For many girls, joining a
sorority is a major part of college.
Sororities promote sisterhood, womanly character, independence, academic
excellence, service and philanthropy along with many other things. Being in a sorority can mold a young girl
into a strong independent woman. All
these things sound so great, but many people seem to believe that the
stereotypes associated with sororities outweigh the benefits that they come
with. Where might these stereotypes come
from? Mainly from the media. Movies and TV shows often portray sorority
women as having low self-worth, never going to class and only caring about
parties and anything associated with alcohol.
Often these women are dumber than a slice of bread and can’t even seem
to remember which way is up. Sororities
are basically seen as party clubs. There
are many examples of this; The House Bunny, Old School, Animal House, Legally
Blonde, Greek, American Pie movies and Sorority Row just to name a few. Are these stereotypes accurate and is the
media to blame for them?
One
of the most well-known and talked about stereotypes is that being in a sorority
is like paying for friends. While
sororities can be a little pricey, dues and membership fees are required of
practically all organizations.
In order to keep things running in any sorority, a lot of money has to
go into it. From philanthropy events to
housing payments, mixers and fundraisers, t-shirts, sisterhood activities, etc,
the list of things sororities have to spend money on is rather extensive. One might ask why they are so expensive when
they are constantly having fundraisers.
While sororities do raise lots of money, it usually all goes to their
philanthropy (breast cancer awareness, Make-a-wish foundation, Ronald McDonald
house, etc,) or some other charitable cause.
Each sorority has a national council that enforces things like dues and
membership fees, so there is really no way around it. Although it does take a lot of money to make
a sorority work, these payments do not cover friendship and sisterhood. Going to events and raising money and being
around each other all the time, these girls are bound to become best
friends. They probably won’t get along
with everyone in the sorority, but
they will eventually find their place.
Rumor has it that bridesmaids and lifelong friends are made through
sororities and that is something that no amount of money could buy.
Another
important stereotype to address is that sorority girls are dumb, self-absorbed
and don’t care about doing well in school.
Movies like The House Bunny depict sorority girls as illiterate bimbos
who scrape by their college years barely going to class and only caring about
partying. Sure these things are
entertaining, but they can definitely be taken offensively by real life sorority
girls. Most sororities have academic and
GPA requirements, study hall hours along with service hours and a multitude of
other requirements. These things make it
practically impossible just to “scrape by.”
Even to sign up to be in a sorority a certain GPA is usually required
and once initiated maintenance of that GPA is mandatory or else serious
consequences could occur. Sororities
pride themselves on having high academic standards and will often compete
yearly for the highest average GPA. More
often than not, a sororities overall GPA or the GPA of all sororities combined
is higher than that of the overall college GPA.
As for being self-absorbed, most sorority women are the complete
opposite of that. Sororities each have
their own philanthropy for which they raise money and hold many events for
throughout the year. According to the
article “Viewpoint: debunking 4 Greek-life stereotypes” by Lindsay Holmes,
“Greek organizations make up the largest network of volunteers in the U.S.,
donating more than 10 million hours of volunteer service each year;
raising more than $7 million annually for various organizations and
charities.” Doesn’t really sound like
something that self-absorbed girls would participate in. These demands and requirements provide girls
with extra motivation to do well academically, do good in the community and
maintain the sorority’s reputation.
Another stereotype that
is commonly associated with sororities is that sorority girls only care about
parties and guys. This stereotype is obviously
straight from the movies where sorority girls are to be viewed as mindless sex
objects. Any college student, Greek or
not, is going to party. Sorority members
have the same academic commitments as regular students, along with a long list
of other responsibilities giving them limited time for recreational activities
much less for partying. As for the part
about guys, sorority girls are known for sleeping around. College campuses in general are known as
hotbeds for STDs and sexual activity.
Greek events are often very publicized.
Things such as mixers and other events where fraternities and sororities
come together may cause this stereotype, but as with any college party sexual
acts are bound to happen. “Frat bros”
are often stereotyped as sex centered so sorority women are automatically
connected with that. People assume that
since frat guys are so “sex crazy,” sorority girls are only there to fulfil
their needs. Through these stereotypes
sorority women are objectified which is altogether unfair.
Along with these stereotypes, many people believe that
you can only get into a sorority with your looks. Contrary to popular
belief, not all sorority girls are Lilly Pulitzer-clad, pearl wearing, preppy
Stepford wives as they are in the movies. There will always be a few girls in a
sorority who are basing their sorority experience on superficial things, most
often looks, but it is too often that people value the looks of the girls in a
sorority over the character of the
girls in a sorority. People and students
not involved in Greek life will judge an entire sorority by the looks of the
girls within it. Again, this is unfair
and unrealistic. Looks can only get you
so far in life and in the recruiting process sororities look for character over
looks. Looks is actually one of the last
things on their list. People need to
learn to look past the looks and the letters and get to know sorority women for
who they truly are. Look past these
things and people will see a diverse group of strong women in all colors shapes
and sizes. Assumptions are the downfall
of today’s society, and these types of assumptions can lead to dangerous things
for potential new members of Greek life.
Coming into recruitment or in preparation, girls might believe these
stereotypes and think that they won’t get in if they aren’t skinny enough or
tan enough or pretty enough. This can
lead to things like eating disorders, skin cancer, and numerous other health
risks. Even once in a sorority, girls
still feel the pressures of these stereotypes because people on the outside
expect this sort of perfection out of them.
It is because of this stereotype that there are programs in place across
many collegiate campuses that promote prevention against eating disorders. In the article "Moving from Efficacy to
Effectiveness in Eating Disorders Prevention: The Sorority Body Image
Program," author Carolyn Becker talks about the medias impact on body
image and how eating disorders are rather common among sorority girls. She
addresses, however, that these problems are not going unnoticed. Becker talks
about the programs being implemented on many college campuses in order to
prevent these types of disorders or stop them in their tracks. In a way this is
debunking the stereotype of eating disorders in sororities, because many
sororities are now developing these prevention programs and are doing things to
promote positive body image and self-worth. Being that sorority girls are at a
higher risk for eating disorders, these kinds of programs could be very
important for the health of many girls.
Another stereotype that is important to address is
hazing. While there is no way to know
what goes on at every school, all panhellenic sororities have a very strict
no-hazing policy. Sororities have to be
very careful about what they tell their girls to do because even something as
little as a pet name could be considered hazing. If a sorority is accused of hazing, serious
consequences could occur, as far as the entire sorority being eliminated from
campus for years. It is the same with
most fraternities as well.
Often times it may seem
like the negatives of being in a sorority or the stereotypes associated with
them outweigh the positive things. Being a part of a sorority can open many
doors for young women and not all those open doors are good choices. Young
women (not just in sororities but in college in general) have ready access to
alcohol and other substances, even if they are underage. It all comes down to the choices they make. Any student could choose to go to a party
instead of studying for a test or doing homework. It is up to that young woman
to make smart decisions for herself. Despite
the negative influence of the media, sororities truly help young women to
develop strong character, sisterly bonds of friendship, and create a sense of
community among each other. A sorority
is like a second family, a home away from home for many students. If a girl is struggling with anything, she
has a whole support system of upwards of 200 sisters to help her, sometimes
more. While sororities do come with social benefits, the main reason girls should
join is to enhance their collegiate experience with a group of young women and
friends who strive for excellence. In
conclusion, the media has wrongfully portrayed sororities through stereotypes
and people need to realize that this is wrong and unfair. Hopefully society begins to understand
sororities and sorority women for what they really are and see past the
stereotypes the media has placed in our minds.
