Fraternize2024
In March 2023, a disturbing incident came to light in the Netherlands when a list called the "bangalijst" was leaked. Created by male students from the Utrechtsch Studenten Corps (USC), this list contained the names, photos, and personal details of female students, along with crude and sexual descriptions about them. The term "banga" is a Dutch slang word for "slut," and these lists are used to shame and sexualize women. This is not the first time something like this has happened, but it highlighted broader concerns regarding sexism and misogyny within Dutch male-dominated student fraternities, which, despite repeated condemnation, seem to continue unchecked.
This news shocked me, especially as a Spanish woman who had never seen anything like it before. This led me to start my project, *Fraternize*, where I wanted to explore how men in fraternities view women. I started by asking them simple questions like, “What is a good girl to you?” But as I got deeper into the project, I got to knew they had their own *bangalijst* and observied their degrading treatment of women during parties, and so my project shifted. I began photographing the fraternity house, which was covered with explicit and dehumanizing text in the walls, sentences like, “Can you send me some horny bikini pictures of your sister?” and “Blow jobs are part of it.”, and capturing the aggressive sexual culture ingrained in these environments.
At one party, I saw how girls who were invited through these *bangalijsts* were treated. The men would shout, "SEX PARTY, TONIGHT IS A SEX PARTY!" before disappearing to a casino, leaving the girls to prepare dinner alone. By 2 a.m., everyone had gone to their rooms, and it seemed like having sex was expected at these parties once you agreed to attend. I felt increasingly unsafe when the men I interviewed began making sexual comments about me, saying things like they wanted to have a "long and deep interview" with me. I had to stop the interviews for my own safety.
With my project *Fraternize*, I want to show the toxic culture inside these fraternities. These male-dominated groups have a lot of influence in Dutch society, and many of the men who go through them end up in important positions of power. Through my photography and research, I hope to make people think about how these groups treat women and how that impacts society as a whole. These fraternities are not just places where young men have fun—they are environments that shape future leaders, and their attitudes toward women need to be questioned.