Alexandra Robbins...
 

So I have read up on this...and it does not make me happy. She talks a lot of bs that is magnified to make sororities as a whole look not so great. Yes there are eating disorders, drinking, and partying...but we are in college and some of that stuff just comes with the territory. Anytime you have a group of girls as large as most chapters, you are going to experience these problems. I know that in high school I was on the dance team, and we had the same problems in that group of girls, that there are in sororities. So basically if this Alexandra Robbins wants, she should go around and just do a group study on female organizations, because I am positive she would encounter the same things...Maybe she should tell Mothers not to allow their daughters to experience anything at all. It is funny how she forgot to mention all of our rituals and what sisterhood is based on. I really do not understand why sorority women are degraded so much. Joining a sorority is the best decision I ever made, matter of fact I think that it is the only decision that I have ever made while in college that I do not regret. The women I have met have been my family away from home, and have helped me through tough times in my life. I think that because of joining a sorority I have become a better person as a whole. And honestly if I had a daughter I would want her to experience all that I have as well. Anyways, I just felt like I had to voice my opinion on this lady who is slandering something that I believe so strongly in.

Co-sign on that. I want to know the real reason why this woman is so interested in uncovering all the bad things about sorority life, specifically NPC sorority life, and cannot focus at all on the good.

from the viewpoint of a journalist...
 

because she went in "expecting" to see the normal affirming girl stuff and "saw" awful stereotypes as being reality, so she had to "expose" the "truth" behind sorority life, and that just doesn't include sisterhood and positive stuff, because that isn't "realistic" enough.

plus it doesn't sell.
i kind of feel like she's being an instigator in some aspects, because i had never even heard some of the rumors/speculations/stereotypes she talks about having heard and then witnessed before reading summaries/excerpts of her book.

if she honestly thought going into it that sororities were a positive thing, and just social organizations, then why would she go through all the trouble/effort to get the "behind the scenes" sorority experience?

generally journalists go into this type of endeavor knowing what route/angle they're going to take it, and so i just don't buy the "suprised at what i witnessed" act.

also, i've seen that she thinks NPHC sororities are more what she thinks greek orgs should be like. If this is true, and she had such a bad experience with the NPCs, then why didn't she follow one of the NPHC orgs, and write a book about enjoying greek life, and thinking it is purposeful? because she obviously has respect for those orgs, so i guess she just felt better about writing about groups she has no respect for instead.

one thing i've learned in my journalism classes is to not let your opinion/feeling about something get in the way of what you are writing if you are trying to present facts and write a credible story in a report/news style. instead she went the sensationalized op/ed route and presented it as fact, without seriously stressing her opinion weighed heavily on those "facts".

the people who use this type of journalism aren't termed muckrakers for no reason. she's just a muckraker hell bent on showing a negative side of NPC groups. the question, however, is why?

ETA: I forgot to say this before, I also think this book is going to encourage waaaaaaaaay more negative press coverage of greek life. if it becomes a popular best seller, a lot of papers/magazines/shows are going to hop on the greek bashing bandwagon.

Re: from the viewpoint of a journalist...
 

Does that mean that Fox News people didn't go to Journalism class ? :p

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lyrica9
[B]



one thing i've learned in my journalism classes is to not let your opinion/feeling about something get in the way of what you are writing if you are trying to present facts and write a credible story in a report/news style. instead she went the sensationalized op/ed route and presented it as fact, without seriously stressing her opinion weighed heavily on those "facts".

the people who use this type of journalism aren't termed muckrakers for no reason. she's just a muckraker hell bent on showing a negative side of NPC groups. the question, however, is why?

[QUOTE]

Re: Re: from the viewpoint of a journalist...
 

lol, a lot of people would agree with that statement :p

Re: Re: from the viewpoint of a journalist...
 

lol, probably not.

Re: from the viewpoint of a journalist...
 

because it wouldn't sell ... simple as that.

very similar to the MTV Sorority/Fraternity Life series... they edited the shows in a such a way to only show the cattiness/drama because that is what made people watch. If each entire episode showed them doing nothing but philanthropy and/or sisterhood events, people wouldn't have watched it for very long. It is basically like a train wreck... even though you know it's bad, you can't help but watch.

Question for the NPHC GLO members: If a "reporter" (Note: I am using that term very loosely here) came to your GLOs and asked questions as she claimed to have done with NPC sororities, are your members allowed to speak to them?

I know with my sorority, no members are allowed to speak to the press concerning our chapter. Only our chapter president or the national office can do that. In that Today SHow interview yesterday she sounded all dramatic that in the beginning no members of the sororities would speak with her so she sounded so convinced everyone was trying to "cover up" :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

It's funny...
 

this "author" cites GC in her book, but does she cite all the concerns and discounting that we all had to say about MTV Fraternity and Sorority Life???????

Re: It's funny...
 

No, of course not. Look at our media -- nobody is interested in hearing about people who are happy and growing as individuals from the things they do. The media is full of crime and scapegoating and things that will sell.

If Ms. Robbins had written a book about how sororities really are, nobody would buy it.

All this woman cares about is PR and book sales, and guess what? Every time someone posts a message about her or her book, that's exactly what she gets! Please, let's not give her any more free PR. We all seem to be in agreement that her book is misrepresentative both of sororities and Greek Life as a whole. By all means, continue being enraged, but don't give her what she wants.

Re: Re: It's funny...
 

Well why not? The book doesn't bother me, more power to her.

Re: Re: Re: It's funny...
 

Well of course not.

But what if she was writing about fraternities, and how all the members were drunka ll the time, and they did drugs, and they were all rapists. What is she talked about your organization like that? Would you be happy?

Re: Re: Re: Re: It's funny...
 

Wouldn't phase me much actually. I am the wrong kind of person to use that kind of counter argument on.

Although . . your example is a little extreme versus what she actually wrote.

I would like to know where she founf these absolutely marvelous sorority chapters that run around naked and have breast line-ups.

Did anyone get the impression, assuming she actually interviewed girls, that some of them maybe just made funny stuff up . .. just because?

Some of it sound slike made up stories we might have told in our . . . what was it thread? The one where we created stereotyes and rumours?

Oh yeah, this is the link she may have gotten some crazy stories from lol

http://greekchat.com/gcforums/showth...threadid=12770

Which is exactly the reason that reputable journalists do not use websites (unless they're connected to a educational institution or the government) as a source. Although it would have been quite funny to read things credited to "assntitties" or some of the other colorfully named posters who have passed through GC.

As I stated before, she posted on stophazing.org asking if circle the fat and weighing girls was real. That is not someone who was interested in finding out the real truth....that is someone who knew what she wanted to write and just wanted something, anything, even if it was a sarcastic kidding reference on a web site, to back it up.

Apparently CNN did not either.

In my sorority, as the President, I am the only person other than my GA and Province Presdient that can speak to the media, and I think most sororities are like that. I would be very interested to see where she found this willing sorority that let her interview and tag along with them. The book sounds like a fake to me.