[Girlene]

Where I went to school there was a sorority who had 2 pledge classes, if you will. One half that wanted to be hazed and the other didn't want to be hazed.

I was a legacy at this particular sorority and they weren't even in consideration for me because of what appeared to be a mess. Apparently the year before, there was action taken against the chapter for reported hazing incidents.

So their response was to divide the pledge class in two.

Hello?

I asked the women then who pledged why they would want to be hazed and for them, it was a test of mental and physical strength. It was also a tradition that they looked forward to.
They grew up hearing "war stories" and they saw it as a challenge and opportunity to earn their own battle scars.

On the same subject, there are men in fraternities who choose to be branded like cattle by a branding iron with their fraternity symbol on it. There are fraternity branding irons on Ebay!

Here's my question--is it hazing if they CHOOSE or DESIRE a certain kind of treatment? Obviously it is hazing if it's a written or unwritten requirement of membership. But what about those who want this?

Follow up: I spoke to some people who were hazed (and who went into it knowing there would be severe hazing). One said that "20 years later, I have not forgotton who did what to me. I secretly still harbor some animosity for those people." Another said that it wasn't the same chapter members who did the hazing--it was members from another chapter who came in for their initiation night who did the worst hazing and that's who they resent. Apparently this was designed so that there wouldn't be animosity within the local chapter.

An example of hazing they told me: The pledges had to lie on the floor in a row. A raw egg was cracked and placed in the first pledge's mouth. The pledge had to put it in the next pledge's mouth and so on. The last pledge had to spit the egg in a bowl.

(I was given permission to share what I did as long as the organization remained anonymous.)

I am glad I pledged AOII where pledgeship and initiation week were a pleasure! I got more presents for I-week than I did for Christmas that year!