Why Frat Boys Love First-Person Shooters

Let’s start this out with a little exercise: picture what you imagine as a fraternity guy. I’ll bet that the first thing that came to your mind was a beer-guzzling, muscular (and not overly bright) jock sitting around in a dirty house playing some sort of first person shooter. But does the stereotype match reality?

I’m not in a frat or a sorority, but some of my best friends are fratties and I’ve spent plenty of time over there with the boys. And you know what? They do love their beer, their house is a disaster and I frequently find them playing a FPS. This is one stereotype that seems to hit pretty close to home.

So what is their fascination with first person shooters? I mean, I love Halo just as much as the next gamer, but I like to get a little variety in my gaming. But that’s not the case with most frat boys. Let’s figure out why that is.

1. Masculinity: Of all game genres, the FPS is the one that is most associated with masculinity–it’s violent, aggressive and frequently features a strong male main character (just take a look at Master Chief). And although many frat boys will argue against the typical stereotype image, there’s something about living in a large house full of guys that fosters the need for a strong masculine identity (I mean, the brothers would never let each other live it down if one was caught playing something like… the Sims series).

2. Male bonding: Playing a first-person shooter can easily become a group activity, and it’s one way for the brothers to be closer… in a very masculine way. It can be a great way for brothers to bond, while killing people together, practicing colorful obscenities, and generally being “men!”

3. Drinking : For my good friends over at TDX, playing an FPS is a great way to combine one social activity with another–drinking. With an FPS, there are so many drinking games you can invent (every time you die, you take a drink, for a specific type of kill you take a shot, etc). And there is nothing my frat friends love more than creating a new drinking game.

Now, I have known frat brothers to make drinking games to other video games (Mario Party is a big one for that), but there are none they love so much as first-person shooters. And even if it’s a bit stereotypical, I still love the frat boys despite it. After all, what would a frat house be without a little beer, a lot of masculinity, and dead things littering the floors?