Sororities and Feminism

[DeltaBetaBaby]

I've been thinking a lot about sororities, and how they do or do not support gender equality, and there's really not a lot of good writing out there, so I want to open it up to discussion, and maybe eventually I will write an essay on it.

Obviously, sororities are historically feminist, in that they were one way that women supported on another on male-dominated college campuses, as well as a reaction or counterpart to the formation of fraternities. I think networks of women are still very important, and certainly that's something provided by sororities, but I think that a lot of negative stuff has crept in over the years as well.

The most obvious is the emphasis on appearance, especially during recruitment. I know that some will argue that it's like a job interview, putting your best foot forward, etc., but where this is a problem, from an equality perspective, is all the stuff that women are expected to do that men aren't. Both a male and female PNM are expected, for example, to dress appropriately and be clean and well-groomed. But only the female PNM is expected to wear make-up, go tanning, etc.

Now, I think most people around these parts know that a lot of the big SEC rushes depend on who you know before you ever set foot in the door, but to an outsider, doesn't it seem that you are judged on thirty minutes of conversation? And is the perception a problem, whether or not it is reality? Aren't we then turning off the potential PNM's (PPNM's?) who won't rush for fear of being judged thusly.

I'm also unsure if serenades for social events still exist in a lot of places. They've been eliminated by my alma mater, but basically, women would dress in slutty clothing and go sing to the fraternities in hopes of getting on their social calendar. The men would respond by coming over and singing as well, but the obvious objectification only went on direction.

There's also some internal slut-shaming that I find pretty problematic, like women going to standards for sleeping with too many frat boys. Again, I am of two minds here: on one hand, not all sexual behavior is destructive. On the other, such a pattern of behavior in a 19-year-old *may* indicate a problem, and genuinely lending a sisterly hand can be crucial. I'd probably have to think more on ways to address things like this in a positive manner.

Now, I suppose that everything I've written presupposes that women want gender equality, and I know that's not true, either, but I'd like to think that our organizations should support feminism as best they can.

So, I'm interested in everyone's thoughts. I think this is one facet of a larger topic rolling around in my head, that of how greek organizations remain relevant in a changing world, and what is really our mission in the year 2013.