sorority life..mtv style
 

alright I am watching episode 2. They have thier little tradition of moving the rocks into thier letters. I know my sororoty and most other panhell ones would consider that hazing. They even showed girls saying they didn't want to do it. And what's up with the random switch of girls living in the house?

Just a reminder, Sigma AEPi is NOT a NPC sorority, therefore they are not bound by NPC rules or the rules of those groups.

The explanation I've read for Jessica (the 6th girl) moving in later than the others is that it took some extra convincing to get another girl to move into the house. Apparently the other 5 were more anxious to be on camera.

Any why does it feel like Pledges v/s Actives? This all seems odd... I have a lot more respect for the sisters. I can also relate to Jessica. I felt like an outsider in my pledge class in the begining and I can only immagine how she feels.

TG

I found everything so aggravating.

I didn't think Jordan was doing anything wrong, she was dancing in a club. Imagine that! Dancing in a club.

The rock thing was pointless and could easily be considered hazing.

They didn't explain what would happen to the girls if they broke a rule. Don't they have any sort of standards board set up? I mean, I know they're a new organization, but it's pretty basic to set up a system for when rules are broken. It shouldn't be so 6th grade where the girls all gossip and then eventually they break it to the unsuspecting girl.

The pledge house was the worst idea ever, and MTV has placed a huge strain on the new pledge class' bond. It will always be the ones who live in the house versus the ones who didn't. Or rather, the original five versus everyone else.

In the first episode one of the sisters tried to explain that the reason for having a pledge house was to offer the pledges something since they would be giving up so much of their time for pledging. I bet MTV made them rehearse them saying that. :rolleyes:

I can't believe Sigma would allow their event to be shown, I mean I don't know.
Also, what do the pledges mean the five of them, are they forgetting the rest of their pledge class. They are so divided. They should at least make an attempt to include their other pledge sisters.
I do agree with them saying Jordan is acting wild, BUT they were being extrmely hypocritical saying we don't wear tube tops or strut our stuff. Hello, they were all wearing little tops! Even the sisters, and there is nothing wrong with that bc I love little tops, but at least don't realize what ou are saying first.
These pledges need to give some respect!

As (my sorority sister) Jessica and I said tonight while watching the show, the "train" has hit a sharp curve.

No, I don't think Jordan's club scenes are what everyone is concerned about, but she's badmouthing the sorority to her roommates and to other people. I'm starting to agree with Pauli: If you don't like it (aka the rules, in this instance), "Get the f*ck out!"

I really like Jessica (the pledge). I hope she isn't painted as the outcast throughout the whole series.

About the rock thing...at first I was silently screaming "hazing!" too, but when I thought about it, we do a kiosk painting and serenading. Granted, we don't force our girls to participate if they really don't want to, but it's a night time new member activity that is encouraged.

Yeah, that really bothered me when Jordan was telling that guy all about their "dumb" rules. A little discretion would be nice.

I never thought of my pledge class in a manner of exclusion it was either all or none. I was rather shocked when the thought of a new pledge sister moving in was considered a problem but I was also surprised to see the actives tell the new girl that everyone was excited about the move in (seemed out of place, creative editing?). They need to get control immediately; in my opinion they haven’t had it since day one. At least Leslie managed to make me feel like I hadn’t wasted my time for watching the show.

my sisters and i didn't think there was very much to that show. but we 3 totally agreed that the stone thing was hazing and that it was pointless. what do you take from moving stones around with your new member class? i think one of the girls commented how they know each other better from just chillin than moving rocks around. . .from what i've seen so far i don't think that i'm gonna like the rest of what MTV wants us to see.

I really suspect that we're the only ones watching this. It's not very interesting.

We only find it interesting b/c there are so many aspects to nit-pick.

The Rocks
 

So I havent seen the show yet. It comes on in an hour here on the west coast, but I'm guessing that unless you live in Davis or have been to school there, the whole rocks thing makes absolutely no sense.

Its a tradition that everyone in Davis does at least once. Once I see the episode, I'll come back and see if I can try and explain what background info might be missing. And no one is ever forced to do anything in the sorority, nor are they given grief for not participating which I guess would be like a reverse form of hazing...

