A good sorority = Hot Girls?

[caprice89]

So ever since I've joined a sorority I've been paying attention to how people talk about them. I'm getting this feeling that the only sororities that people care about is the ones that have the most attractive girls. I'm starting to feel very self conscious because I've been reading so much stuff that says a good pledge class or house is a sexy one.

I know I shouldn't be worried about this but if I knew this before I probably wouldn't have done it.

[baci]

This kind of talk has been around for generations and may never change.

OTW is right, be happy. Enjoy your time in your sorority. You only have a few years to be a member while in college or at a university. Don't listen to the talk!

[Zillini]

Originally Posted by caprice89

0I'm starting to feel very self conscious because I've been reading so much stuff that says a good pledge class or house is a sexy one.

Whatever it is you've been reading...STOP. You're listening to negative stereotypes of superficiality that have been perpetuated for years -- usually by non-members and/or guys.

Your sorority membership will be what you make of it. Get involved. Join a committee, run for an office, volunteer for something, show up to events, hang out with your sisters. Then you'll see how much more there is to sorority life and how little looks have to do with sisterhood.

[KSUViolet06]

If what people think about the "hotness" of your sorority bothers you, then you should defintely drop out.

However, you would be allowing the opinions of others to cost you an opportunity and you'd probbly really regret it later.

But hey, if the opinions of others (likely guys, if the word "hot" is being mentioned) matter that much to you, then by all means alter your life to fit that.

In all seriousness: Why care? I understand that perceptions are important, but really? Perceived "hotness" is someone elses' opinion and likely the opinion of what the fraternity guys think on some level. Why be so concerned over an opinion that likely changes every other year anyhow. I know that the chapter everybody said was "sooo hot" and had the "prettiest girls" when I was active, is not even mentioned in that category now.

If you live your life and make sorority decisions based on the opinions of others, that's not living.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by caprice89

So ever since I've joined a sorority I've been paying attention to how people talk about them. I'm getting this feeling that the only sororities that people care about is the ones that have the most attractive girls. I'm starting to feel very self conscious because I've been reading so much stuff that says a good pledge class or house is a sexy one.

I know I shouldn't be worried about this but if I knew this before I probably wouldn't have done it.

Just because guys think this or that sorority has the hottest girls, doesn't mean that those are the girls they actually want to spend time talking with or have a relationship with. They are talking about who they want to screw. Period.

[APhiAnna]

This is the whole thing about perception vs. reality that I think a lot of people my age struggle with. So guys perceive ABC's pledge class to be not good because they aren't "hot" like XYZ. That's a perception, that's not a truth. The fact that they perceive your pledge class as "bad" or even "unattractive" does not automatically make it a truth.

I bet you there are plenty of attractive girls in your sorority. On top of that, even if there wasn't a single one (yet to see a chapter where that is the case) the things that make a sorority good are often far more difficult to discern by somebody who isn't in it: involvement, cliques, retention, programs, social events, philanthropy and money raised, sisterhood nights, etc. Not all sororities are as good as the others on those points at any campus (and it is often scattered about the tiers...there will be the top tier with awesome sisterhood and the top tier with terrible sisterhood, the bottom tier with awesome sisterhood and the bottom tier with terrible sisterhood, etc). THAT is what you should be focused on.

In short, are you really going to let a guy who maybe knows 3 or 4 sisters out of your entire sorority tell you how good or bad it is vs. YOU who knows all the sisters and the inner-workings of the sorority? Gossip is not that serious, you know the truth and that truth is the only reality in this situation, not somebody's perspective.

[Ghostwriter]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Just because guys think this or that sorority has the hottest girls, doesn't mean that those are the girls they actually want to spend time talking with or have a relationship with. They are talking about who they want to screw. Period.

How true!!^^

I wouldn't pay a bit of attention to the scuttlebutt going around about who is hot and who is not. That is always the way it is going to be. We guys are pretty much full of hot air and try to build ourselves up by calling out who is "hot" and who is not. It makes us feel less unimportant. It was that way in the 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's and will be that way forever.

Have fun, enjoy your sisters and be happy!

[aggieadpi_01]

Originally Posted by OTW

Focus on what makes you happy and don't give two shits about what people think.

I second that. Do what makes you happy!

[Kevin]

It all depends on what you think "good" is. I imagine that the more attractive chapters are able to be more selective, be more likely to make quota every year, are therefore able to have a nice house, nice stuff in it, etc. In terms of measurables, I think that the story, for the most part will tend to be that the houses which are more attractive on the whole will tend to win out in most categories. That's not to say you won't have a fine experience in a house with a lesser reputation.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Kevin

It all depends on what you think "good" is. I imagine that the more attractive chapters are able to be more selective, be more likely to make quota every year, are therefore able to have a nice house, nice stuff in it, etc. In terms of measurables, I think that the story, for the most part will tend to be that the houses which are more attractive on the whole will tend to win out in most categories. That's not to say you won't have a fine experience in a house with a lesser reputation.

and then there are chapters full of fugly chicks with awesome houses because they have rich alums.

