Lets take a step back...

I realized I jumped straight into this topic without really giving any background on myself. If you haven't figured out, yes I am greek. For purposes of this assignment, I think it's better if I remain as neutral as possible but I am a member of one of the D9 sororities. I had very little knowledge about greek life because of my participation in certain activities in middle and high school. Those activities plus some of the women in my life and the lessons I learned from them helped influence my decision to join my organization. I joined my sorority during my sophomore year, Spring 2012 to be exact and that has been one of the best decisions I've made in my college career, and even in my life. My sorority has brought out the very best in me. It somehow gave me this extra boost of confidence to step out of my comfort zone and take on more leadership roles, etc. Trying to understand greek life is a very complex process. Going into this situation there are a few things you need to know. One, discretion is key for basically all of the orgs. Two, RESEARCH! You may go into college thinking you know which org you want to join but you need to do your research on them all to make sure the org you join is the right org for you. There is no flip flopping once you've expressed interest.

"Greek Life" in the Media

People who do not know first hand about greek life will probably make assumptions about it based on a few popular t.v. shows and movies like The Parkers, Moesha,House of Payne, Drumline, and Stomp the Yard. Outside looking in you wouldn't give much thought to how accurate greek life is portrayed in the movie. However greeks do! I've personally had conversations with greeks about these movies. Greek life is often portrayed as a social activity when it is so much more. The stepping and partying is just a very small aspect of greek life. Another aspect of greek life that is commonly portrayed is the "pledging process." When you see these things in movies, greek life can kind of look like a negative thing. In these tv shows and movies names of the different sororities and fraternities are altered but typically keep similar colors or fulfill common stereootypes which leads viewers (who know about greek life) to assume which org they're portraying. First, all of the D9 have a zero tolerance for hazing. Secondly, D9 orgs do so much more outside of social activities. Although I can't name specifically what each org does, I can speak for my own sorority. We are about sisterhood, scholarship, and service. We are very active in our communities all across the world. My sorority comes together to make a difference in this world and have been doing so since our founding. It is offensive to not see that being put in the movies and tv shows. Stepping and partying is fun don't get me wrong, but we work much harder than we play! I don't see anything wrong with showing greek life in the movies about college BUT if you're going to show the fun we have also show the work we do.

I was on facebook one day and my cousin, who goes to ODU, sends me a screenshot from an ODU confessions page. What I read completely pissed me off. It was the most ignorant racist bs I've read in a very long time. How could you speak so negatively about something you know NOTHING about?! It may just be my personal opinion, but I don't feel like you'll ever truly understand D9 if you are not a part of one of the organizations. With that being said, DON'T SPEAK on what you DON'T KNOW! The fact that this person felt completely comfortable writing this and even the person who operates the page feeling comfortable enough posting this on that page just completely blows me. There were many things about this post that was just stupid! "Tribal dance shit" you say. "Slaves dance in public" you say. Go EDUCATE yourself! Whether it's strolling, party hopping, stepping, whatever, there is PURPOSE behind it. Of course I could sit here and tell you the importance of these aspects of our orgs but that would be too easy. Wake up and take a look around. Even with such ignorance still alive in people today, we can't and won't be stopped!