Debunking the "Brothel Law" Myth

[ASAlamb]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Phooey, I fixed it. Try it now.

Thanks for the link! I wonder if other women's fraternities are teaching their new members similar stuff as ZTA?

(Not that I want to resurrect a dead horse just to beat it to death again )

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by ASAlamb

I've read that the word sorority didn't even exist until Gamma Phi Beta was founded... am I right in thinking she was ignorant/full of crap?

Yes, you are right in thinking that, but . . .

. . . meaning absolutely no disrespect to Gamma Phi Beta or Dr. Brown, the word "sorority" did exist before Gamma Phi Beta. Sir Thomas More used it in his writings around 1530. Granted, it was never as common a word as "fraternity" (which had a long use among religious communities prior to its use for what we think of as fraternities), but it when he suggested it in the 1870s for Gamma Phi Beta, Dr. Brown could have been drawing on a knowledge of More's writings. Of course, he also could have been completely unaware of the previous use of the word and simply did what someone before him had done -- gone back to the Latin sororitas and anglicized it in a manner similar to fraternitas.

[SWTXBelle]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Yes, you are right in thinking that, but . . .

. . . meaning absolutely no disrespect to Gamma Phi Beta or Dr. Brown, the word "sorority" did exist before Gamma Phi Beta. Sir Thomas More used it in his writings around 1530. Granted, it was never as common a word as "fraternity" (which had a long use among religious communities prior to its use for what we think of as fraternities), but it when he suggested it in the 1870s for Gamma Phi Beta, Dr. Brown could have been drawing on a knowledge of More's writings. Of course, he also could have been completely unaware of the previous use of the word and simply did what someone before him had done -- gone back to the Latin sororitas and anglicized it in a manner similar to fraternitas.

We can give dear Dr. Brown credit for being the first to apply "sorority" to a women's GLO. It can be fun to state that Gamma Phi was the first SORORITY to Pi Phis or A D Pis =

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

We can give dear Dr. Brown credit for being the first to apply "sorority" to a women's GLO.

Absolutely! We can also give Dr. Brown credit for being learned, without a doubt.