Date Auctions -- Yay or Nay?

[Senusret I]

I hope I can get a variety of opinions by posting this here. I did a quick search and didn't see any susbtantial threads about this topic. Plus, I wanted a more cultural perspective.

Date Auctions.....would YOUR chapter have one? Have they?

Are they prostitution? Too sexual to represent our orgs?

Are they innovative events that both raise funds and improve the local economy by advertising restaurants and whatnot?

Are they embarrassing to people who don't get bidded on?




I am struggling with this one, y'all. This came up on an NPHC listserv, and at first I felt as though the events could be tastefully done, if you plan it in a way that minimizes risk and liability. But, recent events have made me feel that the average undergrad might not be responsible enough to do this activity. Also, practically speaking, would the average undergrad be financially able to place a substantial bid on a date?

I hate to make this a grad/undergrad issue, but I think I could imagine a grad chapter of an org being able to raise more money and provide a more mature environment for such an event.

So in a nutshell, I guess I am still in favor of date auctions if they are responsible, tasteful, and well planned.

Thoughts?

[ClassyLady]

My school does an annual dating auction for Valentine's Day. It is sponsored by SGA and the people who participate come from a variety of organizations, Greek, social, service, etc. The event normally goes very well.

To minimize risks, all "dates" take place at the same time. Contestants and winners have a semi-private dinner together in the Presidential Dining Hall.

The only objection to this event has come from one of the school's psychologists. She feels that because we are a historically black school, we should not be auctioning each other off like our ancestors once were. Personally, I don't agree with her opinion. She's reading a little too much into the event, for me. I have yet to hear any other articulate and well-founded objections to dating auctions.

[pretty edAKAted]

My college did auctions annually, the SGA sponsored it and would mainly auction Baseball players, Football players, Fraternity and Sorority members .... But the thing I could never get, they would have the contestants model evening wear, casual wear and nightie wear. my girl did it one year and she had a verrryyy sedity attitude about her and always thought people were gazing at her, she didnt have many friends (me and 1 other girl) so to HER disbelief guess how much she went for??????
**
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**$40 !!!!!!!!! (she gave one of her guy friends (distant cousin) $100 incase someone she really didnt care for bid on her )

but that's not it, Our campus queen was in it as well, guess what she went for

$10.00 they had to keep going lower until someone bid!! talk about humiliating.

The highest bid of the night was like $200.00

[Senusret I]

Thanks for the answers thus far!

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Sorry to crash, but I was in date auctions twice in college.

One was traumatic, beginning to end, the other was a lot of fun.

So what was the difference? The attitude of the people around me. Both were for good causes, but the first one was a popularity contest of who could go for the highest bid, the second was about everyone having a fun time.

The first one was held in a bar. Girls all wore skanky bar outfits, and most of us were drunk because there was free beer for participants. The MC asked questions like "if your man was an ice cream cone, what would you do to him?"

At the second auction, participants bid on each other in a few cases, to keep anyone from being embarassed. Guys bid on guys, girls bid on girls, and there was nothing sexual about it. People wrote ridiculous bios (I mentioned socks and sandals as one of my turn-ons) and wore boas, cowboy hats, and bathrobes as the mood struck them.

IMHO, the moral is that some undergrads are mature enough to handle this, others are not. If you can foster an environment that encourages fun and keeps your cause in mind, you can do this successfully.

[LB1914]

I never saw the point to be honest. They used to have auctions at my alma mater and they were either all-male or male/female. There were never any all-female auctions because it was thought that guys were too "cheap" to bid on someone. To be honest, the male ego often will not allow us to feel as though we have to "buy" a date with someone(even though we normally pay for dates, the hope is that the young lady is there of her own free will as opposed to having no choice in the matter). I have seen guys bid on women before, but never at the amounts that some of the guys went for. At one auction, the winning bid for this one dude was $171.

Call me a cynic, but if I wanted a date with a certain young lady I felt that it was easier to just ask her than to try to bid on her at an auction.

[QTPiLady]

Originally posted by LB1914
I never saw the point to be honest. They used to have auctions at my alma mater and they were either all-male or male/female. There were never any all-female auctions because it was thought that guys were too "cheap" to bid on someone. To be honest, the male ego often will not allow us to feel as though we have to "buy" a date with someone(even though we normally pay for dates, the hope is that the young lady is there of her own free will as opposed to having no choice in the matter). I have seen guys bid on women before, but never at the amounts that some of the guys went for. At one auction, the winning bid for this one dude was $171.

Call me a cynic, but if I wanted a date with a certain young lady I felt that it was easier to just ask her than to try to bid on her at an auction.

Hey You wouldn't be talking that good Ole SU??? Yeah that's pretty much how the auctions would go, the guys ALWAYS got higher bids, I guess we women have NO pride. One guy my freshman year went for $231, a cute little Kappa, they are still dating right now.