Sorority Life: The GC Game - Page 3

XiLovin · #31 08-01-2002, 02:21 PM

Hey, I guess I am "un-sigma like" because I think this thread is funny.

Actually... Zuma trying to take up for sigma only makes it that much more hilarious. Hey Zuma, nice time to be sigma like. You should have thought about that before you signed on the dotted line.

LeslieAGD · #32 08-01-2002, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by anchorjenni
What worries me more is that none of the girls seem happy with the experience. Why would a PNM want to join a sorority if she thought it would just be a big, disappointing hassle? I certainly wouldn't. But that's just my opinion.

Amen!

Quote:

Originally posted by Zuma
I found this thread to be mean-spirited, and I dont believe that I have to sit silently through this crap. I did avoid it for awhile, but how would you all feel if I singled out a sorority -lets say AGD since someone did mention the Cosmo article- and made up a list of reasons why you couldnt get in? It would be poor greek relations.

AGD as well as other national and most local groups don't go out looking for trouble by letting themselves be filmed by MTV. Again, you made your decision, now you have to deal with the backlash. We are discussing MTV's "Sorority Life" as if it were any other reality TV show. Many people from RW and RR are Greek and GCers have talked about them too...that doesn't make it poor Greek relations.

phisigsigchic · #33 08-01-2002, 02:42 PM

Oh calling out on AGD was a cheap shot Zuma. Look, when you go out on national tv guess what? people will watch and talk, both bad and good about you. I am sure you and your sisters have sat and made fun of celebrities. JLo gets talked about her butt all the time Britney Spears gets made fun of for being a pop princess. Yet, they deal with it because they know its the price of being famous. The media and the American public are harsh and if you guys didn't know this would happen then your really naive. If you don't like it, shouldn't have let MTV come in with their cameras. And then insulting all of us saying we are mean spirited and calling out on AGD was wrong. I think that was UN-SIGMA LIKE BEHAVIOR!

phisigsigchic · #34 08-01-2002, 02:50 PM

Oh calling out on AGD was a cheap shot Zuma. Look, when you go out on national tv guess what? people will watch and talk, both bad and good about you. I am sure you and your sisters have sat and made fun of celebrities. JLo gets talked about her butt all the time Britney Spears gets made fun of for being a pop princess. Yet, they deal with it because they know its the price of being famous. The media and the American public are harsh and if you guys didn't know this would happen then your really naive. If you don't like it, shouldn't have let MTV come in with their cameras. And then insulting all of us saying we are mean spirited and calling out on AGD was wrong. I think that was UN-SIGMA LIKE BEHAVIOR!

UCD Greek · #35 08-01-2002, 03:03 PM

I've been reading all these posts for a long while now and have kept my mouth shut. But I cannot be silent anymore. I'm a greek at UC Davis (not a Sigma). I know some of these girls pretty well and respect and admire them as people and a s greeks. I may not fully agree with the decision they made, though i do think they did it with good intentions and were assured of things and made promsies that were broken. However, i think all of you are blowing this WAY out of proportion and being unfairly cruel. Let me just suggest something, have any of you thought that maybe the Sigmas are seeing some of this behavior for the 1st time on TV? As we all know things go on among pledges that sisters dont see all the time, I know they did in my pledge class. The sisters didn't do anything about Sylvia slapping Jessica or Candace breaking Sober Sis because they didn't know it happened! Just cause the cameras saw doesn't mean the sisters did.
But my main point is this: Reading some of these posts has made me be embarassed to call myself Greek. We talk all the time about fostering a sense of sisterhood and brotherhood between chapters, we make a point of trying to create a supportive, positive greek community, yet we treat these girls like crap! Maybe they are a local, but they are still panhellenic members (be it associate members) and are still deserving of our support or at very least they deserve to be treated with respect. To constructivly criticise is one thing but to shamlessly, meanly ridicule is quite another. If we as a Greek Community want to continue to claim to foster unity and create an atomosphere of respect then we must practice what we preach. We may not agree with what the sigmas did but they are part of our community and deserve respect and consideration for their feelings. By reading this web site I cannot help to feel that some of you (not all) are doing exactly what you are shunning the Sigmas for doing, you are perpetuating the negative stereotypes about sorority girls, in your case by being catty, mean spirited and condasending.

maggieaxid · #36 08-01-2002, 03:13 PM

Someone please explain to me how we are promoting greek-stereotypes if we are talking about people wearing the same greek101 t-shirt over and over again, and laughing at someone walked into a glass door....How is that being a "stereo-typical greek"? You don't think other people who are non-greek wouldn't talk about that too???it's not like we are making fun of their ritual or symbols! We are making fun of the ikea mtv pledge house and yahoo screen savers.....lighten up!

Zuma · #37 08-01-2002, 03:33 PM

I stand by initial comment that this thread is hypocritical. I keep hearing that you guys opened yourselves up to this, blah blah blah, which is fine. But I have yet to hear how its not hypocritical...

