You’ve probably seen the obnoxious viral video floating around the web, but if not, here’s a quick summary. University of Iowa’s Alpha Phi Chapter was filmed doing some chant on bid day for their new members. But what starts off as a cutesy and funny dance turns into a wildly offensive scene. The girls are seen shouting very negative things about other sororities, as well as saying raunchy things about people “hitting it from behind” and drinking until they black out.
So what’s the big deal? We hear this kind of language every day in pop music: men lacing vulgar words into their song lyrics, referring to things like non-consensual sex (i.e. Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines”) “hitting it from behind” (Fetty Wap’s “679”) and abusing drugs (O.T. Genasis’ “I’m In Love With The Coco.”) So why is it so wrong when girls say these things? After all, there is no proof of any of their actions, they’re simply words.
Understandably, these girls represent a brand. And anyone with any PR knowledge would know one of the most important aspects to protecting a brand is to keep a positive image. So did they embarrass their brand? Yes. But does this make them bad people, personally?
Fraternities on every campus across the country are rumored to haze members, abuse drugs and alcohol and participate in other activities of questionable legality. But when a bunch of rowdy girls start shouting about these topics, they receive nation-wide criticism for their actions.
How is this double standard allowed? There’s no question that what they said was inappropriate, but why are they reprimanded for their actions in a way that guys would not be if they had done the same?
Ultimately, this mess will blow over once the next college scandal takes the internet. But I think it’s important to make sure we realize that there is a serious difference between the way people respond to women’s actions versus men’s.