from the author of Pledged

[hottytoddy]

Originally posted by KappaKey-utie
Ya know, I SERIOUSLY do not get what it is with people's obsessions with making Greeks sound bad! Can anyone explain this to me?!?!

Perhaps they are the ones who are bitter because they didn't get in a sorority--?

[decadence]

Originally posted by hottytoddy:
Perhaps they are the ones who are bitter because they didn't get in

Like the Aesop's fable: 'Sour Grapes' ?

p.s. I know the actual fable wasn't entitled sour grapes.

[decadence]

33girl's comments on "In Search of Sisterhood" by Paula Giddings, make a lot of sense.

I think the discussion here has a lot of parallels in some ways with discussions that occured on the Greek Letter Forums section of GreekChat, in regard to the Lawrence Ross book about the Divine Nine.
I was going to quote some of his (the author's) points here (which span some of the many areas also discussed in the various threads on this book) but it would make for a long post; so I'll give links instead in case anyone wishes to read.

• Link 1 - post is four down from top

• Link 2 - 2nd post down

• Link 3 - seven posts from bottom

• Link 4 - six posts from top

• Link 5 - final post on page

Thank you,

- decadence.

[AlphaGam1019]

Flipped through this book today...I had to dig through the education section to find it. heh.

Interesting browse through...

[decadence]

Someone asked about a link to the video clip of an interview with the author, on MSN - in another thread.
I expect the duplicate thread'll be deleted as including this first thread there are three (3!!) concurrent threads in the forum so I'll post the link here; since someone asked.
Note: Ideally have a fast connection, unlike I had!

Link.

ETA: Far more interesting IMHO is this audio interview: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4798042/
"...audio transcript of phone call in which MSNBC.com's Will Femia chats with Alexandra Robbins about sorority life."

[alphachi_UA]

For those wondering if her interviews are made up, I can unfortunately attest to one being actual and true. The information, although it could also be found on the internet, was presented in more detail and with more truth than can be found on the internet. However, she did still manage to get the name of out school wrong, so maybe she still lacks in her researching abilities

[azdtaxi]

I read it and it infuriated me. They told secrets of some GLO and that just pissed me off. The girls that they picked were girls that seemed like they didn't want to be in sororities anyway.

[Diamond Delta]

OK, I think we REALY need to STOP talking about secrets being in the book. I personally wasn't going to read it and had no interest in reading it until I came on here and read that there were secerts.(Confirmed by the members in the organization-nice) Now I am still NOT going to read it on priciple, but others may. Seriously, stop talking about it. This is what she wanted...PUBLICITY. I guess it worked.

[James]

There is a little more of an intellgent discussion here:

http://greekchat.com/gcforums/showth...threadid=50220

[sigmadiva]

I went to Borders Bookstore and read through the book. It is in the young adult section. It did seem to have a slightly negative tone to it. Overall, I felt that it was not very objective. It seemed as if she was looking for all the negative points that can occur in NPC sorority life and focused on them.

I don't remember if it was said in this forum or another one, but the problems she listed as being wrong with NPC greek life can be found in *any* organization. I think that is what is bugging people. She makes it seem as if those problems: peer pressure, eating disorders, ill feelings towards your fellow chapter members, etc., are exclusively found in NPC sororities and not in any other group.

Also, I have to agree with what has been said before in that I think her arguments about NPC sorority life could be more credible if she compared the actions of NPC sorority members to a female dorm, women's glee club or the general female population of a college/university, i.e., non-greek women. THEN, if there was a major difference in the amount of peer pressure experienced between greeks and non-greeks, that would lend importance to her conclusions about NPC sorority life. You know, maybe she should have done some comparative studies and collected data (numbers). A simple poll would have been nice to see.

The book is written like a diary and I think it should be read in that context.

I also thought it was wrong to list confidential sorority information. True or not, it was just bad taste.

[Rudey]

You think the author wrote a book that's critical of sororities? Check out this woman who reviewed her:

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=pulps&s=zimmerman052704

"But how cynical of me! Wouldn't it be more fun just to talk about the peer-pressured clitoral piercings? Or the rousing games of "Circle the Fat"--which make you a better person because you can, like, know which of your body parts need improvement? Or how about the eternal favorite--the "drink an entire bottle of vodka, get slipped a mickey, and get date-raped" game? (And then sleep with the date-rapist again a few months later because, you know, you're feeling really bad about not having a date for Formal.) OK, so that last one isn't a game, but it does seem to happen with enough regularity--and often ambivalence--that it sure could be. And through it all, your sisters are there for you: to point out your "problem zones," to gossip about you behind your back, to force you to break up with your non-Greek boyfriend and your old girlfriends, to tell you what to wear, to make you strip in front of frat boys, to force-feed you grain alcohol, and to make you pay tons of cash for the privilege of it all. Screw those snotty lesbian Seven Sisters schools--sorority life is where sisterhood is at. "

Sacha Zimmerman , former assistant managing editor at TNR, is an associate editor at Reader's Digest.

Now the New Republic is a pretty intelligent, liberal, publication. Reviews like this and other stories that are extremely stupid do come up, but RARELY. If you are planning to write any emails, put serious thought into what you would say.

-Rudey

[texas*princess]

hmmm that was interesting... the only part I liked about that review was:

So right away we have learned that Robbins is willing to lie--a lot--to almost every sister in the sororities she shadows and to obfuscate all recognizable details to the reader. To any journalist, this might look suspiciously unverifiable.

the rest sounded like the ranting of some random feminist who doesn't know any better since she so blantly stated she didn't like sororities in college and likes them less now... but umm that's just my opinion

[phimuandfries]

So right away we have learned that Robbins is willing to lie--a lot--to almost every sister in the sororities she shadows and to obfuscate all recognizable details to the reader. To any journalist, this might look suspiciously unverifiable

Robbins does a great analysis of every aspect of sorority life

I don't see how these two sentences can be in the same review, but that's just me

[maggieaxid]

I recently just finished the book...well almost, the end really made me laugh when she wrote the check list of how to re-vamp sorority life....

I have several issues with the book, I won't go into them because many people have posted the same ones. My only comment is this: If you take away the greek letters, this book is just a book about the lives of four COLLEGE women. The alcohol, the drinking games, the parties, the sex, the screwed up relationships with guys, and even hazing (sports teams haze as well as lots of other types of clubs and organizations). The described experiences are common. The author just slapped greek letters on it to make it sell more.

And honestly, lots of facts were completely wrong and I find it hard to believe that some college age women would share such horrifying and personal stories of rape and abuse to anyone in the general public, especially if they knew they were talking to a journalist.

[ISUKappa]

Originally posted by texas*princess
the rest sounded like the ranting of some random feminist who doesn't know any better since she so blantly stated she didn't like sororities in college and likes them less now... but umm that's just my opinion

ITA. I think it's the same kind of deal that drove Robbins to write the book in the first place: a highly-dismissive intellectual type who is only looking to validate her opinions.