Well, you pretty much just did. How daring of you!
These girls chose to present themselves this way.
@shawbridge I will repeat my former comments, which addresses this point head-on.
Again, and I am not sure, how to explain this in another way without bordering on the pedanticâbut, do you think people we actually fighting for the right to sit in the front of the bus with Ms. Rosa Parksâobviously no. Rather, the fundamental right of fairness and equality is at the core of the complaint. What the outward pursuit looks like in terms of the activity is subordinated to the actual wrong. And in the specific case of Alabama and its storied history with blacks, well that only ups the ante for inspection and critical purview of those institutions.
One must keep in mind, that recent history has this same group of sororities being formally chided by the highest leadership at the university. In short, segregation and discrimination is illegal in fraternities and sororities, but itâs far from nonexistent. The school was put on the hot seat in 2013 when the universityâs newspaper brought to national attention that Ms. Cobb, an all-around perfect potential new member â minus the fact that she was black â didnât receive a single bid from any of the 16 sororities on campus. In itâs entire history, the universitiesâs sororities had only previously admitted a single black member. A single oneâŠhuh?
So, I donât give two hoots about sororities in general, (much in the same vein that I detest riding the busâbig folks are not simpatico for bus riding) but if it has a whisper of historical and systemic discrimination, then, well, I am on itâŠ
Hey, they are free to congregate as far as I am concerned. And I am free to comment on how stupid they look in their advertisement. You are free to disagree.
Well, they are free to congregate as long as they obey anti-discrimination requirements imposed by law and by their national. Whether this particular sorority has done this, I canât say. It wouldnât surprise me if few non-white students would want to join this group. Not enough twerking.
When rich, good-looking, white parents send their good-looking, white offspring off to college, are they okay if they choose to self-segregate? Or is one goal of education to expand horizons? I understand one goal may be to access paths to power and wealth, neither of which necessarily belongs to âthose that call themselves whiteâ - âthe dreamersâ
@Loukydad I have not seen the post that you are making reference, so I donʻt have a full context. But as to my own kids, who you donʻt know or never seen, let me assure, none of that type of tomfoolery would have been tolerated by either my wife or myself. We may not have the biggest bank account or summer in Biarritz, France, but we do have our good name and a sense of history about ourselves.
Thus, to be certain, I am pretty sure, that twerking at Yale or at UCSF Medicine are not the primary activities of diversion, and if they were, I know for fact, my Ds weighed against the fun of the activity or answering to crabby Pops, would defer to the later.
Sounds like itâs time for a new MTV reality show, âThe Real Life of Sorority Girlsâ, start with AL.
The other sorority video posted was not as slick. The girls appeared to all be slender and attractive with long hair, but the overall impression was more âwholesome.â They actually devoted some time to talking about why they valued their sorority.
As I said earlier, the controversial video is very good at selling what those girls WANT to sell. They chose the message. They are reinforcing their brand.
Whether or not one finds their brand appealing is a matter of personal taste. IMHO, they chose to present themselves as a stable of vapid, well-to-do, good-looking party girls who are probably successful at marketing themselves to their opposite numbers at certain fraternities on campus.
They may or may not be dumb, artistic, talented, intelligent, or whatever as individuals. What they are selling, and selling hard, is that if you have the goods we will groom you to be one of our stable-- they emphasize this by visual conformityâand brand you USDA Prime. There are plenty of young women who will want to be part of this.
I bet theyâll take a black girl before they take a fat girl.
People self-segregate into alike groups constantly. On the basis of looks, money, religion, interests, talents, etc. Ethnicity is only of one many factors in play and not necessarily the most important. I bet a wealthy pretty suburban socially adept AA girl at UA will have a lot more social mojo than a white girl who is fat awkward and poor.
Pretty ridiculous to expect frats/soriorities to be paragons of inclusiveness and diversity. They are inherently competitive and exclusionary in nature. Like a lot of things in life. One of the advantages, I guess, of the Greek system is giving kids some practical experience in how that all works.
Hunt â I think fuss is because the portrayal is so extremely accurate. The video makes no pretense about what this particular soriority is and who exactly it is for. Watch a few of the other recruiting videos and you easily pick up the clues and messaging â some show girls playing sports, some show girls studying â even though 90% of the overall content is pretty much the same.
Itâs all so racially and aesthetically homogeneous and forced, so hyper-feminine, so reductive and objectifying, so Stepford Wives-- Itâs all so⊠unempowering.
Quote from the college newspaperʻs own editorial board.
I disagree that itâs âforced.â I think these girls choose that lifestyle and manner of self presentation and they like it plenty fine. There ARE girls who are rich/blonde/ pretty and focus on fun. Probably more at Alabama than at MIT. So it goes.
I am just a messengerâŠ
The list of Forbes top schools in engineering shows one person from MIT in front of a plaque, a blonde, long haired girl, who seems very pretty. I was taken back why most colleges showed a group of kids, and just this one gal from MIT was pictured.
âThus, to be certain, I am pretty sure, that twerking at Yale or at UCSF Medicine are not the primary activities of diversion, and if they were, I know for fact, my Ds weighed against the fun of the activity or answering to crabby Pops, would defer to the later.â
â The Yale Twerking Club began with one young woman and her dream of making Yale sexy⊠
How do you propose these girls be âmadeâ not to care about flowers and gossip and makeup and glitter and fun?
There are a lot worse things one could do with oneâs life than to be pretty and like girly things. Are these girls advocating violence? Or drugs? Or having babies they canât afford?
Having lived in LA and NYC the majority of my adult years, I can attest to entire neighborhoods (e.g. Manhattan Beach and UES) in which formerly attractive and âgirls about townâ, being divorced in their 40s, and having nothing to show for it except alimony. There is a profound sadness to someone who thinks they are still the much desired object of affection they were in their 20s, but still have that mentality in their late 30s and into their 40s.
So, relative to doing drugs and violence, it ranks pretty low. That said, being a cliche and arm candy does have a master to be paid at the end. All of us need to evolve and develop other facets of our lives, past a tone bottom and high cheek bones. So, what you may, but I have seen this played out dozens and dozens of times, and in most instances, it was the former beauty queen left by the waysideâŠ
Who said anything about making these girls behave differently (except for discriminating on the basis of race)? Iâm just criticizing their video. Indeed, Iâm only criticizing them if itâs an accurate portrayal. If it isnât, they should be mad.
I just watched the video for a third and fourth time, to see what I was missing, but still didnât come away with the impression that these women were vapid or looked stupid. In fact, what struck me was how the 4 women hosting the Today Show segment looked exactly like they could be members.
Well, I noticed the same thing about the Today Show hosts. Theyâll also hire a black woman before they hire a fat woman.
Thereâs little reason not to think itâs a reasonably accurate portrayal, IMO. It might not be the totality of who they are as people, but I agree with the others who have said that they wanted to convey their brand, and therefore they did.
I donât think they looked like future brain surgeons, but you know, who knows.