What if you had the chance to start your own sorority? What would be your letters? What would be your creed? What about your values, mascot, philanthropic focus? Would you have the foresight to create what our founders did over a hundred years ago?
Airing tonight on TLC is the premiere of a new “reality” show called Sorority Girls. In this series, cameras will be following five sorority girls as they start the UK’s first sorority, Sigma Gamma. Although this organization will probably be recognized by viewers to be in affiliation with the National Panhellenic Council, it is not.
This show may be an entertaining concept, but what sort of light do you think that it will shine on the Panhellenic community? Stereotypes and assumptions about fraternal organizations are constantly being made. Will TLC take this as an opportunity to show the actual REALITY of what being in a sorority means (the leadership opportunities, the academic standards, the philanthropic events, community service, true sisterhood with true substance) or use it as an opportunity to capitalize on negative generalizations?
What are your thoughts are on this show? How do you believe they are representing our sorority experience? How can we communicate to the world what we’re really about rather than what is shown on tv?
I really hope that this show and the women starting this organization capitalize on all the good aspects of what sororities and the members of them do. In so many different ways do our organizations get dragged into conversations, movies, or shows where we have to fight for what we really stand for. It only takes one show to make or break the stereotypical claims put upon us. Hopefully this show breaks the stereotypes and really takes the time and effort to show how great our organizations are/can be!
I’ve already seen it online because it aired last year in Britain. I think we are lucky at FAU CPA that we don’t have any women from our national organizations participating in this. I know though that the girls who are in it are [in CPA organizations]. The “president” is [in a sorority] from UF. I really would love to hear statements from their nationals about these girls because they are definitely NOT living their ritual. They haze and have weird initiations, one that includes melting ice on their bodies. I hope that the world also understands that “Sigma Gamma” is not a real sorority nor do they have chapters anywhere. On the other hand I believe us as sorority women will see similarities with some of the processes that happens on the show. They may not be positive similarities but maybe it will be easier to realize where we can change our self for the better when people watch this. I think we can just add this to the list of parodies on the Greek system like TFM and TSM and either learn from it or laugh at it.