Not a Sorority Girl?

MTSUGURL · #1 02-12-2003, 01:56 AM

I keep reading posts that say, "I never thought I was the sorority girl type", or, "I'm not the typical sorority girl" etc. What I want to know is:

Why didn't or why don't you consider yourself a typical sorority girl?
What is the typical sorority girl?

Just wanted to see what everyone had to say! Have a great night!

HotDamnImAPhiMu · #2 02-12-2003, 02:01 AM

What I thought when I read the beginning of this thread: "She's completely right. I never thought I was the "sorority type" when I rushed. And the "sorority type," in my mind, was so many awful things."

then, "Wow. We have so far to go." (as far as ending the stigma.)

Little E · #3 02-12-2003, 02:14 AM

I have never, until I joined my house, spent this much time with women, without getting so mad at the pettiness. Women can be so obnoxious sometimes, we are ridiclous and so dramatic somtimes.

I never thought I could put up with it all and that is part of it.

Also, i had the image of girls who dressed the same, were always done up. My house is so laid back it is like the anti-sorority. And I love it.

Tau Lovin'
Lil E

Sistermadly · #4 02-12-2003, 03:18 AM

I think it can be clarified to say the stereotypical sorority girl, so if that is the case, I never thought I fit that mode because I'm not thin, not blonde, not white, and I don't come from money. I'm a little goofy with a very off-center sense of humour, not to mention that I'm in my 30s!

But even when I was at university, and even when I went through rush all those years ago, I never saw myself in a sorority because I was so obviously different from the women in NPC organizations on my campus. Heck, I was different from the women in NPHC organizations on my campus for that matter! I always wanted a place where I would fit in, but that wasn't possible where I went to school. Thank heavens for alumnae initiation!

ilovemyglo · #5 02-12-2003, 10:08 AM

Until I joined a sorority I had 1 female friend in college. I had aqaintances, but no real friends. And the one I had went to another college and I have known her since I was 3. All my friends were guys. I have two older brothers, so I am so used to boys ways and how up front they are. They don't hold grudges, they get over stuff and if they have a beef with you they just tell you. That is why all my friends have been guys. THat and I meet a lot of guys that think they want to date and then get to know me and say I act to much like their guy friends.
ANYWAY-
I went through rush because my roommate was getting on my nerves and she is the stereotypical sorority chick. So I figured I would get her off my back. But I met a group of girls that were like me, laid back, fun to talk to, looking for a laugh and a good time, interested in what they can do to help others and just good natured.
Don't get me wrong, I am the petite, long blonde hair, green eyed girl from Kentucky that some picture as a sorority girl, but the two chapters at my school that are like that- well we didn't get along. They thought I was too, well, independant I guess is the word. I don't care what others think of me, I am happy with myself, and I don't care for GOSSIP, Pettiness, childish backstabbing, talking behind backs, etc. these girls were like that.
Anyway, I joined a sorority and you know what it did for me...
Gave me self esteem, helped me become comfortable with the woman side of me and empowered me as a female.
Besides that, all my guy friends loved chilling at a sorority house. And a lot of my sisters were the same as me, they had TONS of guys friends, and we bonded that way too!

CarolinaCutie · #6 02-12-2003, 10:09 AM

Yeah, I would definitely say I'm not the "sorority girl" type. At other schools in North Carolina, that stereotype is out in full force... I could never be in a sorority there. But at my school, I'm starting to develop a new definition of a sorority girl, a good one:

A sorority girl is a girl with a smile on her face walking to class... a girl who likes to have fun... a girl who is not necessarily gorgeous but there is just something CUTE about her...a girl who not only enjoys fraternity parties on Friday night, but school basketball games on Tuesdays and watching Friends with her girls on Thursdays... a girl who keeps herself busy with school, work, and good times!

EagleChick19 · #7 02-12-2003, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by CarolinaCutie
[/B]A sorority girl is a girl with a smile on her face walking to class... a girl who likes to have fun... a girl who is not necessarily gorgeous but there is just something CUTE about her...a girl who not only enjoys fraternity parties on Friday night, but school basketball games on Tuesdays and watching Friends with her girls on Thursdays... a girl who keeps herself busy with school, work, and good times! [/B]

I love this definition!

AUDeltaGam · #8 02-12-2003, 12:27 PM

I also never saw myself as a "sorority girl". I always thought of sorority girls are girls who always have to look perfect, always partied, superficial stuff like that. And then I took a closer look and noticed how close the bond is between sisters, and how there is no "sorority girl" look; each girl is beautiful in her own way. Especially my new sisters!!

