Book pledged: the secret lives of sororities

[norcalchick]

i thought it was alright. she seemed to go on about the whole "outsider" type of thing and where the girls had thier own lil groups, so what's the point of being in a sorority, and that there was alway cattiness. well, if you take 150 girls anywhere and put them in a house, you'll get the same deal. people have different personalities. not all women get along, and of course you'll have your lil group of friends that you get along with the best, but most or all of the other girls will still be your friends. as for the extensive partying, people are in college. there are college students that aren't in glos that party as much as glo members. those people prolly go to glo parties! she did try to be neutral in the book, but she did have negative views about things, which is what people will listen to more (which is stupid.) i do think she should have found women that did have good sorority experiences like everyone on GC. i was wondering how she kept undercover for a year? if these women did know she was gonna write this "tell all" book? and what members of those orgs think now?

[norcalchick]

Originally posted by Hootie

How did she know in-depth conversations? Why was she obsessed with their away-messages (and why is it relevant)?

That's what I was wondering also. Some of the away messages were irrelevent to the chapter or section of the book.

[33girl]

I have a question relating to this list from a post Sugar & Spice made:

Clues she drops, though she admits some, maybe most, are fake:
- The school is in the South, probably Texas
- 18 sororities
- The sororities have about 120-160 sisters, or in that general range
- They have houses
- The houses are large and hold a lot of sisters -- Beta Pi is described as sleeping almost 90 girls
- They have deferred rush -- to me this is the most important clue as it's out of the ordinary, especially for Southern schools, and most likely one that was NOT changed
- They have Homecoming, which they also refer to as "Greek Week," and they do serenading/courting to decide who Homecoming picks are
- The school and the Greek system in particular seem very status/wealth-oriented

Does she specifically say there are 18 NPC groups, or 18 sororities?

[AchtungBaby80]

Originally posted by Hootie
Anyone else think that maybe Alpha Rho & Beta Pi are the chapter names for whatever sorority she followed?

Ooooooooooh, that's a good one. Never thought of that.

[ASTLuv21]

I just finished reading this tonight. Over-all I thought it was a good read.

I agreed with her on the sterotypes tho. The way she pointed out how each of those girls fit the sterotype...I feel that each sorority has a girl like that. Always will. The speaker she wrote about...I think he came to my campus because it sounded way to familar to me.

I was a little applaud that she knew secret ritual stuff and the hidden meanings that we all know for our sorority. I was extermly annoyed with this. If you think about it, she had to get that info from a sister who was apart of that sorority. Just aggervates me that they could tell someone that when it suppose to mean something to them.

[swissmiss04]

Clues she drops, though she admits some, maybe most, are fake:
- The school is in the South, probably Texas
- 18 sororities
- The sororities have about 120-160 sisters, or in that general range
- They have houses
- The houses are large and hold a lot of sisters -- Beta Pi is described as sleeping almost 90 girls
- They have deferred rush -- to me this is the most important clue as it's out of the ordinary, especially for Southern schools, and most likely one that was NOT changed
- They have Homecoming, which they also refer to as "Greek Week," and they do serenading/courting to decide who Homecoming picks are
- The school and the Greek system in particular seem very status/wealth-oriented

This sounds like my school! We did deferred rush for a couple years (2000-2002) but there was such an outcry they went back to holding Rush right before school started. We do have 18 sororities (16 NPC and 2 NPHC). Southern school, obviously. All have houses which are quite large and nice (some sleeping 90). Homecoming here is essentially "Greek Week" although we do have a separate Greek Week. Definitely a status thing here.
I will check to see if either of those two names are actually chapters here. Wouldn't THAT be some isht???

ETA: I ordered it from BN this morning. I'm going to check for details that might point to here.

[KillarneyRose]

Someone wrote a book about the secret lives of sorority sisters???

[Taualumna]

Originally posted by Hootie
I think she has a typo in her book. When she was talking to that Mellony girl she wrote the Greek name, Alpha Omega Pi when I think she meant Alpha Omicron Pi...unless the Alpha Omega Pi is a local?!?!

There's a local called Alpha Omega Pi. Check the "Does it exist" thread in the Greek Life forum.

[Lady Pi Phi]

I succumbed and bought the book (because even that beeyotch need to make a living too...can you tell I am biased??)

I will let everyone know my thoughts as soon as I am done.

Aren't you all excited!!!

[shadokat]

I caved yesterday too and bought the last copy at our Barnes and Noble. I read about a quarter of it, and I haven't seen one "secret" yet, but maybe I'm not far enough along. So far, while it's funny and a lot of it is true, she is the generalization queen of the world when it comes to saying what sorority life is about. I'll give more out when I'm done.

[julz620]

I am almost done with the book. It didn't make me as mad as I thought it would, but the only thing I didn't like very much was when she revealed ritual secrets or secret meanings behind some of the sororities, mine included.

I also think that it was hard for me to relate because I go to a school where there are 3 NPC sororities and no one has houses. I've decided to take it all with a grain of salt, but it was a good read, definitely kept me interested and involved with the "characters".

[tinydancer]

Well, I just finished it. I thought most of it read like a work of fiction, and not a very good one at that. Many of the situations just sounded made up to me.

[swissmiss04]

My copy should be coming today or tomorrow. Is it light reading (mindless) or tedious? I'm thinking of taking it to the beach but if it isn't really intruiging I may go buy something else.

Originally posted by swissmiss04
My copy should be coming today or tomorrow. Is it light reading (mindless) or tedious? I'm thinking of taking it to the beach but if it isn't really intruiging I may go buy something else.

I consider most of it light reading.

She breaks up the academic year with the different months/significant Greek or campus events. It goes back and forth between the girls' "experiences" and then to her "research". Some of her "research" parts are somewhat longwinded, but I finished the book in about two days.

[ASTLuv21]

Originally posted by julz620
I am almost done with the book. It didn't make me as mad as I thought it would, but the only thing I didn't like very much was when she revealed ritual secrets or secret meanings behind some of the sororities, mine included.

I also think that it was hard for me to relate because I go to a school where there are 3 NPC sororities and no one has houses. I've decided to take it all with a grain of salt, but it was a good read, definitely kept me interested and involved with the "characters".

I was really pissed at the ritual secrets and meanings. I had to stop reading to cool off.