Letters written out in script

[macallan25]

I see now. Confusing I guess. None of the girls I know in the "fraternity" list have ever referred to their respective organizations as "fraternities."

[alum]

I am not a historian by any means, but I always thought the women's fraternities were designated as such because the word sorority had not been coined.

I think of myself as a member of a women's fraternity. To males and members of other female GLOs, I refer to my group as a sorority.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Here is how it's been explained to me. The word "sorority," coined for my organization, means sisterhood in latin. Some sororities decided that it made no sense to have a greek name, yet adopt the new latin "sorority" label. So, they decided to stick with "fraternity." However since "fraternity" is also latin, I don't understand this explanation.

I think it could just be because "fraternity" was an accepted, well-known term, and so some sororities decided to call themselves "fraternities" because they figured outsiders would better understand what their organization was if they had that label.