As many more college women are going through recruitment and receiving bids, the number of stereotypes increases tremendously. Everywhere you go, you will find those who love greek life and those who despise it. Many of these thoughts come from one person's accouter with one member of a chapter. They jump to conclusion saying, "Oh if this frat boy goes out every night, gets wasted, and comes home with different girls every night, all frat boys do is party and get with girls." Some fraternity men value their 4.0, are in a loyal relationship, and would rather help a drunk brother than be drunk himself. Stereotypes are heard from everyone, and they do affect those in sororities and fraternities, no matter how big or small the university.
One of the most common stereotypes is that those in Greek life pay for their friends. Another is that all sorority girls dress the same. Of course, some girls do follow these stereotypes. Many feel pressured into being something they're not.
So yes, I'm a sorority girl, but no I don't...
...Pay for my friends
This may seem like it with how much our dues are, but we certainly don't just get forced friendships out of it. Recruitment is a time to find new sisters to become close with, as well as create stronger bonds between your current sisters. You make friends even before you pay your first new member dues. This money go toward up keeping our wonderful houses, apparel, chapter-wide incentives, as well as creating a budget in order to do fun things during the year, as well as for events to raise money for philanthropies.
... Wear Lilly Pulitzer
This might be a thing in the south, but in Ohio, no one is seen wearing anything Lilly. The only Lilly pattern to be seen in on letter bags and our chapter's pattern, but we all don't dress head to toe in our favorite pattern for chapter. There are so many girls in my chapter and others that rock their own different and personal styles. Some girls are preppy. Some are athletic. Some dress comfy 24/7 because they like to wear it and no one is going to tell them otherwise. Some girls wear band shirts, others wear Birkenstocks. Style is a way to show who you really are and to be yourself. We might wear the same outfits during recruitment, but every girl puts their own spin on it. Overall, never assume that all sorority girls are preppy because odds are, only about 10% actually are.
...Haze anyone
NO. Personally, this is one things I hate hearing. Of course, I don't know what happens in other sororities and fraternities, but in my chapter, we do every single thing to avoid it. Our university also takes a lot of action against it, as well as 44 states have anti-hazing laws. A sisterhood is a tight bond where only positivity is spread. Anything negative should be left at the door. Hazing is a tough subject that every new member is educated on. If you are ever in an act of hazing or see it, please report it to your chapter president, council board, or even the dean of students at your university. Many bad things have happened because no one said anything, and you do not want you or someone else to lose their life out of a simple precaution.
...Only party
Some girls like to go out, and others simply don't. Some that don't go out offer to drive other sisters to where ever they want to go. Overall, we some of us do go out, we stick together and look out for each other. We help sick sisters, tell them that they should slow down, and even buy them Taco Bell at the end of the night. It's all about being sisterly all the time, even if you aren't into one another's lifestyle. We do have many social events and are close with fraternities and attend their parties, but they are friend who also watch out for us. Socials usually have many rules and people who enforce these rules, just so no one looks like a "Sloppy Sally".
...Party so much I fail my classes
To be able to rush, you have to have a certain GPA, as well as maintain a good standing to be initiated and to stay in the chapter. Many chapters have mandatory study hours for their members. At my university, the average GPA for all 11 sororities was above a 3.2. In all of the United States, members in greek organizations tend to have a higher GPA than the undergraduate average for their university. You can always find sisters studying in the library, union, and even asking who wants to study with them.
Overall, no one should ever jump to conclusions when it comes to something you are not involved in. If you are not in greek life, please do not talk negatively about those who are. You only see what happens on the outside, and not what goes on behind closed doors. If you were once apart of a chapter and dropped, only share positive experiences to others. What you say can and will get back to who you are talking about, as well as to potential new members who might really love the chapter you are currently degrading. So don't be a Negative Nancy and start becoming a Positive Penny!
