Un-empowering. Hyper-feminine. Objectifying. These are just some of the words being used to criticize the recruitment video posted by the Alpha Phi Sorority at the University of Alabama, and it’s absolutely ridiculous.
Let me get right into it with my opinion. Everyone complaining about this video? Get over yourselves. I guarantee you that this video isn’t transporting us back to the 1800s, so relax.
It’s funny how in today’s society, femininity and feminism have become complete opposites. I honestly didn’t even know hyper-femininity was a thing, let alone something to be criticized. Good job, society, we’re now telling women that if they choose to express their femininity and outer beauty, then they’re automatically objectifying themselves and being anti-feminist. Really, I applaud you.
Just because the women of this Alpha Phi Sorority are thin and attractive, this video is somehow offensive? Am I supposed to be offended because these girls are wearing bikinis ... at a lake ... in Alabama?! What should they be wearing, parkas?
Let’s be honest with ourselves for a minute. If this sorority was full of heavier, less-attractive women, society would be raising them up, calling them brave and empowering. Everyone would gush about how great it is that these young women are embracing their appearances. But no, because this sorority is hot and thin, they’re anti-feminine. See the problem here?
Oh, and then of course there’s the complaints over the lack of diversity in the video. To all the video bashers out there, do you know the girls in the sorority? Wake up, because diversity is not just about skin color. This Alpha Phi Sorority is most likely made up of different majors, different personalities and different talents — there’s diversity for you.
Writer A.L. Bailey wrote that the recruitment video is “so racially and aesthetically homogenous and forced, so hyper-feminine, so reductive and objectifying, so Stepford Wives: College Edition.”
Yeah, so the young women are white, blond and fit. So what? You compare these young women to the Stepford Wives just because they’re pretty and feminine. But you want to know why this is really like the Stepford Wives? It’s because you are trying to control them, trying to tell them that their video is inappropriate and destructive. How about you let them decide for themselves how they want to represent their sorority and what they consider appropriate?
I have watched the recruitment video, and it is nothing like the Girls Gone Wild videos Bailey compares it to. The video showcases a bunch of girls having fun, doing cute things together and embracing their sisterhood. There is nothing wrong with it, and they should not have had to take it down.
And another thing, this is just the recruitment video. Just because the sorority doesn’t feature its philanthropy or academics in the video doesn’t mean that they’re not important. Chances are that during recruitment the young women will have separate segments on each, highlighting their significance better than they would through a small segment in a video.
To everyone complaining about this video, is this really the most important thing to focus on? I see videos of people stomping the American Flag into the ground, but somehow a group of girls having fun and showcasing their femininity is more offensive? Open your eyes and start paying attention to things that are actually destructive.
