'SWUGs': Yale coeds who've left hard partying and hook-ups behind them say they're not ashamed to be called 'Seniors Washed Up Girls'
As their college days wind to a
close, a subset of coeds in their senior year of Yale have dubbed
themselves SWUGs: senior washed up girls. And it isn’t necessarily a bad
thing.
But what exactly is a SWUG?
Meant to describe the seasoned demeanor that comes with four years of experience with heavy drinking, hook-ups, and the politics of college, SWUG is a medal of honor to some and a nuisance term to others.
Though it seems to have been around for years and has its origins not at Yale but Cornell, according to a piece on the phenomenon in New York Magazine’s The Cut, the term SWUG recently took the internet by storm thanks to a March 29 feature on the topic in the Yale Daily News by self-described SWUG Raisa Bruner.
‘A SWUG is supposed to be liberated, independent,’ Bruner writes in the articled, titled ‘#SWUGNATION’.
She also defines the elusive term as ‘the slow, wine-filled decline of female sexual empowerment as we live out our college glory days.’
In her article, Bruner swings from embracing SWUGlife, as she calls it, to being depressed by it and back again. Her conclusion seems to be that, though ‘Senior Washed Up Girl’ may sound rather sad, it ultimately stands for a new way for college women to understand themselves as one chapter in their lives comes to a close.
‘We do want it all,’ Bruner writes in closing, ‘equality and individuality, power and humor. If we label ourselves, it’s only because the language has yet to catch up.’
As Bruner’s essay neared viral status last week, opinionated writers around the internet began to weigh in on the notion that has been popping up all over tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, and even has its own website.
The blog Gawker decried
the SWUG life as means of ‘attention getting’ out of ‘a melodramatic
desire to make an identity out of boredom and dissatisfaction with the
collegiate social scene.’
Gawker’s feminist sister site Jezebel wondered ‘what went wrong?’ and why ‘stereotypes that once categorized people in their 20s (became) clichés that characterized people in their 40s.’
‘A lot of us, the original so-called SWUGS,’ said one former Yale student quoted by Jezebel, ‘are disappointed with what it's turned into.’
Bruner was not the first or last Yale woman to write about SWUGs. The Yale Daily News has given voice to many women on the subject, most recently to staff columnist Diana Saverin.
‘I am a senior,’ Saverin wrote April 12. ‘I am not washed-up. I usually call myself a woman, not a girl.’
New York Magazine, meanwhile, took the middle ground. Whether or not SWUG is a burgeoning culture or simply a flash in the pan, it isn’t a permanent state for these beleaguered Ivy Leaguers.
‘The SWUGs aren’t actually washed up,’ the magazine writes. ‘Three months from now, they will be the bright-eyed newcomers in New York or Los Angeles, the 22-year-olds dancing on banquettes in nightclubs, who still drink too much and still flirt with boys.’
But what exactly is a SWUG?
Meant to describe the seasoned demeanor that comes with four years of experience with heavy drinking, hook-ups, and the politics of college, SWUG is a medal of honor to some and a nuisance term to others.
Though it seems to have been around for years and has its origins not at Yale but Cornell, according to a piece on the phenomenon in New York Magazine’s The Cut, the term SWUG recently took the internet by storm thanks to a March 29 feature on the topic in the Yale Daily News by self-described SWUG Raisa Bruner.
‘A SWUG is supposed to be liberated, independent,’ Bruner writes in the articled, titled ‘#SWUGNATION’.
She also defines the elusive term as ‘the slow, wine-filled decline of female sexual empowerment as we live out our college glory days.’
In her article, Bruner swings from embracing SWUGlife, as she calls it, to being depressed by it and back again. Her conclusion seems to be that, though ‘Senior Washed Up Girl’ may sound rather sad, it ultimately stands for a new way for college women to understand themselves as one chapter in their lives comes to a close.
‘We do want it all,’ Bruner writes in closing, ‘equality and individuality, power and humor. If we label ourselves, it’s only because the language has yet to catch up.’
As Bruner’s essay neared viral status last week, opinionated writers around the internet began to weigh in on the notion that has been popping up all over tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, and even has its own website.
Good thing: Proponents of SWUG life say Yale's hook-up culture just gets tiresome and SWUG is a mindset that helps them move on
Gawker’s feminist sister site Jezebel wondered ‘what went wrong?’ and why ‘stereotypes that once categorized people in their 20s (became) clichés that characterized people in their 40s.’
‘A lot of us, the original so-called SWUGS,’ said one former Yale student quoted by Jezebel, ‘are disappointed with what it's turned into.’
Bruner was not the first or last Yale woman to write about SWUGs. The Yale Daily News has given voice to many women on the subject, most recently to staff columnist Diana Saverin.
Bad thing: Others say the Yale phenomenon is a
cliche that once 'characterized people in their 40s' now being used for
people in their 20s
New York Magazine, meanwhile, took the middle ground. Whether or not SWUG is a burgeoning culture or simply a flash in the pan, it isn’t a permanent state for these beleaguered Ivy Leaguers.
‘The SWUGs aren’t actually washed up,’ the magazine writes. ‘Three months from now, they will be the bright-eyed newcomers in New York or Los Angeles, the 22-year-olds dancing on banquettes in nightclubs, who still drink too much and still flirt with boys.’