Hogging: Sex betting in American fraternities

Many fraternities at American universities are known for their drinking games and their often degrading view of women. Recently, a young woman posted a tiktok video pointing out a practice called hogging (from the English word “hog” for fattening pig, which is used pejoratively to refer to victims). The video has more than 1.5 million views to date.

Megan explains that hogging is a student wager to “sleep with the fattest or ugliest woman at the party, or with as many plus-size women as possible.”

“After sex, the members of the brotherhood sometimes storm into the bedroom and harass the victim with loud grunting noises until they leave the room,” she writes. In the comments on their video, dozens of other women report that they received the same treatment: “This confirms to me that I definitely participated in a harassing ritual against my will,” writes one of them.

Unfortunately, this type of sex betting is not a new phenomenon. As a 2003 entry on Urban Dictionary shows, hogging has been around for a long time. On “Buzzfeed” Megan Mapes describes hogging as “a practice that, in the eyes of its followers, strengthens their masculinity”. The students see overweight women as easy targets that could easily be humiliated.

Megan, the plus-size model and social media activist, finally wants to draw more attention to this topic with her video. “My hope is to tell as many people as possible about this practice so that at some point it no longer exists.” Until then, it is important to offer victims a platform and an open ear.