Sororities are, for lack of a better word, complex. After spending years hanging out with sorority members through exchanges and barcrawls and making friends, some of the mysteries of the sorority life have been revealed.

However, the following traits are still some of the unexplainable phenomenon that, despite my best efforts, I cannot figure out.

Lilly Pulitzer Obsession

Imagine a group of sorority girls trudging through the desert, lost and searching for rescue. A sign appears with two arrows, one pointing towards food, water and safety, the other pointing to a Lily Pulitzer sale. Invigorated with new strength and hope, those girls will make it… to the sale. That is the level of devotion these girls have to this brand. Sure, guys have their Polo, Vineyard Vines, Southern Tide and whatever else, but nothing compares to a sorority girl's love for all things Lilly Pulitzer.  

Craft Crazy 

“Give me Pinteresting crafts or give me death,” should be the mantra of every sorority house. Glitter, ribbons, puffy paint and… other craft things (fraternities rarely embark on crafting adventures, so that’s about the extent of my craft knowledge) seem to cover thousands of pledge paddles, picture frames and more. The crafts are particularly abundant during certain times of the year, see “OMG BABIEZ” section. However, this practice still stands for sorority girls: PIN IT, LIVE IT, LOVE IT.  2,393,742,983 pieces of clothing/accessories with their letters I have around four or five shirts that has my house’s letters or says the name, most of which are from a specific event like rush or our philanthropy once a year, and that is plenty enough for me. If I were a sorority girl, that number would be shameful. It’s like if you don’t have over 20 articles of clothing with your letters on it, are you EVEN in a sorority? It’s not limited to just shirts either; there is athletic wear, winter gear, jewelry, hats, scarves and basically every other piece of clothing/accessory you can think of.  

OMG BABIEZ (Yes…babiez is spelled with a “z”) 

Social media after sorority bid day goes something like this: “OMG! BEST BABIEZ EVER! (SORORITY NAME HERE) FOR LIFE!” The enthusiasm for these new members comes with phrases like “obsessed with our new babez” or “our babiez are better than yours” and will blow up any newsfeed that has a small fraction of sorority girls on it. Eventually it slows down, and you think to yourself, “It’s finally over. I can once again return to the social media world.” That is until pledge moms are announced. Then the onslaught of babiez returns, this time with hundreds of Pinteresting gifts that will appear in Instagram pics, Facebook posts and your nightmares.  

Stereotypical Sorority Picture Pose 

Every sorority must have a house chiropractor on speed dial, because those hardcore picture poses have to put some serious stress on the back. There are other signifiers that hint at a sorority picture: hand on outer hip, head angled, mouth open laughing because they can’t even handle how much fun they’re having, but the only way it is a true sorority pic is if it has the back bend. The greater the bend, the more sorority it will be. However, to some it kind of looks like the girls are falling down backwards and are holding each other up. I guess it’s all a matter of perspective. 

Photo courtesy of: http://www.dumpaday.com/random-pictures/funny-pictures/funny-pinterest-pictures-20-pics/