D9 stereotyping..

[Wolfman]

The issue of stereotyping among BGLOs is a positive and negative phenomenon.It can lend to a sense of group cohesion. It also appears to be grounded in reality,to an extent. A few years back an elderly brother (who's now deceased) in the grad chapter I was in used to enjoy telling stories about his experience in the Fraternity. He related that,when he pledged in the Midwest,the Alphas were shameless elitist,the Nupes were "all alcoholics" and the Ques were known as the "Do gooders" since they involved themselves in much community service work, which drew him to Omega. I didn't think much of that Kappa stereotype until I read the book "Black Haze" by Dr. Ricky Jones, a Kappa, who confirmed that before the "Pretty Boy"/"Playboy" image and stereotype took over in KAPsi in the '60s and '70s, Kappas were known as heavy social drinkers.

These things are somewhat fluid. Of late the "gay" stereotype has been gaining traction in KAPsi. In the summer of '80 after I crossed, a neighborhood friend who pledged APhiA Spr. '80 at Hampton had a discusion with me about the "gay" issue in his fraternity and how he would deal with a brother who was gay/effeminate.

To a certain degree, a self-selection process in accordance with some of these stereotypes keeps these things in place, even though there is diversity in all our groups. It's somewhat like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

A funny anecdote. When I was a teaching fellow in graduate school in biblical languages, I had a 1.5 generation Korean American couple in one of my classes.The wife's best friend was an AKA, so she knew about these BGLO stereotypes. She was very surprised to find out that her nerdy teacher was a "bulldog," the term she used in class when she found out I was a Que. Later, the husband told me of a conversation he and his wife had at home. He told me in private that she said that even though I was a Que, I acted like an Alpha.I got a good laugh out of that.

[AKA_Monet]

It is my understanding that children make trivial comparisons or stereotypes for learning discriminating behavior (discrimination means differentiating). It is a process of learning to identify the difference between right and wrong--or rather living vs. death--a matter of evolutionary survival.

What is interesting to me is that the pair group model that finds the psychologically "safest" group with the minimal amount of stress is the something that teens and young adults still use when some of them have poor self-esteem issues.

An "all or nothing"--i.e. why join, etc...-- is antisocial behavior. Avoidance of social situations has some suggestion of psychopathology. People must be socially acculturated to something. If not a GLO, then something else, like career, spelunking, drugs, whatever...

Personally, IMHO, doing community service thru my Sorority keeps me active. There is something that always needs to be done in my community.

When some people have those insenstive remarks about my visual appearance and my Sororal affiliations, I write it off. I have a medium tone with long hair, but I would not pass a paper bag test. Even my family pedigree does not protect me. However, I still became a member of my Sorority because I like maintaining my legacy heritage and keeping with family traditions. Those are my reasons.

[1908Revelations]

Originally Posted by AKA_Monet

An "all or nothing"--i.e. why join, etc...-- is antisocial behavior. Avoidance of social situations has some suggestion of psychopathology. People must be socially acculturated to something. If not a GLO, then something else, like career, spelunking, drugs, whatever...

Personally, IMHO, doing community service thru my Sorority keeps me active. There is something that always needs to be done in my community.

When some people have those insenstive remarks about my visual appearance and my Sororal affiliations, I write it off. I have a medium tone with long hair, but I would not pass a paper bag test. Even my family pedigree does not protect me. However, I still became a member of my Sorority because I like maintaining my legacy heritage and keeping with family traditions. Those are my reasons.

Soror, I agree. I about the same description except I am a lighter brown complexion and it really ticks me off that some people have the nerve to point out anything about a paper bag test. I was in Wal-Mart, I had my jacket on (mind you at the time I had only been a member for about two months) and this lady walked up to me and said 'You would be an AKA....I guess you passed the test' and she had THE MOST SMUG look on her face. I just stood there in disbelief and she walked off. I told my mom and she was as was I.

I don't have a family tradition in AKA, but I hope to start one (waaaay on down the road).