Haley Rowland

Dr. Rochelle Harris

Honors English 1101

1 December 2017

Getting Pretty to Get Gritty

Today, the term sorority girl has gained a negative connotation that strays away from

its original, positive intentions. Jessica Bennett, a feminist, published an article in The New York

Times arguing against the stigma by stating strong points accompanied by rich passion. Will

Frankenburger, a male sorority enthusiast, sided with Bennett, even though he was of the

opposite sex. Frankenburger, advocating so strongly for this cause, emphasizes that this issue has

reached far more than just the female gender. While this paper is an attempt to throw away the

negative connotations, not everyone thinks the same, but this is not the 1900s anymore.

Sororities mean more than just parties; they mean philanthropy.

Its Like Arguing With a Fencepost

If you were to go around a college campus and ask a variety of people what they

immediately thought of when they heard the term sorority girl, I can assure you that there will

be a multitude of answers, none of which are technically wrong. Overtime, there has become

some sort of negative connotation that has been attached with peoples first instincts when they

hear the term sorority girl. Why? Time. Just as the saying goes that time heals everything, it

can also CHANGE everything. Events shape the past, and they shape the way we think of the

world. Same can be said with the term sorority girl. Events have taken place in the past that

have led to such a harsh, demeaning connotation that follows sorority girl around like a ghost.
Until recently, the average sorority girl would just embrace the negative and know that they are

better than what the world says, but now theyre finally speaking up and wanting to be heard.

Whats it to you? If youre reading this as a male, especially over the college age, you

might find yourself questioning the significance of such an argument, but it is more relevant than

ever. There have recently been news stations covering the death of fraternity pledges and the

suspensions of Greek life on certain college campuses nationwide, but they arent getting the full

picture. The news stations covering the banning of all Greek life put sororities at a bad place,

even though there have been no harmful reports recently. It is because of the generalizing of all

Greek life that sororities continue their bad reputation. The late 1900s started such a distaste in

the sorority girl. With the phenomena of streaking and the era of love and sex, it is no

wonder many want to keep their distance from sororities, as well as the bad taste in their mouth

relating back to them.

It is a common mistake for people to neglect how/why sororities are even present on

college campuses. In the time before womens suffrage, women would combine their thoughts

within large groups to take action to change society and get their rights. Sororities started so

women can come together and fight for a common cause; theres nothing more to it. Sororities

have such historical meaning that has been lost in the news and media over the past decades

through the generalization. Times are changing; we are in the now. Sororities are putting their

game face on with fire in their hearts to make a difference. They are wanting to revert to what

they once stood for; justice for the good of mankind.

At Kennesaw State University, I am a proud sister of Delta Phi Epsilon. Delta Phi

Epsilon has a reputation for being one of the best sororities on campus, but also one of the

biggest party sororities. I know this because I hear it when I wear three Greek letters with pride
across my chest and either get looked at by peers with a smile on their face, or a look with pure

disgust and belittlement. Sororities arent very big at Kennesaw State, as a matter of fact, theyre

fairly irrelevant unless youre involved in Greek life. Because of the semi-unpopularity, not

many people go out of their way to recognize and appreciate what sororities do for the good of

society. My sorority alone raised over $42,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which is

enough to save a life. Zeta Tau Alpha, another sorority here at Kennesaw State, raised over

$100,000 for Breast Cancer during Breast Cancer Awareness month. I can say this because Im

in a sorority, but they are so much more than formals, socials, and parties. Sororities hold their

members to a higher standard than what is recognized, which is understandable, because so much

of a sorority is to be kept behind closed doors.

The world has taken stereotypes and ignorance to a whole new level over the past years.

It started as a gradual shift, but as media became more and more prominent, it was a rapid

growth. The world is so quick to judge. I walked into my sorority not having made any impact or

taken any actions that would lead people to think of me negatively, but because I wear Greek

letters across my chest and on the front pocket on my comfort colors t-shirt, people are quick to

think of all the demeaning connotations and apply them to me without giving me a chance. If

only people would stop to realize the intentions sororities have, then they would know the impact

theyre making in the society, and that times are changing. The world is not the same as it was a

day ago, a week ago, a month ago, a year ago, or even ten years ago, so why should the

connotation of sorority girl be?

Whats it to You?

Whats it to us as a society to change the way in which we use the term sorority girl,

and the context we use behind it? Like I said, many people neglect to acknowledge that sororities
have an important role in society and are involved in one or more foundations and/or

organizations. For instance, my sorority stands behind not only the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation,

but also ANAD (Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders). Since August, my sorority alone

has raised over $42,000 for our philanthropies, and has no intention on slowing down now. With

that $42,000, we will keep more than one Cystic Fibrosis patient alive for another year, which

might not seem like much, but it means more than anyone knows. My sorority took on this

philanthropy because Cystic Fibrosis is not governmentally funded, like it should be. We stand

together as a sisterhood with a common goal to save lives and better the community. We have

socials, mixers, formals, etc., but at the end of the day, we saved a life.