Go ahead and make criticisms, thats fine. I realize that goes with the territory. But I think it is completely hypocritical that the people who were so worried about negative sister stereotypes being perpetuated are the same ones exhibiting that behavior right now. You were afraid of sisters looking catty? Then what is this?

I wasnt there this year. No body asked me if I wanted to participate in this. But here I am standing as a sister the same, and when you do something that bugs me I'm not going to stand silently.

I didnt call out on AGD. I dont know AGD, I've never even heard of them until I came on here. I only mentioned them as an example because of another thread on here. Do I believe they discriminate, no. But it proved a ripe example because of that thread. And as a national sorority of prominance, it doesnt matter whether you went to the news or MTV or Cosmo, you are subject to those kinda things. I get that. And in naming AGD, I was asserting that it would be completely inappropriate to start a thread with the topic I stated. And by the reactions of some, I see you agree with that assumption. I dont think its any more appropriate to do it to us.

Somethings I can answer: From what I've heard, Sylvia was talked to. Some of the sisters on the show left messages on the MTV site about the incident which go beyond anything I can tell you about it. I simply dont know. Nothing like that has ever happened before in the sorority that we know of, so there isnt any precedence for it. Also, no one has ever been kicked out or asked to leave; we've never had the need to. There are different philosiphies on how to deal with situations such as physical violence. I personally dont believe in a zero-tolerence policy. Others are going to disagree. But thats just my personal opinion.

You wanna know about unsigma-like behavior, go to the MTV board and read what the members have to say about it, because I dont have an answer. Its never been a problem before. We are a pretty normal bunch, not with high standards at all, and I can only guess that they were worried about people drinking in excess on a regular basis. But its only a guess since I wasnt there and thats what I've heard. And theres other stuff Ive heard like motivation.

On a side note, I dont criticise celebs. Partially because I live in LA and who knows who will pop around the corner (and yes I've been in that situation) and partially because I dont feel the need. I dont know them, so who am I to criticise.

You got questions about what happened, I can try and answer them, ok?

Cloud9 · #38 08-01-2002, 03:44 PM

Sorry, but I still don't feel any remorse. The point is, that for at least the time being, the Sigma girls cannot expect to be treated as individuals. They CHOSE to do this knowing full well that they were throwing themselves on the mercy of the public through a shady arse TV show. I mean, they themselves kept telling us how extensive and thorough the decision making process was, now all of a sudden they try to reverse that? Well, I'm sorry that you got shafted but...such is life. If it makes you feel any better, it doesn't reflect on you as individuals, but rather the characters from MTV. We aren't bashing Leslie the real student at UCD, rather Leslie, the MTV sorority life Vice President who somehow appears in scenes she was never present for through the magic of TV. And might I add, anyone who actually becomes obsessed with the show and believes it to be real is an idiot, plain and simple. But joking, gossiping, and casually debating it openly is just a normal reaction. I agree with phisigsigchic, no one gets upset when Brittney, JLo, Tom Cruise, Martha Stewart, or anyone else in the public eye is discussed, least of all the targets themselves, because they realize that this is just what it is, and they have accepted that give and take. You guys need to become strong and laugh at it too, getting angry only eggs people on.

ChiOJenn78 · #39 08-01-2002, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by UCD Greek
I've been reading all these posts for a long while now and have kept my mouth shut. But I cannot be silent anymore. I'm a greek at UC Davis (not a Sigma). I know some of these girls pretty well and respect and admire them as people and a s greeks. I may not fully agree with the decision they made, though i do think they did it with good intentions and were assured of things and made promsies that were broken. However, i think all of you are blowing this WAY out of proportion and being unfairly cruel. Let me just suggest something, have any of you thought that maybe the Sigmas are seeing some of this behavior for the 1st time on TV? As we all know things go on among pledges that sisters dont see all the time, I know they did in my pledge class. The sisters didn't do anything about Sylvia slapping Jessica or Candace breaking Sober Sis because they didn't know it happened! Just cause the cameras saw doesn't mean the sisters did.
But my main point is this: Reading some of these posts has made me be embarassed to call myself Greek. We talk all the time about fostering a sense of sisterhood and brotherhood between chapters, we make a point of trying to create a supportive, positive greek community, yet we treat these girls like crap! Maybe they are a local, but they are still panhellenic members (be it associate members) and are still deserving of our support or at very least they deserve to be treated with respect. To constructivly criticise is one thing but to shamlessly, meanly ridicule is quite another. If we as a Greek Community want to continue to claim to foster unity and create an atomosphere of respect then we must practice what we preach. We may not agree with what the sigmas did but they are part of our community and deserve respect and consideration for their feelings. By reading this web site I cannot help to feel that some of you (not all) are doing exactly what you are shunning the Sigmas for doing, you are perpetuating the negative stereotypes about sorority girls, in your case by being catty, mean spirited and condasending.

Get ready for more PMS:
I believe you when you say that alot of the sisters are seeing this for the first time-and what a shock it must be. I would die if it were me, and I was finding all this stuff out for the first time.

