In our society today, movies and TV shows mold kids and teens’ perspectives regarding how they should view people, places and experiences in the world they live in. With this in mind, before going through recruitment myself last fall I decided to “do my homework” and figure out what Greek life was all about.
So of course I watched all eight seasons of ABC families hit TV show "Greek" as well as Sidney White, Legally Blonde, and The House Bunny. Instead of pacifying my fears about Greek life, these shows and movies in fact filled me with more anxiety for recruitment because of the negative stereotypes they perpetrated. I was scared that these stereotypes would be true.
1. Greek life condones and thrives on superficiality.
All these TV shows and movies depict Greek life as a group of “Barbies” and “Kens” that recruit only new members that fit their cookie cutter, superficial criteria. Women would be recruited on how they look, and then of course once they get in they would be subjected to loosing weight, eating nothing, and learning to cake on the makeup. And then you have the guys who are recruited for how much “game” they have when it comes to women and much liquor they can consume in excess.
Despite these misconceptions, sororities and fraternities recruit members that have personalities and can contribute their unique qualities and strengths to their organization. Greek life celebrates so many real things such as community service, academics, sisterhood/brotherhood that contribute to the social, moral, and intellectual growth of each individual.
2. Greek life is all about partying and pursuing romantic relationships.
The entire plot line of all Greek based television shows and movies are fraternity and sorority parties where every girl is after her own “frat guy” and vice versa. And I am not trying to say that partying and dating doesn’t occur in Greek life, but rather I’m just saying that these contribute minuscule the make up of Greek life, and not every member of a fraternity or sorority participates in it. One cannot sum up the entirety of Greek life with the words "partying" and "dating."
3. Greek life is a joke in the world of academia.
Greek houses hold their members to a much higher standard in when it comes to academics and provide so many opportunities to grow in your major through club and organization involvement, tutoring from older members, etc. It is required as well as incentivized that girls and guys make good grades and thrive academically.
It is sad that the media perpetrates negative stereotypes of Greek life that might be applicable to individuals but simply don’t accurately depict all of Greek life. And although there isn’t anything we can do to directly address the movies and television shows themselves, we can continue to combat these stereotypes by simply continuing to not prove them right.