Ever since entering college, I have found myself constantly hearing the word sorority

girl used with different connotations floating behind it. The context varies from being at a party

and hearing, Oh, yeah that girl is a sorority girl, to walking around campus promoting a

philanthropy and someone saying, Shes a sorority girl. Both uses mean two totally different

things, and rightfully so. The modern-day definition of a sorority girl is much different than what

it once was, and because of that, the term is used interchangeably with a good and bad

connotation. Jessica Bennett, an author for The New York Times, published an article about a

year ago titled, When a Feminist Pledges a Sorority. Throughout this article, Jessica uses a

wide variety of techniques to make the reader believe sororities are on their way back to what

they first stood for.

When a Feminist Pledges a Sorority

Bennett starts her article with an anecdote from a sorority at Columbia University by

using scenery to set the stage , and then she dives almost immediately into the clich

interpretation of sororities, especially when it comes to spring break. Recounting on the previous
spring break, sorority girls from Kappa Alpha Theta explained the encounters they had with

boys, alcohol, and the sisterhood bond that led them to stick up to both of those toxins. More

than likely, Jessica Bennetts article is going to try and capture the eye of a sorority girl, or even

just any girl for that matter, but as hard as Bennett might try to write for that audience, she is

actually writing for the readers of the New York Times. Normally, the New York Times grabs

the attention of middle class citizens ranging from 20-50 years old. As an 18 year old girl, I do

not find myself reading New York Times articles in my free time; I prefer watching Netflix.

Even though Bennett is not catching the audience she might intend to, she uses such emotion-

provoking stories to jumpstart her article which not only grabs her audiences attention quickly,

but she it exposes them to something bigger than just the stories they might have heard by using

such a personal encounter. More often than not, especially when introducing the concepts at the

beginning of her article, Bennett finds herself using pathos by appealing to her readers emotions

and setting the playing field for the entirety of her article.

Then, feminism comes into play. Theres nothing like an entire sorority house, filled with

an entire room of sorority girls, spending an entire evening talking about how they are going to

change the world, right? Well unbeknownst to many mothers and girls today, this concept is

exactly what being a sorority girl is reverting to, per Bennett and her sources. With the use of

logos, Bennett says, [Sorority] Enrollment has increased more the 50 percent over the last

decade, outpacing the growth in college enrollment. The modern day sorority girl has

changed from what it was known as in the last half of the 1900s and the early 2000s. One of

Bennetts sources, who is also a womens studies scholar at Syracuse University, explained that

when she was in college in the late 1960s, the sorority girls had reputations for getting pretty,

going to parties, finding a guy, and then later in life settling down to get married. Now, per a
female Seattle lawyer and 1971 Yale graduate, the world has turned so hectic and overwhelming

that people are making movements to revert to the original traditions to gain comfort and

stability. Why are all these facts relevant? Bennetts intentions are not far from crystal clear.

With the use of women who once were girls in the times when the term sorority girl had such a

demeaning connotation to it, Bennett proves on a first-hand basis that times are truly changing

even from the perspective of an outsider looking in.

How it All Began

Dont get me wrong, nowadays being a sorority girl should not mean that the girl is just

a feminist wearing 2-3 Greek letters and is a part of a lifelong sisterhood. Sororities started out

fighting for equal rights, about around the time of the womens suffrage movement, trying to

earn themselves a spot at being intellectually equal to men. Somewhere in between the suffrage

movement and now in the time of the feminism movement, the meaning was lost. The loss of

true meaning, and values, has now turned older women against the modern-day sorority because

they are unaware of the changes being made. Bennett uses graduates from top tier universities to

share their views, and because of these womens experiences with Greek life in the late 1900s,

they have found themselves doing modern day womens studies figuring out how we can change

women their ages opinions.

While Bennetts packed her article with such loaded logos, she neglected to get the full

picture. John McWhorter, author of Words on the Move, says, In fact, the content of this book

makes it rather clear that any such regret would seem to qualify as subjective, local, a matter of

preference that a broader perspective sheds a different light on (223). McWhorter means an

argument without a birds-eye-view does not get the full picture which ,in a sense, is what

Bennett unknowingly does when using logos throughout her article. Bennett focused on colleges
such as Brown, Columbia, Yale, etc., which all have 2 things in common; they are in the

Northeastern part of the nation and both Ivy League schools. What about Division 1 SEC

schools such as The University of Alabama and the University of Georgia? What about religious

schools such as Brigham Young University or Mercer University? Bennett makes valid points

with the information and opinion she gives us, but Greek life was not well represented

nationwide; it was very exclusive. This ever so slightly took away the validity of such a good,

well-constructed argument, but did not go as far as to ruin the argument. It created the notion that

the content was one-sided and not well rounded, but nevertheless, Bennett used her resources to

her best ability, and she created a firm stance that we are on the path to change.

