Politically Correct terms?

[GPhiBLtColonel]

...I think it'd be interesting to hear what "the masses" feel about the use of supposedly PC terms like recruitment (which as a retired military officer I personally object to!) instead of rush; new member instead of pledge and any others that come to mind. Frankly there are fewer more subservient roles to be in life than a RECRUIT!!! It automatically implies being at the lowest rung as an enlisted person who is ordered around my everyone above her/him in the chain of command! Why is that more PC than rush and pledge??? Personally I cannot for the life of me imagine what whiney person felt slihted by and objected to being call a pledge and why the term rush is so offensive? How exactly did they come about? Do these terms really help anything? I would love to hear from someone who says she feels much better about herself because she is called a new member who was recruited rather than a pledge who was rushed???
So what do y'all think? Should we tell the powers that be we want to go back to the way it was or what?

[Beryana]

Personally, I prefer Pledge over New Member. In addition to being a new member, I took a pledge when I joined. I odn't find it non-PC. I also use Rush just because it has fewer syllabel (sp?) than recruitment. It is also a rush for the girls to be herded to each house, make decisions, passed between sisters, etc.

These are just my opinions - and I'm not all that fond of 'PC' because no matter what you are going to offend someone. . . .

Sarah

[Kevin]

PCness in general is bad...

Why would a woman feel disempowered if I say "mailman"!? (well I see why but geez... grow a spine) You can get in serious trouble in some academic environments for using such "disempowering" language.

I think that terms like "recruitment" and "new member" are there because of groups like NIC and NPC that think changing the name of something will change what that something is. At the same time they changed policies regarding rush and the new member period they also gave new names. Are the new names critical to the success of the new concepts? Probably not.. I doubt we'll ever get to find out though

[MSKKG]

I prefer "rush" and "pledge" to the newer terms. I'm with Beryana and ktsnake about PC. I'm not offended by "mailman" and the like either. Not even gonna step on the soapbox for that one!

[FuzzieAlum]

I quite frankly don't give a rat's behind either way. I mean, is one that much harder to say than the other?

Aurora is right. The words were changed as part of the anti-hazing movement. The reasoning here is the associations people may have had - "Pledge, drop and give me 20, and then clean the chapter room with a toothbrush." Perceptions change more slowly than reality, and changing words is a way of trying to speed up perception changes.

Recruitment isn't only a military term. In many companies, there are HR employees called recruiters. Yes, it does bring to mind the military ... but "rush" brings to mind girls in matching costumes with over the top decorations, which is out of vogue in most no-frills member-gathering today. Recruitment is at least straightforward in meaning, whereas rush means what ... to hurry up and join?

I think we have bigger problems to worry about than whether or not the new tems are swell or stupid. Whether it's rush or recruitment, it's more important to make sure people are going through it, and if calling it recruitment makes it any more appealing, I won't complain. And if NPC decides next week to go back to "rush," I won't complain then, either.

[Munchkin03]

I've always heard that "Rush" has a negative connotation--one of women buying expensive clothes for a superficial gabfest, only to get cut mercilessly along the way. "Rush" is seen as a negative experience by so many people, that I think the NPC did good to change the official term. For those of us outside the military circles, "Recruitment" sounds okay. When I think of being "recruited", it's through an athletic team or potential employer--not being a lowly person in the armed forces.

Even though "New Member" is a mouthful, I sure as hell like it better than "pledge". If you've ever attended a school where hazing is not uncommon, you'd hate the word "pledge" too.

And PC-ness in "general" isn't bad. When it goes completely overboard, then it becomes bad. I don't think we've gotten to that point yet.

[DGMarie]

"Pledge" is considered a more demeaning term than "new member." With emphasis on anti-hazing, the tenants of which I understand to be that you shall not make any new member feel inferior than initiated members, the term "new members" seems more on equal footing. As for rush versus recruitment, I prefer the term rush, but don't have problems with either. I suppose there is always "membership drive."