One of you said that you doubt anyone is watching the show, but I know that evry girl I work with that isn't in college yet, is but not in a sorority, and even all my sisters watch it, so it is having a big audience.

I agree! After the show was over I thought, "This is it?"

I also thought it was kind of funny that in the club scenes the girls complaining about the shirt Jordan was wearing (which I thought was perfectly normal for a club/bar) were wearing shirts similar in the amount of skin covered..... :rolleyes:

Rowdysister said that there are not many people probably watching except for us (us being girls in sororities or people involved in the greek system)...I am going to be a freshman this fall and I am watching it with all of my friends, so I know that there are more younger girls watching it than older probably...but at the same time that is who some of you are concerned about getting the wrong image. I know that my friends told me about the show because they know I plan on rushing in the fall (I live in the country and we dont have cable so i dont get mtv) and they thought it would be a good idea for me to watch it and find out about what i want to get into. But I have been reading the threads on the show and also find out how different it really is from actual sorority life. I think that a lot of PNM's will get the wrong image though, I know my friends do and I have to remind them that this is basically a made-for-MTV-pledge-period for this sorority. anyway...i just thought that if the nobody is watching this show except for people who are already greek and people who plan to go greek it is still enough people to care about because the already greek dont want the un-greek to get the wrong idea. am i wrong?

The thing is, I know people who are Greek and those who are planning on becoming Greek are watching, but would anyone else want to watch this show? On most campuses the Greek population is small in comparison to those who are not Greek and the number of people planning to go through recruitment is even smaller than the number of people who are already Greek.

Anyway, I just should've said that I didn't find the show interesting. The way to make it interesting is to spice it up with some hazing or major catfighting, but I do NOT want to see any hazing or catfighting, so there's no way to win.

I'm trying to think...why do we love "Real World" so much? I'm a RW addict...I think it's just because you get to know each cast member better and you really become interested in who they're dating, how they're feeling, blah blah blah. But these new members just seem so one-dimensional (which is not their fault, of course, it's all in the editing.) More thinking about that later.

I really should stop thinking about that right now. I'm trying to work on an assignment for class later this morning. As usual, I put it off until the last minute. :(

Remember that from now on, the episodes are only a half hour...and remember about MTV's "creative editing." We can't be sure that the club scene was really when the sisters were complaining about her outfits.

Last night when I was watching, one of my sisters said, "you know, about 80% of this actually happens." And, in a sense, she's right...but, I just feel like normal activities, such as going to the bar, are taken out of context because it's MTV.

Did anyone else notice...
* at the pledge meeting that the other pledges looked a little more average/non-MTV?
* that since Dede isn't 21 and isn't a trouble maker, she isn't on camera? They haven't shown her since move in except in background shots.
* that the clothing mixed in with all the free stuff MTV gave the pledges was mostly size medium? Because sorority girls come in a one size fits all, right? :rolleyes:

You have to understand that Jordan and maybe some of the otehr girls are used to living their own lives, etc. To all of the sudden have to abide by rules is quite a shellshock.

i thought last nights episode was DUMB.
1. Jordan needs to respect the sigma's and THEIR organization, she is not an initiated sister yet, and she has to follow the rules, just like all the other new members do. She isn't special.
2. i know this is probably MTV's fault, but we haven't seen the new members learn anything about sigma. Most of my new member period was spent learn different things about the organization, my new member class, and the older sisters. i don't see how moving a bunch of rocks does that? But, MTV could have totally edited all that out...it doesn't make for good ratings.
3. to me, this is not sorority life at all, and i am having a very hard time identifying with any of it.
4. the house rules....ok, if these girls had entered a NPC sorority the rules would be a whole lot more strict! They have it easy!