Watch Your Tone

Bennett conveys her argument through much more than the content of her article, she

conveys it with her tone and credibility as well. As a 36 year old woman who has written more

than one book on feminism and changing the world, Bennett is a highly credible author, but

stands quite bias on this topic. With Jessica Bennetts particular feminism, she would be the last

person to tell you that a large organization with such authority and power on campus does not

have their game faces on to make a difference in the world, and she will do anything in her

power to empower women and their image to the rest of the world. Bennett is passionate about

the changes made in the Greek community nationwide, and her tone throughout her article

conveys that passion. Although the passion of feminism and the determination to change the

connotation of the modern day sorority girl shows throughout her article, Bennett continuously

counter argues her argument with first-hand accounts from those who have been mistreated by

one or multiple members of a sorority, as well as, opinions from those who have never been

treated unfairly, but have seen girls in sororities making a fool of themselves in a public setting.
With this counter argument Bennett uses, the probability of her bias showing lessens, which

increases the likelihood of her argument swaying the negative connotation of a sorority girl

away from the mouths of her readers.

Will Frankenburger

It is more than just female feminists fighting against the negativity often associated with

the term sorority girl, males have joined the bandwagon as well. Late August, Kennesaw State

Panhellenic brought in a guy, more of an activist if I do say so myself, to speak to the new

members recently given bids at the time. His name is Will Frankenburger. Will, a well-known

figure with the Delta Zeta sorority, came into this New Member Symposium on an early Sunday

morning with fire in his heart to make a change. He spoke to the new members, well, because we

were new to the whole Panhellenic world ,and we had not been exposed to much in the

sorority girl life. Right off the bat, Will Frankenburger came at his audience claiming a change

needed to be made, and it needed to happen now. Will started off strong and when he began

losing the attention of many during his talk, he reeled us back in with a story from his flight on

the way down to Atlanta. While boarding his plane, Will began putting his carryon in the

overhead compartment above him. On his carryon, Will had a Delta Zeta luggage tag on his bag

which caught the attention of the lady sitting in the seat across the aisle from him.

Deezy Easy, the woman said.

Excuse me?

I said Deezy Easy. I saw the Delta Zeta tag on your luggage and I know thats the well-

known nickname for them.

 Will lost his mind. Although he is not quite by definition a feminist, Will cares about the

image of Greek life, and he will do everything in his power to push the negative comments that

come his way about sorority girls to the ground.

You are the reason this world is the way it is right now, maam. As a woman, I would

expect you to boost your own genders morale and role in society instead of feeding into social

norms and pressures to put down people of your own sex, Will replied.

Will wasnt having it, but he made a solid point. A good bit of the negative connotations

about sorority girls are made by the same sex associated with them, girls. Why are girls putting

other girls down? Is it so one of them can feel better than the girl with poufy hair and braces

sitting across the room from them? What good is that doing for the society? Will emphasized to

us later in his speech that it was not just the girls speaking about it, but it was girls who would

get so white girl wasted, as Will phrased it, in their letters or at sorority events. Being

irresponsible and getting white girl wasted continued to put that negative stigma on sorority

girls. Its not fair to new members in Greek life to walk in on the first day, to never have done

anything wrong or gotten the chance to make a name for themselves, and have the reputation of

being trashy or heartless looming over them. Just like Jessica Bennett said in her article,

times are changing, and we are the next generation to change the stigma. The lady on the plane

was a woman, a grown woman who grew up in the times when a sorority girl meant trashy and

flashy, but as Will emphasized throughout his speech, it is beginning to not be like that anymore.

Who is Will to have any more credibility than a woman? The fact that Will is a male in the

situation hurts his ethos, but only minor way.

The two Ps got will through that speech, passion and pathos. Will, who was practically

screaming in the microphone for close to 40 minutes, could have gone on for days about this
topic. More than that though, he spoke volumes to us as new members through appealing to our

emotions with heart-wrenching stories and telling us eye-opening statistics we never heard

before. This pathos created a connection between Will and his young, vulnerable audience.

Besides his pathos and emotion, Will filled his talk with passion. Will Frankenburger paced

furiously across the stage, occasionally yelling violent words in the microphone, explaining that

change is now, and the time is now. The question of, Is there such thing as too much passion?

arises. Will Frankenburger surely did not think so, as he never backed off. Some might argue that

his passion affected the effectiveness, but they would be wrong. Wills passion brought about an

attitude that inevitably changed the perspective of many. His attitude turned a lot of heads and

will slowly, but surely, make a difference in the Greek life community to eliminate the negative

brand the term sorority girl has behind it.

Sororities are put in place for not only friends to meet friends or as the clich saying

goes, meeting your bridesmaids, but to get involved and show the world that an organization

of strong women can and will make a difference in the world. Jessica Bennett and Will

Frankenburger through passion and determination, explained just in their powerful messages,

that stereotypes and stigmas will begin to turn positive. As a society, we need to put our heads

together and ignore the stereotypes. We are all so quick to judge, but why? There is no harm

done in giving people a chance to prove themselves. Sororities stand for so much more than the

stigma they have, but so many people fail to realize that.

 Works Cited

Bennett, Jessica. When a Feminist Pledges a Sorority. The New York Times, The New York
Times, 9 Apr. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/fashion/sorority-ivy-league-
feminists.html.

McWhorter, John H. Words on the move: why English wont- and cant- sit still (like, literally).
Picador, Henry Holt and Company, 2017.