[sweetsister]

I understand the reason that many national organizations have made politically correct changes in the termonology. Unfortunately, I personally feel the new terms, namely "recruitment" and "new member", have actually hurt the rush process for my chapter. My sorority is the only greek organization at my school, and we have a difficult enough time with attracting new sisters as it is. When Phi Sig national changed our termonology the potential new members didn't understand what we were advertising. "Rush" and "Pledge" are well known, and generally well understood, terms. New incoming freshman didn't identify "Recruitment" with joining a sorority. I don't know if other chapters have experienced this misunderstanding, but we certainly have.

[33girl]

RUSH RUSH RUSH, PLEDGE PLEDGE PLEDGE!!

If I was a naive freshman and someone told me I had to go through something called "recruitment" I would have run the other way, having no military inclination whatsoever.

As far as new member, well, as a Beavis & Butt-Head fan, all I can think is, "huh huh huh, you said member." If they must change this make it new sisters. Country clubs and chambers of commerce have members. I personally do not. I have SISTERS. I also think that "new member" does not fully convey the amount of commitment that a sorority requires.

ktsnake is right...they believed changing the names would change what something was. Well guess what, we still have dirty "recruitment" and "new members" who aren't treated well by their chapters. Sound & fury, signifying nothing.

I think the most telling thing is the amount of rushees who come on this site using the terms "rush" and "pledge" and they don't seem to be upset by them at all. I've actually heard of people being bitched at because they called THEMSELVES pledges!! Come on people, what are we trying to prove here?

[gphiangel624]

I agree with ktsnake on his view of why the terms were changed, and with everyone who feels "recruitment" sounds more like a military term. I've never had a problem with the terminology, but I found it funny once when I mentioned that I was an "active" of my chapter- a guy at my school said something about how "active" could be taken as the connotation of sexually active, which is, of course, just one more stereotype we Greeks get to deal with. So I guess we can't win either way.

I have a question though- why can the guys and most non-NPC/IFC Greeks orgs still refer to it as "rush" and "pledge" and NPC cannot? I just don't understand why NPC has to be on the high horse about being politically correct when it doesn't really seem to offend anyone else...

The semester I pledged was AGD was the transition semester when rushees turned into potential new members...rush turned into recruitment...rush parties were now recruitment events...etc. I could tell that the collegians were having a weird time adjusting to the new terminology.

Because of this, I consider myself more used to the new terminology. But that doesn't necessarily mean that I like it better than the old stuff. I find myself indifferent to the situation because I really don't give a isht either way. As FuzzieAlum said, there are other, more important things to be concerned about. What's important is the fact that we have quality women going through our houses every year. Simple as that.

We have people bitching about the new terminology now...I have a feeling that in 10 years or so we're going to have a next generation of people bitching about "NEW MEMBER" and "RECRUITMENT".

[nyrdrms]

I prefer the non-PC terms only because it seems to be more appropriate in my opinion. As mentioned before recruitment is a giant rush process, everything is based on a brief time spent with these people, unelss you knew them prior to recruitment.

As far as the pledge/new member thing goes...I try to call them new members, but usually refer to the classes as pledge classes. I considered myself to be a pledge. On my bid day, a psychologist at our school spoke about Greek Life and raised a very strong arguement concerning the use of the word pledge. What do we ask these "new members" to do? They take a pledge. They pledge their loyalty and devotion to the organization. And yet somehow, it's a demeaning word.

When I post about stuff though, I try to be PC...my way of attempting to break out of using the old terms for it.

[Sistermadly]

Originally posted by FuzzieAlum
I quite frankly don't give a rat's behind either way. I mean, is one that much harder to say than the other?

It is when you're convinced that political correctness = bad.

[GPhiBLtColonel]

...to Miss America's repackaging from a Beauty Pageant to a Scholarship Competition -- thank goodness I did not have to compete in a swimsuit for the scholarships I got in college!

[Peaches-n-Cream]

I rushed and became a pledge and was initiated and became a new sister. I am not psychologically scarred by the experience. They are just words. It's not like I was called pledge scum...at least not officially. lol! Just kidding!

I agree with OTW, in ten years people will complain about the words recruitment and new member.