Feminist Sorority at Trinity College

[Sistermadly]

From Salon.com [Link]

A sorority at Trinity College aims to redefine sisterhood.

By Lynn Harris

Dec. 22, 2005 | It's the sorority holiday party, and sorority holiday things are happening. "Secret sister" gifts are exchanged amid giggles, hugs and -- in the case of the sex toys and the bottle of Bacardi -- delighted whoops. One sister receives a mini-rugby ball and a bottle of beer. "I said I like rugby men and men who drink beer," she confesses, referring to wish lists circulated to help the sisters with their shopping. "I told her to get you stuff you didn't have!" teases another. Ooh, snap! Hoots and hollers all around.

This might sound, in some ways, like a "typical" sorority scene. But what if I told you that the gift that provoked one of the most vocal responses -- mostly pro-, I think -- was a copy of Maureen Dowd's "Are Men Necessary"? Or that a sister's mention that she'd like Teach for America to place her in Hawaii prompted the response "Wow, just think about all the Polynesian cultural issues"?

Yes, there is something different about Zeta Omega Eta at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.: This sorority calls itself "feminist."

A "feminist sorority"? At Trinity, known affectionately (or not) as "Camp Trin Trin"? Yes. And yes, I'm sure I didn't mean Wesleyan (Trinity's far crunchier neighbor to the south).

"Feminist sorority" does indeed sound like an oxymoron, and to a certain extent it is. As far as anyone is aware, it's the only such group on any U.S. campus. (Zeta's only known counterpart, at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock -- also not exactly Wesleyan -- is said to have recently folded.)

But sororities in general seem to be changing -- very, very slowly. "There is a movement to make these groups more progressive and relevant in the 21st century because they understand that if they don't progress they might get wiped out," says Alexandra Robbins, author of "Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities." The primary obstacle: "The sense of tradition in these organizations is so strong that any movement toward change is inevitably going to encounter a backlash." Still, Robbins recently worked as a consultant with the national leadership of one sorority whose highest-ups "were thinking about more revolutionary changes than even I suggested," she says. "It was very encouraging. The day might not be so far away when a 'feminist sorority' no longer has to be just a 'local.'"

TEACH FOR AMERICA!!!

(Sorry, couldn't resist. H&A joke.)

As far as Alexandra Robbins goes..did I miss something? Which national sorority did she get to work with?

[KDMafia]

I'm a little confused by this.
So Miss Robins is supporting the buying of bottles of bacardi and sex toys. But in her book she distinctly didn't like the episodes of drinking and sexual expression that might have gone on within the sororities she "worked with."

Also, girls in my sorority applied for teach for america, one is also in china right now teaching while another is in guatemala working with teh underpriveleged.. how is this stuff relevant only to a "feminist sorority."
I am a self-proclaimed feminist and I would never think that giving sex toys as a x-mas gift would define me as a feminist (I'm not saying I havne't done it, my friends and I have a kinda dirty/gag gift secret santa"

But none of what was mentioned above seems to be any different then something you could find in any sorority or with any other group of girls.

[Betarulz!]

I bet they'd be real fun to party with...I'm drunk.

[Sistermadly]

It might help to read the whole article (if you haven't yet). All you have to do is watch a brief ad to get full access to Salon.

The only thing that confused me is that Delta Delta Delta is mentioned in the article's title, so when I first saw it I thought maybe it was something about Tri Delta changing its (inter)national policies or something. It's a good, if somewhat inconsistent piece.

[KillarneyRose]

The scariest thing is that somewhere along the line the press has made Alexandria Robbins the go-to source for all that is sorority-related. That's wrong; at least they could have interviewed someone actually in a sorority.

[Sistermadly]

KR, I wonder how much of the Robbins question is because of the tendency of individual sororities to not respond to media inquiries?

[AlphaFrog]

Can someone explain to me how "feminist" and "sorority" are oxmorons, because I don't get it... although I guess if your thinking in terms of "feminist" vs. "steriotype sorority" I can see a shred of validity. But a jounalist who writes an article based on steriotypes, isn't a very good journalist...unless they're writing the rag coloumn.

[aopirose]

What's odd is that I was able to read the article last night without any advertising. It was right there.

sistermadly, you may be on to something with the Robbins issue. If HQ doesn't speak to the media then people are left to their own devices. HQ can issue press releases regarding the topic de jour but it doesn't have the same impact as an interview. Although, interviews can be spun too.

Regarding this "feminist" sorority, I am not sure that I understand what they are trying to accomplish. It's fine that want to develop an organization of like-minded people but aside from having males, how are they different? It would have been nice to learn of their goals and so forth. I did find it funny that a founder said that they wanted an alternative party place to the frat scene yet they wind up doing mixers.

[AGDee]

I would guess that most of our Founders were feminists seeing as they were in college at a time when not many women went to college. Our founder, Emily Butterfield was the first female to become a licensed architect in the state of Michigan. Do you get much more feminist than that?

Dee

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Originally posted by AGDee
I would guess that most of our Founders were feminists seeing as they were in college at a time when not many women went to college. Our founder, Emily Butterfield was the first female to become a licensed architect in the state of Michigan. Do you get much more feminist than that?

Dee

I agree. All of our Founders were college educated at a time when so few women and men had the opportunity to attend college. I know DPhiE Founders were students at NYU Law School in 1917 which was pretty unusual, and we're one of the youngest NPCs.

[33girl]

Someone please explain to me when sex toy parties (and talking on and on AND ON about the fact that you have them) became "feminist." If you want to use 'em, fine, but IMO that's between me and my partner (even if my partner happens to be my hand). I'm sure if these same "feminist" women had a man make a joke to them about dildos, they'd clock him. Which is stupid.

And as far as Robbins, it's the same deal as in her book - she was fine with the coed fraternity all banging each other, but when the traditional sororities did the same thing she thought it was horrible.

You've got to remember - this is SALON. They've got a very definite political point of view and it criticizes anything they consider traditional - whether it actually is in practice or not.

Honestly, after reading the article, it just sounds like these are the girls who didn't go to prep school and feel left out of that culture. That has nothing to do w/ Greek life.

[Rudey]

Ugh...butch...er.

-Rudey

[irishpipes]

Originally posted by AGDee
I would guess that most of our Founders were feminists seeing as they were in college at a time when not many women went to college. Our founder, Emily Butterfield was the first female to become a licensed architect in the state of Michigan. Do you get much more feminist than that?

Dee

I would guess that the social definition of a feminist is different now than it was at the times of our foundings though.

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by AGDee
I would guess that most of our Founders were feminists seeing as they were in college at a time when not many women went to college. Our founder, Emily Butterfield was the first female to become a licensed architect in the state of Michigan. Do you get much more feminist than that?

Dee

But I'd hardly say that these days our groups push feminism, at least not on a national level. What we did 150-80 years ago can't be compared to what's going on today.

Originally posted by 33girl


And as far as Robbins, it's the same deal as in her book - she was fine with the coed fraternity all banging each other, but when the traditional sororities did the same thing she thought it was horrible.

Word. Robbins only seems to have a problem with the attractive girls having sex . . .

Just kidding. But she's got some definite double standards when it comes to promiscuity or sexual forwardness.

I've know of a number of chapters that don't consider themselves particularly "feminist" who sound very similar to the sorority described in the article. They might not be the most visible examples (they're smaller groups at smaller schools, generally), but they're definitely out there.

That said, I don't have a real problem with the concept of the group, but I think the way the writer and Robbins presented it as some crazy new idea is sort of obnoxious.