An interesting read by a U of Michigan Recruitment Chair

[beckymer92]

Rushing for looks is only a problem if you stereotype attractive women as unintelligent, unmotivated, uncaring and unkind.

Me? I'd rather be a member of an org filled with Amy Conley Barretts, Mia Loves, Lolo Joneses, Melania Trumps and Michelle Malkins any day over an org filled with the likes of Madeline Albright and RBG.

[GreekOne]

Originally Posted by beckymer92

Rushing for looks is only a problem if you stereotype attractive women as unintelligent, unmotivated, uncaring and unkind.

No one has said that attractive women can't be intelligent, motivated, caring and kind. Those traits are not mutually exclusive. We have many members in our chapters that are all of those things in addition to being stunning. However, there are also women that don't fit a stereotypical version of beauty who are research scientists, incredible athletes, legacies or simply hilarious and fun to be around. From the document originally posted, it appears that these women would not make the cut no matter how much else they could bring to the chapter.

One would hope that chapters would recognize that outward appearance is only one piece of the puzzle--not worthy of trumping all else.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by beckymer92

Rushing for looks is only a problem if you stereotype attractive women as unintelligent, unmotivated, uncaring and unkind.

Me? I'd rather be a member of an org filled with Amy Conley Barretts, Mia Loves, Lolo Joneses, Melania Trumps and Michelle Malkins any day over an org filled with the likes of Madeline Albright and RBG.

I don’t know who the hell any of those people are except MT but if you want to hang out with them OK. I think you missed the point where she said she wasn’t referring to their particular politics but rather to their accomplishments. I mean Madeline Albright totally got kicked to my personal curb after the voting for HRC remarks, but I still appreciate what GreekOne was saying.

You keep missing major points of the issue, like the woman who was a university athlete and a friend to a huge portion of the chapter and was flagged as an undesirable candidate. Or the fact that members’ evaluations in the first round were actually a sham and had nothing to do with whether or not the rushee would move on to the next round.

We all take looks into account when selecting members. That’s not a secret. It’s when looks are the ONLY thing - and worse, when a SPECIFIC look is the only acceptable one (the “silky hair” reference? Come ON) - that it veers into a territory that NPC sororities emphatically do not want to occupy. As the rush chair stated, one of the reasons she found this all so hard to deal with was that she DID find lifetime friendships with women who were intelligent, motivated, caring and kind. And I would think women with those attributes would like to think that they were part of the reason they were selected for membership - not just their looks.

[panhelrose]

Originally Posted by beckymer92

Rushing for looks is only a problem if you stereotype attractive women as unintelligent, unmotivated, uncaring and unkind.

Me? I'd rather be a member of an org filled with Amy Conley Barretts, Mia Loves, Lolo Joneses, Melania Trumps and Michelle Malkins any day over an org filled with the likes of Madeline Albright and RBG.

I know this isn't the point you're trying to make, but RBG is a member of an NPC sorority and I'm certain AEPhi members are proud to call her a sister, not in the least because if you actually google "young Ruth Bader Ginsburg," that girl is BEAUTIFUL! I'm sure she made her sisters at Cornell very proud as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the highest-ranking female student.

Speaking of pitting individual women against each other, I think one of the biggest issues we have with this expose (if you will) is the evaluation of attractiveness of active sisters as a way of choosing who speaks to which PNMs. Whenever my sisters in other bump groups had to sit out rounds during recruitment half were glad to be getting a break, but half were heartbroken they couldn't meet more PNMs. I can't imagine finding out that your sisters, the people you're supposed to confide in and grow with, are evaluating you and your ability to recruit desirable PNMs based solely on your appearance, and deciding you aren't worthy of the top picks. That you aren't the type of sister they think future sisters would like. You already worry you're not "good enough" when you go through recruitment, and it turns out you're still not "good enough" when you're a sister.

Between that and the slideshow sent to fraternities with only photos of new members, the whole read just made me pretty sad.