~I agree with the fact that I didn't agree with them ganging up on Jordan. You always have one girl in each pledge class that isn't going to like the rules or is a little more wild than everyone else. But she'll learn!! Let her get used to the change that has happened to her.
~What about CANDACE!!! I'm sorry...Jordan might not agree with the rules, but Candace is the true wild one!
~OK, I'm sorry....but what is Leslie's deal (the VP)??? I understand not wanting to become exclusive, but AREN'T THEY??? They are a jewish based sorority....it only makes sense that the members are jewish or have a background in that religion. That automatically makes them exclusive! So what does she expect to happen?? I don't understand! As far as I know, the majority of the pledges are related to the jewish community...except Candace. She said herself that she felt stupid that night of rush cause she didn't know a thing about the religion and had just found out that night that they don't believe that Jesus is the Messiah (or however she worded it). I just wanted to scream everytime she began to complain about how they were becoming exclusive....wake up Leslie! you already are!
~The pledge house.....it's definately just an MTV thing.....do you honestly think that a local sorority with no headquarters and that hasn't been around THAT long would own two houses?? Unless their dues and rent is extremely expensive, I don't think it is reality. The fact that only 6 out of what looked like 20+ pledges live there....that is ridiculous. Why would you separate them?? Talk about the others getting the shaft when it deals with experiencing bond making and sisterhood.
~ok....last for the moment...the ROCK thing...yes it screams hazing because they HAD to do it. We do something like that with the rocks over at the Phi Tau house, but forcing people to do it cause they are pledges is not apart of it. We do it together....actives, new members, alumnae, whoever is there when we do silly things like paint the rock, chalk, or draw our letters in the sand volleyball court. Its fun sisterhood stuff when you just randomly do it not when it is forced.

Quite possibly the stupidest show on television right now is this! I'm not even appalled at the stuff they fight over, not moved by anything that happens, and I ended up turning it off to watch Baseball Tonight on ESPN (i'm a baseball junkie!).

Point #1: The rocks: No point to it...but it could be a Davis thing. Didn't care.

Point #2: When the hell do these girls actually learn about Sigma? I give them the benefit of the doubt in saying that MTV has cut that stuff out, but for pete's sake!

Point #3: The exclusive thing...all sororities and fraternities are exclusive. If we weren't, we wouldn't select our new members and would let anyone join. Leslie needs to chill out.

Point #4: The pledge house...it's MTV's way of picking out the pretty girls to make the show "pretty".

Point #5: The Real World, which I don't watch every week, but always catch up on periodically, just has more substance than this. I'm not saying it has a lot of substance, but it has some. And despite that they chose what they want to air, at least MTV edits it to make it interesting. Sorority Life is just boring...

Point #6: To any young woman who is watching this show and thinking of going through recruitment and joining a sorority, it's a whole lot cooler than this mess of a show....nothing personal against Sigma.

Real World vs. Sorority Life
 

On Real World and Road Rules, MTV (no matter how much they deny it) "cast for conflict." That's how you end up with the Mormon from Utah, the playa from Philly, the rich bitch from California and the homosexual from Arkansas. On this show, just by virtue of the fact that 1) they're all female and 2) they are all going to the same college, ergo probably all around the same social class, there will be less drama.

I think the only people watching, really, are Greeks and girls who are thinking about going Greek. Once all the high school boys (MTV's target audience) found out that "sorority" didn't mean "big-boobed blondes having naked pillow fights" I'm sure they turned it off in droves. This also applies to men with a high school mentality, by the way. ;)

It sounds to me like Jordan was saying things like "I'm only wasting my time with this crap to be on MTV" - but of course that is not going to be on television - you have to read between the lines.

MTV should just do a show called "party girls" or "female co-ed room mates". Those are the things that they are looking for anyway. Its like they expected the show to be like those cancun undercover things where they follow a group of girls and a group of guys around. I think they were disappointed to find that sorority life is not all partying. A lot of the things that go on would be pretty boring to people who aren't greek, as well as greeks in a different organization than the one being shown. Day to day chapter life is not what they are trying to emphasize. It is like they are making an attempt to jump on the whole "girls gone wild", partying co-ed band wagon. I don't think that they got what they wanted so they are doing a lot of editing. Not terribly surprising. :rolleyes:

i agree with xilovin', maybe thats why the show is on at 10:30 on a monday!

This show is totally off the wall. It doesn't display the true meaning of a sorority at all, but rather, helps to display the "stereotypical" sorority. It's bascially a Real World, except all the house members are female. If our pledgeship was anything like the pledgeship of SAE Pi, Theta would cease to exist on the Ball State campus. I don't mean to be rude, but MTV should have chosen a more realistic sorority to base it's show on.

:mad:

I just saw it, and I was pretty disappointed.

