In an article published in May of 1897, The Roanoke Times described the intimate relationship shared between two college women as a “smash” or “crush.” The article depicted these “smashes” as completely typical and mentioned nothing deviant about the relationships, even characterizing them as, “one girl, generally an underclassman, and usually a freshman, that becomes much attached to another girl, ordinarily an upper-class girl. The young girl is ‘crushed’ and the other, sends her flowers and tries in various ways to give expression to her admiration.” Historian Lillian Faderman defines this era as the “last breath of innocence” for female-female relationships. Yet, “romantic friendships” between young women continued to be openly displayed
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However, at all women’s colleges as Wilks discusses, this era did not immediately cease the intimacies shared between the women at all women’s colleges, and Sweet Briar College was no exception. Historian Helen Horowitz has argued that this trend continued as a result of the social hierarchy and power structure deeply embedded in the social life at all women’s colleges through traditions that weren’t present at coeducational institutions. She states that traditions such as the pairing of Freshman with Juniors and Sophomore with Seniors “linked an erotic element to a power relationship” and harvested romantic friendships between these college women. Sweet Briar College publicly describes this “Big Sister/Little Sister” tradition as one that helps a younger college women adjust to college life. According to the college’s website, “Just after arriving on campus, each first-year has the chance to meet with a junior that has been assigned to her as a Big sister. Big sisters are supposed to help their little sisters acclimate to college life and answer any questions the first year may have about Sweet Briar.” These time-honored traditions certainly establish a social hierarchy at all women’s colleges, but does that hierarchy exclusively promote romantic friendships? Lesbian psychologist Carla Golden argues a slightly different point in her contribution to the book “Lesbian Psychologies.” Her essay, “Diversity and Variability” argues “the environment at women’s colleges are structurally and psychologically conducive to lesbianism” Golden argues that college is a time for personal, social and sexual exploration in the lives of all women, even those who attend coeducational institutions. However, she states that many of the women at the all women’s college where she taught were able to engage in “the process of
However, at all women’s colleges as Wilks discusses, this era did not immediately cease the intimacies shared between the women at all women’s colleges, and Sweet Briar College was no exception. Historian Helen Horowitz has argued that this trend continued as a result of the social hierarchy and power structure deeply embedded in the social life at all women’s colleges through traditions that weren’t present at coeducational institutions. She states that traditions such as the pairing of Freshman with Juniors and Sophomore with Seniors “linked an erotic element to a power relationship” and harvested romantic friendships between these college women. Sweet Briar College publicly describes this “Big Sister/Little Sister” tradition as one that helps a younger college women adjust to college life. According to the college’s website, “Just after arriving on campus, each first-year has the chance to meet with a junior that has been assigned to her as a Big sister. Big sisters are supposed to help their little sisters acclimate to college life and answer any questions the first year may have about Sweet Briar.” These time-honored traditions certainly establish a social hierarchy at all women’s colleges, but does that hierarchy exclusively promote romantic friendships? Lesbian psychologist Carla Golden argues a slightly different point in her contribution to the book “Lesbian Psychologies.” Her essay, “Diversity and Variability” argues “the environment at women’s colleges are structurally and psychologically conducive to lesbianism” Golden argues that college is a time for personal, social and sexual exploration in the lives of all women, even those who attend coeducational institutions. However, she states that many of the women at the all women’s college where she taught were able to engage in “the process of