Politically Correct terms?

[GPhiBLtColonel]

People are complaining now about the terms. And y'all are right that there are far more substantial issues to be concerned with...and that is just my point -- why did NPC feel so compelled to change terminology? I find it interesting that the frats (NIC) still use the old (preferred terms)....even Greek Chat says RUSH!!!

[Aphigal]

Maybe because NPC is a little more progressive than NIC??? I think its GREAT that NPC actively seeks to make changes that help the systems overall image on collegiate campuses.

It may be difficult for us to get used to at times but since change is a huge part of life in the corporate environments than I think its yet another lesson NPC teaches us before we enter "the real world!"

Originally posted by GPhiBLtColonel
even Greek Chat says RUSH!!!

I remember there was some discussion about this about a year ago and we all came to the understanding that having the forum name changed to "RECRUITMENT" would be unfair to NIC/Local/Multi-Cultural organizations who still call it "RUSH".

The general consensus was that perhaps it'd be better to change it to "RUSH/RECRUITMENT"...but nothing really happened. I guess it just got lost.

[aephi alum]

Rush vs. recruitment: To me, it will always be rush. Recruitment just sounds too military... and I don't get why "rush" is such a bad term.

Rushee vs. potential new member: "Potential new member" is just too much of a mouthful. In conversation I say "rushee". Here on GC I use PNM because it's easier to type.

Pledge vs. new member: When I pledged my local, I was a pledge. When I joined AEPhi, we were just transitioning to "new member" - so I was a new member, but they hadn't reprinted the "pledge" manuals yet. *shrug* Honestly, I prefer "new member" to "pledge", but I didn't mind being called a pledge.

So... any bets on how long it will be before we have to find something else to call "pref parties" because "pref parties" implies that the sororities prefer certain women over others?

Oh and ariesrising... don't give NPC any ideas

[EM1840]

yeah i'm definatelly with tennywahine and everybody thats wondering what comes next, i mean i can't see what's wrong with rush, or pledge, even though my org. uses the term associate members. is there going to eventually be a point where our orgs. are not aloowed to be self-selective and autonomous

[James]

The people that mentioned that the change of words was designed to be anti-hazing are probably the most correct.

Although the NPC groups probably made the largest strides in that area by standardizing the new member programs and even farming them out to experts to write.

In that way NPC groups are ahead of NIC, which still usually has a bunch of 19-20 year olds designing the pledge program and allows each chapter to design their own program.

The naming of Rush to recruitment is probably a bad change. Not just because its PC but because its very misleading.

Generally recruitment is taught on a sports team model, not a military one.

So a college sports team has a certain amount of people that will just try out. Very similar to Rush. The teams that have a better reputation and stronger programs get more people at try outs. Or the schools that have reputations for strong programs see a lot of automatic joiners.

Thats still not recruitment.

Recruitment is when the coaches go out and actively try to find and identify talent and then convince them to go to their school and join their team.

NPC Formal Rush (recruitment) has nothing to do with a true recruitment model. In fact your rules prevent you from doing that at all.

COB would come closer to allowing that model. But most chapters are not good at COB, just as most fraternity chapters are not that great at Rush/recruitment.

A true recruitment model would probably have you identifying and "recruiting" already established student leaders.

[Munchkin03]

Another reasonable, sensible post from James. I never fully though about the semantics of the word "recruitment. Everything you said is right. It seems that the NPC is really working hard to protect themselves from the same hazing related issues that plague NIC and NPHC groups. Woo hoo!

[KillarneyRose]

If P.C.-ness is allowed to run its current course, in a few years all of us of the female gender will be called "woperdaughters" because...

Can't call us WOMEN, because it contains the word MAN. So change it to WOPERSON. Whoops, that doesn't work because it has the word SON in it! So the new term will have to be WOPERDAUGHTER!

Can't take credit for this witticism, by the way. A friend of mine from waaaaaay back belonged to one of the radical feminist groups at Columbia University (IMO, the ultimate bastion of PC-mess) and that is how they referred to one another.

[ZetaGirl22]

Actually, the difference between rush and recruitment was explained exactly as James put it. At U of MD, our Greek Life staff stressed that a lot....that they wanted us to move away from the twice yearly formal rush and COBing........they wanted to move towards a more constant efort....truly seeking out the best and the brighest for our organizations........so in essence, "recruitment" fits much better than "rush." Now does the aforementioned thing actually HAPPEN at my school, that's another story entirely.

