“From the outside looking in, you can never understand it. From the inside looking out, you can never explain it.” -Unknown
Sorority girls. We all know them. We all have at least one of them in our classes and I’m guessing you’re thinking they all tend to look the same. Skinny, preppy, happy girls who care more about their looks than the usual college student and spend their weekends at frat parties. I get it, this used to be my view on sororities too until I joined one and realised that like everything in life, there’s a lot more than what meets the eye. So today, I’m gonna be talking about some of the most common sorority girl stereotypes and misinterpretations out there, and why they’re not true. Most of the time.
1. We don’t care about our grades: Yes, we might be in a sorority but the main reason we’re in college is to get our degree and we take a lot of pride in getting good grades, like any other student. What most people don’t know is that people in Greek Life actually have higher grades than most students, since we’re required to have a certain GPA to remain an active member.
2. We’re not cultured: For some reason, people assume that once you start wearing Greek letters, you lose all sense of culture and you’re no longer aware of what’s happening outside your own bubble. This, of course, it’s not true and as an international student I can personally vouch for this. As I went through the recruitment process, I heard stories of girls that had the opportunity to travel abroad and ventured to in different countries and cultures and were able to soak up these experiences with an open mind. And even those who hadn’t travelled that far were still very accepting of me and my culture and loved hearing about my experiences.
3. We’re dumb: Not sure why being dumb goes hand-in-hand with having a lower IQ, but most people think sorority girls are dumb. Like I mentioned above, we are required to have a certain GPA. Not to mention I know a ton of sorority girls who are Pre-med, majoring in hard sciences, Engineering and even double-majoring.
4. We don’t have friends outside of Greek Life: Most of us didn’t join a sorority until the second semester or even after that, which means we had plenty of time to socialise. There is no rule saying we aren’t allowed to have friends outside of Greek Life and despite the fact that we do know a lot of people in sororities and fraternities, that doesn’t mean we’re incapable of making friends outside of Greek Life. They’re all awesome people, whether they’re a part of a sorority, fraternity or not.
5. We pay for our friends: We pay for our dues – not our friends. This is one of the most common misinterpretations about Greek Life and it’s also one of the most ridiculous ones. What we pay for -dues- are for the chapter and sisterhood activities and rituals and the fact that we like each other and like hanging out has nothing to do with it. I know I would do anything for my sisters and they would do the same for me, no doubt.
6. We only care about our looks: A lot of people think we’re shallow and I know this has to do with the fact that sometimes we usually walk around campus dressed up. But that’s only because right after class, we probably have a recruitment event. Some of us have great style, yes, but the truth is we also love makeup-free days and walking around in sweatpants. Not all of us are preppy or girly girls, in fact, if you saw me walking around campus you probably wouldn’t recognise me in a recruitment event. We have girls with all kinds of fashion styles, whether that’s athletic, preppy or relaxed, we’re all happy with the way we look.
7. All we do is party: Do you have any idea how tiring it is to go out every night? Cause I don’t and you know why? Because I like to spend my school nights in the comfort of my apartment, doing homework and watching Netflix. And I know I speak for many of my sisters when I say they like staying in sometimes, too. Let’s be real, we’re in college, so from time to time, we like to unwind and go out -but that doesn’t mean we spend every night in frat houses and bars. School always comes first, and many of us would pick a study night over going to a party. From time to time, we’ll all go out together at a party or hang out at a sister’s apartment, but we also love watching movies, eating snacks, and relaxing. We can have a good time sober, too!
I know some stereotypes might never disappear, but hopefully this article has helped clear a few things up. Sororities are nothing like what we see in movies and TV shows. I’ve met some of the coolest people in my sorority and I wouldn’t trade the moments and experiences we’ve shared together for anything.