Reply to comment

This week is tough. I don't know how I feel about cultural change... do I notice it? Sometimes. Do I like it? I guess, usually. Do I know why it happens? More often than not, no. I guess the cultural change that, I feel, has happened quite recently and has come in "full force", so to speak, would be the creation of new groups within the American population (i.e. lax bros, guidos/ guidettes). How did these come about and how have these individuals and their respective cultures become so prominent? 

Take for example "lax bros"- or lacrosse brothers. These “men” are part of a cultural phenomenon that has evolved due to the recent spread of lacrosse, a sport that was invented by the Native Americans hundreds of years ago. Lax bros have many defining characteristics, for example: flo (hair style), Sperry’s, high Nike socks (black or white), lacrosse apparel (including but not limited to lax pennies), lanyards, disrespect towards women, and an obsession with sex/ pot/ alcohol (see Natty’s and “icing”: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=icing ). Also see: http://mylifeisbro.com/ . These bros are easily spotted and are also infamous, even on the Bryn Mawr campus. Any mention of the Haverford’s lacrosse team leads to a comment along the lines of “stay away from them!!”

So how did such a group of people form this distinct culture in such a short amount of time ( greatest outburst has been <2 years)?!? Well, no one knows for sure. Google-ing “how did lax bros come about” produces no viable results; but if I really had to guess I’d say it started with the type of person who would play lacrosse. The sport spread through the male community amongst athletes who love what the sport offers: aggression, speed, versatility, agility. It has been said that lacrosse was bound to become popular due to the fact that it “…has the passing finesse and strategy of soccer, the speed and contact of hockey and more scoring than both of those sports combined…” (Source David Adriesen, Seattle PI) Take its predisposition for popularity and combine that with big, aggressive men and voila! Change. As far as the details of “lax bro-ness”, it probably started with the most talented players. A certain top scorer wore high socks and soon enough, everyone on the team was wearing high socks- perhaps in hopes his skill would rub off onto them; soon enough, entire leagues were wearing high socks and now all lacrosse players (women too) wear these distinctive socks. Though we will likely never be capable of pointing to an origin for every aspect of this distinct culture, for now, we can just sit back and appreciate the madness that is “lax bros” and wait for the next trend to come along.