Jordan being warned about her behavior: It was appropriate, and it was handled pretty well. I think the goal was to remind Jordan that she represents Sigma AEPi at all times, even though she's not a sister yet, and that she should tone down her wild behavior a bit. It seems that Jordan viewed it more as a scolding... she's had all these rules imposed on her that she feels are too strict, and now she's been put on notice by the sisters... she can't be thrilled. But if she doesn't like the house rules, she shouldn't be living in the house.

History lessons: During the meeting where they discuss the point system, one of the new members has her manual open, and you can see that the top of the page reads "The History of SAEPi". So they probably did have a history lesson as part of that meeting - but MTV edited it out - who wants to hear about their history when you could be watching Jordan dancing at a club? :rolleyes:

The pledge house: I thought this was more of a logistics thing. You could have one camera crew at the house, or 6 camera crews following each new member around. But there is a very definite division - the 5 original house residents have become very tightly knit - we don't see them hanging out and talking with their pledge sisters, and they weren't exactly welcoming to Jessica. :(

The rocks: That just screamed HAZING. Even if the girls weren't required to participate, they were probably "strongly encouraged". They are required to earn a certain number of points, and I'm sure they earned points for moving the rocks... If my chapter had done anything like that, it would be goodbye charter.

I personally have been very pleased with the show so far. I was originally very skeptical but waited to post till I had at least seen an episode.

What I have found is it is reflective on sorority life - maybe not your chapter or even mine but things that have occurred strike a cord. My own sorority was part of a local before we went Alpha Phi. We had to earn "marbles" (the equivilant of points) I never thought they were hazing. What I thought was hazing was the national that mae you get an egg signed by fraternity boys and the t-shirt you wore with the name of every guy you slept with on it. BUT that was a few years ago and hopefully we have grown since then.

And oh my gosh the fraternities had beer and one girl danced too sleazy for her sisters liking. Not too shocking in my opinion.

the rocks
 

I agree with everything everyone has said. I wouldn't have been so nice when warning Jordan. She is insubordinate and has broken,in my opinion, chapter room secrecy. Yet again I would like to add that I think all the sigma sisters are awesome! BUT I'm not diggin' on some new members. Candace-GONE; Jordan-GONE! I agree with whoever said that MTV placed those girls there to make the show "pretty" (although Jordan needs to check her eye makeup...give me a break!) And during their new member meeting, I didn't recognize ANY of the other girls. NOT FAIR! They need to show everyone. Whatever MTV, yet again another stupid show. And yet, i'm drawn in only to mock the outrageous behavior. IT'S A VICIOUS CYCLE! I was dissappointed about the show...it could have been a little better, but oh well....life goes on!

I am in a fraternity at Davis and decided to go online to see what people were saying about the show. I watch because there are always cameos of people I know on the show and I'm unsure if I would watch it otherwise.
First off, Sigma is not representative of the main panhallenic sororities on campus. I only know a couple of the girls including pledges in Sigma so they are not one of the sororities I have close ties with. I do on the other hand know a lot of what really went on in Davis and with Sigma in real life...not MTV life.
To answer a few questions I saw posted:

Rocks is a Davis tradition. All fraternities and sororities take part in it. I wouldnt really call it hazing when the sororities do it, but when fraternities do it, that is another story.

Showing Jordan's freaking skills at the bar and then talking about her actions later is pretty funny because I was at the bar that night they were filming this segment. My friend was actually the guy dancing with her. What they did not show was the other girls that were there with her, including another pledge and 2 actives. One of which was Becca the pledge educator who herself was getting pretty freaky...believe me.

The pledge house is MTV's idea and was also provided by the network.

I'll come back every now and then to help clarify things.

DavisRep

Does anyone else wonder if this will spark all kinds of little kids- aka highschoolers/middleschoolers to start their own "sorority"?? Like- c'mon theyre gonna see it on TV and be like "Oooh this is my sorority! tee hee!"

Oi vey!

I know we were dummies my soph year OF COLLEGE and buch of friends and I had a group called "Band Rules" (mind you, we are total complete band nerds... this was during marching band camp) kinda like road rules (it all started as survivor in the woods, and we drew straws to see who was kicked off, and I lost, so it changed to a non-kicking off show!!!!) we decided to have our friend make up missions etc... and it didnt get far, but we had a blast being real dumb about it.... like being ushered into a dark room with "the band-master"- our friend Chris - sitting in a chair with a ski-mask on, hissing and telling us our mission... yea...

lol


anyway....



