Culture:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1997489,00.html
The heavy-drinking, women-are-objects bro culture. It glorifies traditional masculinity and if you do not fit into that, you are a "pussy" (a term that already speaks volumes of the misogyny). The TIME article references a craze known as "Icing", in which Bros force other Bros to down Smirnoff Ice, a drink often associated with femininity and not being able to handle the (excessive) heavy drinking of Bros. It is a de-masculinating "game", and further sets to prove that if you are not a Bro you are a "pussy". Clearly nothing good can come from this sort of Bro Culture. The community created is one where you can never let your guard down and always have to be hypermasculine, hypersexual, hyperintoxicated, and flat out stupid.
Positive Bro Culture:
If negative bro culture got anything right, it was the sense of community. Bros always defend other Bros, no matter what. There has been an offshoot of the negative bro culture that focuses on the tight-knit community aspect of relationships and not the hypermasculine features. Bros (which, in this culture, can be both female and male) are there for support on all issues and provide a good social group to spend time with and develop relationships. Certain things, like sports, videogames, and rock music, are heavily tied to all Bro Culture, but in Positive Bro Culture, they do not serve as hyper-competitive devices, but are used for social interaction. Phrases like "Bros for Life" emphasizes this, and a strong support group is valuable to any human flourishing.
If we can reshape the public's image of bro towards the positive image, the negative bro image will diminish. Heavy partying and misogyny are only consistent with frat-boy negative bro culture, and no thinking person should support this. It breeds violence and hatred of women, and those things are not conducive to a productive society.
Sometimes these two groups are conflated. We have the positive bros getting mixed in with the negative bros, and finding the tight-knit community worth the excessive partying. This is why we must draw the line. We must encourage tight-knit communities that do not engage in excessive alcohol consumption and misogyny. If we let our young people become engulfed in negative bro culture (as often happens), we have to fight a much harder battle. Stopping negative bro culture at its source, impressionable male youth, will go a long way in fighting misogyny.
Negative Bro Culture:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1997489,00.html
The heavy-drinking, women-are-objects bro culture. It glorifies traditional masculinity and if you do not fit into that, you are a "pussy" (a term that already speaks volumes of the misogyny). The TIME article references a craze known as "Icing", in which Bros force other Bros to down Smirnoff Ice, a drink often associated with femininity and not being able to handle the (excessive) heavy drinking of Bros. It is a de-masculinating "game", and further sets to prove that if you are not a Bro you are a "pussy". Clearly nothing good can come from this sort of Bro Culture. The community created is one where you can never let your guard down and always have to be hypermasculine, hypersexual, hyperintoxicated, and flat out stupid.
Positive Bro Culture:
If negative bro culture got anything right, it was the sense of community. Bros always defend other Bros, no matter what. There has been an offshoot of the negative bro culture that focuses on the tight-knit community aspect of relationships and not the hypermasculine features. Bros (which, in this culture, can be both female and male) are there for support on all issues and provide a good social group to spend time with and develop relationships. Certain things, like sports, videogames, and rock music, are heavily tied to all Bro Culture, but in Positive Bro Culture, they do not serve as hyper-competitive devices, but are used for social interaction. Phrases like "Bros for Life" emphasizes this, and a strong support group is valuable to any human flourishing.
If we can reshape the public's image of bro towards the positive image, the negative bro image will diminish. Heavy partying and misogyny are only consistent with frat-boy negative bro culture, and no thinking person should support this. It breeds violence and hatred of women, and those things are not conducive to a productive society.
Sometimes these two groups are conflated. We have the positive bros getting mixed in with the negative bros, and finding the tight-knit community worth the excessive partying. This is why we must draw the line. We must encourage tight-knit communities that do not engage in excessive alcohol consumption and misogyny. If we let our young people become engulfed in negative bro culture (as often happens), we have to fight a much harder battle. Stopping negative bro culture at its source, impressionable male youth, will go a long way in fighting misogyny.
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