I love Delta Gam!

oceanphi01 · #9 02-12-2003, 02:14 PM

I never, ever thought of myself as a sorority girl. I didn't come to college looking to join a sorority because I thought they wouldn't accept me because I'm not blonde, blue eyes, rich, and skinny. Then one of my best friends went through formal recruitment my freshman year. She just went through it to see what it was all about and absolutely fell in love with the girls of Alpha Phi. She introduced me that semester to her future sisters and I fell in love with them as well. I joined because I felt accept by people of all shapes and sizes who joined because they needed female companionship. (The ratio here is 5 males to 1 female.) Now I can't see myself having done anything else. Yes, I still am no where near the stereotypical sorority girl image that people still think exists everywhere (they should come see my chapter), but there's more to being in a Greek Letter Organization than what you look like. I honestly don't know where I'd be right now if I hadn't joined Alpha Phi.

Sistermadly · #10 02-12-2003, 09:07 PM

I had an interesting experience in class this afternoon, but first a little backstory.

I drink a lot of water, but I'm too cheap to buy bottled water. So I usually have a tumbler with me that I refill from the water coolers in my department. Today, I packed my "I (heart) AF tumbler and was drinking from it in class. During a break from class, one of my classmates -- who I also consider a friend -- asked me if the tumbler belonged to me or if I got it for free and was just using it. I told her it was mine, and that I got it at a sorority conference. She looked at me and said, completely surprised, "You're in a sorority?" I couldn't tell from her tone of voice was surprise that someone like me was in a sorority, or that someone she likes and respects would be in a sorority.

It just goes to show you that we really do have a long way to go toward dispelling sorority stereotypes.

PhiMuJulia · #11 02-12-2003, 10:52 PM

I always thought of sorority girls as the girls I HATED in highschool, the girls who think they are great and get all the boys...granted some of them are, but so many more are girls like me or not like me, they are all so diverse...I learned that there is no "sorority" girls, like my lil for example is like this girl who listens to underground hardcore music and that is like a big part of her life, so she is the last type of person I would expect to join a sorority, but she joined for the same reason as all of us, for sisterhood and now that I am part of a sisterhood, I understand.

Little E · #12 02-13-2003, 12:57 AM

This thread is giving me warm fuzzies. My chapter talks about this all the time...how we are stereotypical. It is kinda nice to see out there that women do join for the empowerment and connections with women like themselves in some fashion. I love being a part of my house. It gives me time away from the boy and time to be a girl (though not always a lady

)
So i just wanted to say
WARM FUZZIES!!!!!!!!

MTSUGURL · #13 02-13-2003, 01:07 AM

I'm so glad that people took this thread in the spirit it was meant. I'm so enjoying reading what each of you have to say!

You may now return to your regularly scheduled program. Carry on.

sugar and spice · #14 02-13-2003, 03:18 AM

It took me a long time to start thinking of myself as a potential "sorority girl." I always thought I was too smart for it, too shy and quiet, not pretty enough, not superficial enough, not rich enough. Fortunately I had a camp counselor whom I absolutely loved, and she was in a sorority at the University of Minnesota, and it made me completely re-think my idea of what a "sorority girl" was actually like. As I got older, I also got more outgoing, more confident, more involved in extracurricular activities, less serious -- and I started to wonder if maybe I would like being in a sorority after all.

I have to admit that my school does have many of the stereotypical sorority girls -- but it also has an equal amount of non-stereotypical ones.

I love CarolinaCutie's definition of a sorority girl too.

GPhiBLtColonel · #15 02-13-2003, 06:00 AM

...I don't think anyone who pictures herself as "the typical sorority girl" will post here and say, why yes I AM the typical sorority girl

Personally I think whether we admit it or not...we all have some sort of stereotype in mind -- Legally Blond? Animal House? Otherwise how can we say we are NOT a typical sorority girl?

There are some who say they aren't typical but they actually fit the "mold" pretty closely...and then there are those who, no matter which way you cut it, are not even close to being sterotypical! That would have been me -- as an ROTC cadet in the mid 1970s at a liberal southern California university going thru rush, I was as far from being a typical sorority girl as Tom Hanks! Even during my 22 year Air Force career, I had many colleagues, commanders and subordinates express surprise -- almost bordering on shock -- when they found out I was in a sorority! For some reason, even though I am retired, I still get that stupefied reaction nowadays

I recall my late grandmother one day tsk-tsking my youngest sister about sororities and I could tell she really had the stereotypical sororoity girl in her mind...it wasn't until I pointed out to her that her favorite author -- Pearl Buck -- was in a sorority that she started softening up!