Secondly-I don't think we're blowing this out of proportion. We have a right to be angry, since we'll all have to deal with the backlash during rush-I know we're all eagerly awaiting the "When do I get to live in the IKEA pledge house??" question. You may be right-the Sigma's may have had the best inetentions when agreeing to do this-but have they ever seen a "reality" show? Temptation Island? Real World?? Any of this ring a bell?? But of course, MTV would never edit for drama...

And how does the saying go...oh yes-the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Finally-you and Zima are telling us that we're being catty, mean-spirited..but what just happened on the last episode of SL?? Oh yea, a pnm slapped another pnm. And what about the episode before that?? Oh, right...the pnm's got drunk, one ran into a glass door, and no one can understand the concept that they represent Sigma/ Greeks in general/ UCD. And the episode before that one?? Gosh that's right....the girls were talking about Jessica behind her back, and excluding her from their activities.....

Do I really need to go on about who's promoting "sorority girl" stereotypes??

AXO Alum · #40 08-01-2002, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by maggieaxid
One shalt not wear enough makeup to make a clown jealous

OMG - this is TOO much for my 9month pregnant body -- I am laughing through my contractions!!

As for the Sigma crowd....I offer my favorite 4 words...

"I TOLD YOU SO!!!" -- and so did most of the other GC'ers. Then y'all start whining "give us a chance, oh please let's just wait till it airs" -- hmmm....methinks its time to revive my soap operas of old!

Whine whine whine - but its not fair - whine whine whine....

You made that bed so go roll ALL over it! OH - wait - don't misinterpret that for anything that you may want to portray on camera!!! We wouldn't want MTV to "edit" that into something sexual or anything!

MEOW!!

AXO Alum · #41 08-01-2002, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by UCD Greek
As we all know things go on among pledges that sisters dont see all the time, I know they did in my pledge class.

Ummm - okay - I'm sorry that you come from a DYSFUNCTIONAL pledge class....slapping people or being violent in any way, shape, or form has NOTHING to do with being GREEK! That would be like saying "Its okay that little Johnny got his nose broken by his dad -- I know things like that happened in my family" -- it doesn't make it OKAY!

NOPE - this type of stuff DID NOT happen in my pledge class or in my sorority chapter...why? Because its all about:

R-E-S-P-E-C-T find out what it means to ME

Not to mention being responsible, mature, etc. -- you know all those UN-SIGMA like things!!

Kevlar281 · #42 08-01-2002, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cloud9
We aren't bashing Leslie the real student at UCD, rather Leslie, the MTV sorority life Vice President who somehow appears in scenes she was never present for through the magic of TV. And might I add, anyone who actually becomes obsessed with the show and believes it to be real is an idiot, plain and simple.

Hey come on now she is the only reason I still watch this show. I just wish she would wear her glasses more often.

anchorjenni · #43 08-01-2002, 05:54 PM

I hate to point this out and make people mad but ...

Quote:

Finally-you and Zima are telling us that we're being catty, mean-spirited..but what just happened on the last episode of SL??

... just because the pledges on the show act this way does not mean you should stoop to their level, does it? That would truly be "un-[insert sorority name here]-like" behavior. Just a thought on the matter.

Jennifer

sugar and spice · #44 08-01-2002, 05:55 PM

We have to keep in mind that, as this is a reality TV show, it has special circumstances. The people on it are not just characters, like they would be on a regular show -- they are real people who are living with the real ramifications of this show. I mean, it's true that you can't invent things that didn't happen, but everybody who's ever watched more than a few seasons of "The Real World" knows that the shows are edited to pieces. You could go out partying twice, both times early in the season, and the editors could splice that up into clips to make it look like you partied non-stop the entire time, even if you actually spent all the rest of your time volunteering at a non-profit daycare, studying Latin and practicing the violin. And for what we don't see -- there's tons of it. I've heard some of you complain about how nobody reprimanded Sylvia for slapping Jessica, but how do we know? For every week's worth of filming, for all of these girls that they're following, we get to see 22 minutes of actual show.

There's a difference between critiquing the show and critiquing the organization itself. I don't think any of us know enough about the Sigmas themselves to be making judgments about them.

I don't think there's anything wrong with making fun of the show a little, but I think things have gotten a little mean-spirited. Keep in mind that the Sigma girls didn't go into this with the purpose of creating a worse rep for Greeks. They honestly thought they would be promoting Greek life and spreading the idea that sorority girls aren't shallow snotty party girls, and MTV led them to believe this. Their intentions were for the best; their only crime was being naive. If we're going to be upset with anybody for further ruining the Greek reputation, it's MTV.

The Sigmas will be paying for this show for years to come. I think they need our support more than they need our criticism. "No matter the letter, we're all Greek together" . . . remember?

anchorjenni · #45 08-02-2002, 10:57 AM

Quote:

There's a difference between critiquing the show and critiquing the organization itself. I don't think any of us know enough about the Sigmas themselves to be making judgments about them.

Exactly! Well stated!

Jennifer