Thinking of joining a sorority or fraternity? I don’t think you should. Listen, I’m not telling you how to live your life. Greek life isn’t all bad but it really isn’t good either. I know it feels great to be a part of something; a sense of community is always nice to have, but at what cost? Here are some reasons why Greek life is so problematic.
An article published in Marie Claire states, “Men bond over their diminishment of women while schools shrug their shoulders and assume ‘boys will be boys.'” How many times have we seen college fraternity boys get into serious legal trouble because they sexually assaulted a woman? Fraternities are known for having parties and nine times out of ten a guy takes a drunk girl to a room, and well, you know the rest of that story.
First of all, hazing is illegal. Second, according to DailyCal.org, “Hazing is a pretty immature way of testing someone’s dedication to a group. There are so many stories out there of straight up gross and uncivilized hazing rituals.”
If you’re thinking about pledging a fraternity, ask yourself why would you want to be in a group that has you prove yourself in ridiculous, and often illegal ways. What part of a community, friendship, and brotherhood is that? Are you willing to put yourself in harm’s way or die for these people that you don’t even know? Timothy Piazza did in 2017 after being served 18 drinks in 90 minutes. The fraternity Beta Theta Pi at Penn State (as if the college has a great reputation already, Google Jerry Sandusky) thought it would be a good idea to make twenty-year-olds drink alcohol and in large quantities. What a way to prove your loyalty to people you met three days ago.
Let’s be honest, how often do we see a big girl in a sorority? A woman of color? Not that much. What you normally see in a sorority is skinny, blonde girls. Exhibit A: the University of Alabama’s Alpha Phi 2015 recruitment video. There’s really no diversity, body, and ethnicity wise. You don’t believe me? Go to your schools rush week and report back your findings in the comments below.
I enjoy watching high school and college-themed shows and movies from time to time. I even watched the show Greek for a while. But in real life, I do not support Greek life, too many assaults and deaths have been associated with it. The only good I can think of is the forced community service sororities and fraternities do in order to keep their chapter open. The sisterhood, brotherhood, and sense of community is all fake because you have to pay to get in and prove your loyalty. Essentially, you are buying friends.
Greek life promotes alcoholism as well. Have you ever been to a Greek party and it was sparkling cider and water? No, it’s all about alcohol. How many times have you seen that girl walk into class, sunglasses on, hungover as hell? How often do you overhear that guy say, “I got so wasted at the (insert fraternity/sorority here) party.” There’s also so much pressure to be the fun, outgoing party guy or girl when you’re in one. Do you know how bad it is for you mentally trying to be someone you’re not? Like I said, it’s your life, if you want to be part of Greek life go right ahead, just be smart and be careful.
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