Attractiveness is such a perception thing it's ridiculous to base anythikng on it.

[violetpretty]

When I was an undergrad, my chapter won President's Cup two years in a row, had the best attendance at Panhellenic events, excelled in athletics during Greek Week and intramurals, won a National award for best programming, won a National award for our lollipop campaign (fundraiser for our philanthropy), had weekly sisterhood events, was 2nd out of 14 in scholarship rankings with a 3.3 GPA, made quota and maintained total each semester, won campus and National awards for our new member programs, initiated 100% of our new members, and won the highest award that our NHQ gives (Three Stars) three years in a row.

But that doesn't make a sorority "good". Hotness and money do.

[Langox510x]

I remember reading an article where a national got in trouble because traditionally they were nationally known as an attractive sorority, but one of their chapters had a reputation for being the sorority with overweight women and minorities. Their national went as far as sending people to evaluate the situation, and those people ended up throwing a good number of the girls out of the organization. Long story short, in the end the whole sorority fell apart, the national received heavy national attention, and a lot of people got in trouble.

Sad story. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to dig up, but gotta get back to my school work.

[bostongreek]

Originally Posted by Langox510x

I remember reading an article where a national got in trouble because traditionally they were nationally known as an attractive sorority, but one of their chapters had a reputation for being the sorority with overweight women and minorities. Their national went as far as sending people to evaluate the situation, and those people ended up throwing a good number of the girls out of the organization. Long story short, in the end the whole sorority fell apart, the national received heavy national attention, and a lot of people got in trouble.

Sad story. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to dig up, but gotta get back to my school work.

QFP

[sewpurplebat]

Its a unfortunate reality but its also kinda true. When dealing with people barely out of their teenage years looks are going to play a factor. All we can do is hold ourselves to a higher standard and not judge people based on their appearance.

[Langox510x]

Originally Posted by bostongreek

QFP

I don't know what a "Quad Flat Package" has to do with anything, but all I had to do was type in "national sorority attractive" into Google and the first result I recieved was:

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/soror...ve-enough.html

By Rich Silverman

Twenty-three members of Delta Zeta sorority at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana were told to leave the sorority because they weren’t attractive enough, according to several of the sorority’s former members.

Late last year, concerned that membership at the DePauw chapter was declining, the national leadership of Delta Zeta interviewed all its members there about their commitment to the sorority and to recruiting new members. One week before final exams, 23 members of the sorority were told that they were changed from "active" to "alumna" status, and they had to leave the sorority house. Of the remaining twelve members, six resigned from Delta Zeta in protest.

According to a New York Times story, all the members who were told to leave were overweight. The dismissed members also included all but one of the minority members of the sorority.

One of the dismissed members, Lynsay Moy, said in an appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America that they were never given a reason for the dismissals. "No one was ever given any explanation, even though several times we asked for one," she said. "You know, you pledge an organization and you fall in love with the girls that you're with and you become devoted to a sorority and then you're told you're not good enough."

Kim Lee, another Delta Zeta member forced out of the sorority, appearing on CNN's Paula Zahn Now show said, "I've done everything I was supposed to do—I'm a good student, I'm involved." About being told that everything she did wasn’t good enough, she added, "You take that really hard."

Junior Joanna Kieschnick, who resigned in protest after the "reorganization" announced by Delta Zeta, says she and her sorority sisters were told by the sorority’s national leaders, "You need to be more sexually appealing; you need to make the guys want you."

DePauw University administrators have issued a letter of reprimand to the National Office of the sorority, which will observe its 100th Anniversary at DePauw in 2009, and are deciding if they will ask the sorority to leave the DePauw entirely.

The University made immediate alternate living arrangements available to the 23 members who were told to leave the sorority house plus the six members who chose to leave. Officials have also added regulations that will require all sororities to honor their housing agreements for the full academic year.

The national leadership of the sorority, which was founded in 1902 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, denies that it selectively terminated unattractive members. According to a statement made by Cindy Menges, Executive Director of Delta Zeta, the sorority "deeply regrets its mistakes in how it communicated membership decisions to its members at DePauw. In August, the Delta Zeta members at DePauw voted to close the chapter. DePauw University denied the closure.

"Based upon recommendations from DePauw University, Delta Zeta met with the women of the Delta Chapter at DePauw to ask who could commit to rebuilding the 98-year-old chapter. The only factor in determining who would remain an active collegiate member or become an alumna member was a commitment to recruit for the chapter. Any allegations otherwise are false."