[honeychile]

FWIW, I agree with the others who feel that "new member" and "recruitment" will be the non-acceptable words in the future. What cracks me up is the need to say "women" and not "girls". When I was visiting the local chapter, someone corrected me, and I responded, "I'll call you women when you act like women, not girls!" (It was obviously a hot moment - lol)

Now, I use the same term our alumnae used while I was in school: ladies. There's something about being called ladies that makes women want to behave like ladies!

honeychile

[Munchkin03]

See, I don't call any female over 20 a "girl". Maybe it's because I've taken so many Women's Studies and Female Sexuality classes, or maybe it's because my University is proudly :::gasp::: PC. Maybe it's because I've been referred to as "girl" when I'm clearly not. I just offer that respect to females who are older than I am, and some a little younger. I am not a girl, and I will call out anyone who calls me a girl.

[Cluey]

On the ladies/girls/women comments...

At my college, we were all called girls. It didn't really matter to us because the term went back so far. To me, it seemed like the only people who didn't care for the term were the members of the female sex striving so diligently to grow up too fast. Even the ladies who would return to campus for their fifty year reunion wanted to be called Judson Girls. We even have a song entitled "You Know She's A Judson Girl."

Yes, we are ladies, but the term "Judson Girl" is something that is identified with our college.

[GammaPhiBabe]

I think that, to a lot of people, if you live in the south, you're a "girl" until you die.
I'm in the Junior League in Alabama and we all refer to each other as girls, as in "One of the girls who worked on my volunteer placement said that she couldn't wait to go sustainer." The girl in question may be 12 years older than me.
My mother, who is 50 years old, refers to the women she works with as girls, as in "I can't believe that girl got a promotion!" and there are many there who are older than she who also refer to one another as girls.
To call someone a "woman" sometimes connotates an infamiliarity or even a dislike. "Can you believe the nerve of that woman?"
"Lady" or "Ladies" are sometimes used... generally, we refer to ladies in large groups. Like I might say, "Settle down, ladies," during a rowdy chapter meeting. Children are usually taught to say "lady," as in "That lady has pretty hair."
"Girl," to me is a friendly term. I certainly don't use it in a disrespectful manner, nor do I use it with any relation to the person's age.

[Sistermadly]

One of the chapter advisors for Alpha Phi had the best outlook on this subject. She shared it with us at the Pacific Northwest Regional Conference a couple of weekends ago, and while I don't remember it exactly, I'll try to paraphrase it.

As you enter college/university, you are entering an unquestionably adult part of your life. For many women it is their first time away from home, away from the shelter of mom and dad and everything that is familar to them. While they might still feel like girls, because they're young and may have limited life experiences, they're adults and should be treated as such.

She also said that for many women, making a committment to a sorority is the most important one she's had to make in her young life so far. By calling the new members "women", she's showing them that their decisions are worthy of respect, that they are binding, and that they are very serious. If women hear it often enough, it makes them realize the gravity of their oath, and starts to drive home that as women, they are ultimately responsible for their own actions. She almost always calls collegians "women" -- and she said that one of the greatest things that she's ever witnessed as a chapter advisor was to see that the women in the chapter she advises learned to adapt "woman" instead of "girl" when speaking of other members and about/to new members.


Now my own opinion: A woman is a fully actualized person who is worthy of respect. I'm as southern as they come, but the terms 'lady' and 'girl' have a bit of a negative connotation for me, mostly because they're terms that can be used to show a hierarchy - you either are a 'lady' (person of breeding) or you aren't. A lady is snooty - a woman is alive, vibrant, approachable, has a sense of humour, and is someone you can get close to. Not that having taste, tact, and displaying good sense is a bad thing, but historically, that term has been used to exclude people. I don't want to exclude any of my sisters from the communal spirit of Alpha Phi.

When I was growing up, my mom would often tell me to stop acting "womanish", which meant that I was acting above my age, taking on the characteristics of a woman. At what time should young females start acting "womanish"?

As for girl, I really take issue to that word, because I ceased being a girl when I hit puberty. Not to be graphic or anything, but if she can bear children of her own, then she deserves to be called "young woman" to show that she has entered a phase of her life where it might be time to think of the person she is becoming, not focusing on the girlhood she is leaving behind. There are other reasons I hate to hear the word used when referring to me, but I don't want to take this thread down a frequently traveled road.

Okay, I've said enough. I'm hushing up now.

[valkyrie]

Very well said, Sistermadly!

Of course, I would expect nothing else from my sister!