Most of us have seen Legally Blonde or some other kind of movie that attempts to portray what sorority life is like in college. Even as someone who was not in a sorority for her first year of college, I can attest that these portrayals are not accurate, not even from the outside. Centuries ago, women began getting together to found organizations meant to inspire sisterhood and philanthropy. Perpetuating the stereotype that all sorority women are “just party girls” is an insulting attempt to counteract the effort that so many women have put into bonding with one another and helping others.

I cannot tell you how many times it is emphasized in the Greek community that going out is a privilege, but not the reason why everyone is here at school. So many of the sorority women that I’ve met are so passionate about their philanthropies. Additionally, I would have an extremely difficult time if someone asked me to name even one sorority woman who didn’t feel genuine love for her sisters.

People can joke as much as they want about how joining a sorority is “just paying for your friends.” However, that doesn’t mean this claim is true. Though sororities (at my school, at least) can be a bit expensive, they are still somewhat comparable to the cost of living in a residence hall. The money that members of a sorority pay go toward maintaining their house, food, the activities they get to participate in, and so much more. Just like with every collegiate club or organization, most people who join the Greek community can expect to make a lot of friends as a result of joining. Making friends in college can be super hard so why judge people for doing whatever it is that makes socializing a little bit easier for them?

While I acknowledge that stereotypes about people in the Greek community affect both men and women, I feel that it is particularly harmful to women, who face so much character judgment aside from being in a sorority. I can sit here and write about how going out is not all that sorority women do, but whose business is it if they do go out? That’s their own decision and it’s nobody’s right to judge them for it (especially given that their sisters are most likely already trying to keep each other in check). Just like there’s nothing wrong with not drinking at all in college, there’s nothing wrong with going out in college, so long as people are being safe and responsible. Too often, I hear people assume that just because a woman goes out, she must not be doing anything else with her life. When a woman goes out, that might be an isolated incident, or maybe it happens every week. Either way, it would be horribly inaccurate to assume what the rest of her life is like based on one or more nights. A lot of sorority women work hard, and some of them play hard too.

Perpetuating the stereotype that sorority women are just party girls is extremely harmful to young women, who are so much more than people who just go out all of the time. Sororities are not centered around partying in any way, shape, or form – it’s just an added factor that some women indulge in. By allowing people to claim that sorority women do nothing but party, we are allowing young women to be shamed for doing something that they enjoy, all the while they are most likely also working hard toward a degree. In order to dismantle this stereotype, we must acknowledge that sorority women, as well as other young women, are more than just one or two nights out and that they have every right to indulge in what makes them happy without being judged for it.