You all think Im a huge dork now, huh?

Hooray! I'm not the only one!

How dumb is this...I don't want to be in EMU's MB, so I decided to go back to my high school and teach MB there! I'll never get enough!!!

Holly

P.S. This had nothing to do with the original post, just my random thought...:D Please disregard as applicable

Ohmigosh! I honestly think the only reason I have watched the show thus far is just to point out everything they do wrong! It drive me crazy! I REALLY, REALLY hope that the PNMs going through recruitment this fall are not expecting a "pledge house" and hazing and all this other random MTV crap.

I read in the Sacramento Bee that MTV rented the pledge house and furnished it for them. It seems very strange to me that their pledge house is NICER than their REAL HOUSE, but I guess MTV has to make it seem all beautiful and perfect. Whatever.

Nothing in their house seems to be done in any order, either. Like when the established house rules, they were just typed up by a few girls. There was no voting or anything! It just drives me crazy.

Anyway, my major concern is the how everyone else will view sororities in general because of the show . . .

One more thought for you girls. Sorority rush in Davis is extremely organized, probably like most of yours. Girls are given schedules for the week, dress up for certain events, and there is no drinking and galavanting around until rush is over. Once a girl in Davis decides to rush, it will be obvious that it isnt anything like what has been portrayed on MTV thus far.
thanks for reading ladies....

If this is what really happened, then MTV definitely had its fun with the editing process.

Anyway, I agree with everybody who's said that Jordan has been disrespectful. Did they forget that they were being recorded?

In my org, nobody talks bad about it! If there is something you don't like or you don't disagree with, you bring it to the attention of the President or the Sgt at Arms, but you DO NOT start badmouthing!

I do want to see what happens next week though, with Jessica needing a ride home :) I'm anxious to see how their relationship develops...

I am so glad to see someone from Davis say that this is not how most of the organizations opperate!

MTV show
 

This whole show is a joke. They are just fueling to those indivduals who hate the Greek system and to those people who are full of pre-judgements of Greeks. Not like we all don't have enough problems with ignorant people who know nothing of Greek life but yet put us down. I don't think that this sorority was responsible or mature enough to make the decision to have MTV invade their Greek lifes. There is stuff that is shown on TV that should not be shown. I see this whole show is a disgrace and a misreprensentation of Greek life. Not all organizations work the way they do. :mad: MTV probably had no interest in Greek life or portraying it correctly, except they just wanted their ratings by this show. So these girls are being used, when they think it's all good that their getting more publicity but there are just somethings that are not meant to be taped and made public to the nation.

OK, I missed the show, but I will catch it on reruns later this week.

BUT, my concern comes from another message board that I am a member of - AFA. This is the professional organization for greek advisors across the country.
The only comments that about last night's episode that made this board were about how the Sigma girls went to a KEG party at the Pike house. They made it seem like it was a MAJOR part of the episode...what's the deal? Does anyone remember this part of the episode?

If so, what was the context of the situation?

Just wondering...I can't believe I missed it.

Hazing
 

I can't believe how some of you are "flipping out" over "hazing". You honestly mean to tell me that none of you ever got hazed? I was hazed all the time...and proud of it...because I earned my letters...they werent just handed to me. And furthermore- the rock thing isnt hazing at all-some of you need a reality check. MOst sororities haze...that's right, they are forced to do almost everything, they get blindfolded and brought to strange places, they get harrassed by the sisters, and they get no sleep! Oooooo ...shocking huh? And...they have to do everyhitng the sisters say...whether they like it or not. I dont know what sororities you people are from that call the stupid rock thing hazing:rolleyes:

Hey Pike4Life... the girls were shown going to a party and it said exchange or something like that across the screen. They also showed a nice house. (fraternity house) Then it just shows the girls walking around with beer in cups and stuff. There is a short pan to the ground and you could see the PKA painted on the concrete.

They were at a party, but I didn't see a keg and I certainly didn't see that they were Pikes. It was maybe a 15 second scene.