alh,
I cannot understand exactly what it is about the video that you object to, other than maybe two camera shots: one of the lower half of a fully-clothed woman walking up the stairs, and the other the back of a swimsuit (I won’t even say bikini, because the suit looked more modest to me) - clad woman carrying a flowing flag. Have I missed something?
Post #529 - I don’t believe I have a thing to add.
“Please remember I haven’t criticized any video for lacking books or philanthropy mentions. After watching I-don’t-know -how-many-videos without those elements, I was surprised at the ones this morning, which included them. And they made me wonder what the norm for this genre really is.”
Don’t you think that norm for that genre is going to differ by type of school and / or region of the country? You’re not going to have MIT Alpha Phis bopping around in matching bikinis simply because the lifestyle of someone going to MIT isn’t going to include matching bikinis and long weekends at beaches the way the lifestyle of someone going to Alabama or Florida might.
Hanna,
I hate it when I have to do this, but I went back and found a few of your phrases about the Alpha Phi video that led me to think the FSU video would cause you “fits” (figurative word), as it clearly (to me) outdid the Alpha Phi video as far as being conformist, skimpy-attired, nonacademic-focussed. I didn’t search all of your posts.
“skin magazine shoot”
“displaying sex appeal”
“decadent fantasy with other well-off white kids”
“did not portray themselves as scholars, musicians, athletes or volunteers”
You have a far lower standard for a “fit.” Let me know if you disagree with any of my descriptors.
PG: I was looking at videos from southern sororities this morning. They defied stereotypes, 
Maybe it would be interesting to take a few sororities and see if their videos differed regionally, or whether there is a common sorority culture that comes through.
Is this thread locked yet? I feel like it’s just a few moments before the Nazis start jumping sharks.
Well, that’s why I linked the MIT Pi Beta Phi tumblr as an example of how an MIT sorority might portray itself - here are some companies / competitions our girls have been associated with, here are some campus organizations we are involved in, etc.
I do wonder if we’re talking too much about the girls in the video, and not enough about the people who actually made the video. Some of the most problematic shots would create a different impression with only a different camera angle. Perhaps the guys who made the video have just seen too many sexy music videos, while the Arizona one was perhaps made by somebody who looked at Cyndi Lauper’s video for “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”
Also, sadly, I’m prepared to believe that there are much worse videos than this one. At this point, I don’t really want to watch any more of them.
I disagree with them all.
“same as the women in the FU and Alabama videos”
Hmm, it’s FSU or UF, never FU!
Since I was the one who mentioned books, I’ll chime in. It’s not that I needed to see evidence of deep scholarship. I understand that sororities are about fun and sisterly bonding. I just wanted to see anything, anything that indicated these women do something or value something other than looking pretty. A t-shirt from a charity event, a lacrosse stick or a book in a background shot, a picture of them at an event, anything.
So you think that they DID “portray themselves as scholars, musicians, athletes or volunteers”? How? I feel like we’re not watching the same video.
But why do you need to necessarily see anything about these things in a video? Wouldn’t you assume that these young women are doing all types of worthwhile things as students at the state flagship?
What sevmom said, plus, as members of a national sorority, it is a given that these women are required to participate in philanthropic activity, that they are college students (duh), and some of them showed us they can swim and do gymnastics.
“I hate it when I have to do this, but I went back and found a few of your phrases” (post #747)
Bay, as long as you are going back, have a look at the posts in another thread in which you made all sorts of assumptions about me for driving a car that had 200,000 miles on it.
I’m trying to get this straight. It’s okay to judge people for what they drive, but not at all okay to question what someone is wearing in a sorority recruitment video?
There are all sorts of ads for cars. Some of them use humor, and some focus on certain features of the car, like safety, or handling, or speed. And then there are the ones where a car drives down a city street, and passersby turn to stare at it in amazement and adulation. I don’t like that kind of ad, especially if it’s a perfectly ordinary-looking car. The Alabama video is sort of like those car ads that focus on how the car looks–if the message of the video is to let thin, beautiful (and predominantly blonde) young women know that this this sorority is for them, and only for them, then it was probably successful. If they had any other message in mind, even that this was a really fun place to hang out, I think it was a failure. Heck, it doesn’t even show their house all that clearly, and the house is supposed to be pretty fabulous. What this says about any individual member of the sorority is difficult to say, because we don’t know how much say any of them had in the final cut–and we don’t know what the directors omitted. Maybe they filmed lots of other scenes some of us would like better.
Those posts were my kind of humor. I was totally making fun of people who judge others for something or other, I can’t even remember what it was. It was all a joke, which sometimes doesn’t come through on message boards, and that one obviously fell flat.
Why would I when all they’re giving me is bubbles and air kisses? This is the sorority’s chance to show prospectives what they’re all about. To me the video just yells “vapid.”
I much prefer this type of video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8s_UY9faRw#t=57
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydMyleTyv94#t=129
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uQP2-MIgiU#t=11
Those are girls I’d like to see my D hanging with.
So, going back to the Alabama video and thinking about its stated purpose as a recruitment video, what does that video say to potential recruits? Does it say something different to young women who already have some knowledge of sorority life (philanthropy, emphasis on academics, etc) than to those who don’t? Is the expectation that those without insider knowledge have educated themselves some other way? Maybe the university sends out information?
The videos I watched this morning made clear the women were multi-talented and involved in a variety of worthwhile on and off campus activities. One didn’t need insider knowledge to understand what the group felt was important. It was a very clear and intentional message. No one ever need worry if that video shows up when they apply for a job or run for public office. There is just nothing remotely controversial.
I still have no idea what Alabama intended their message to be. I feel like the film maker got in the way of it… jmho.
and I apologize for misnaming FSU, so very sorry.
crossposted with Sue
eta: some of the young women in the video I watched this morning are daughters of former sorority sisters, women currently elected or appointed public figures. I don’t know if that impacts the tone of the video. I suspect it might.