Starving alligators. Trishelle from "The Real World: Las Vegas." Your mother-in-law's request for an "honest opinion." There are some things in life you shouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole. Today's topic is most likely one of them, but oh well. At least most guys out there will know where I'm coming from.
Ah, fall. Time for the leaves to start changing, midterms to start piling up, birds to start flying south for the winter. Actually, several flocks of various species have already descended upon Grounds over the last few weeks. I'm sure you've noticed them too.
Though birds of a feather flock together, sometimes during the day these particular animals are forced to split up, making identification of new breeds a bit difficult.
When I first spot an unfamiliar specimen, I tend to write it off as a straggler left over from last year's flock. But then I see another, and another, sometimes even two at a time and I realize
Egad! I've discovered an entirely new species, native only to the University!
So how does an average Jane like myself make such startling discoveries on a regular basis? How do I identify these new and widely varied species? Why, by their sorority T-shirts, of course.
Now comes the part where I make a disclaimer: Yes, I am in a sorority, and yes, I do wear sorority T-shirts
-- on a regular basis, even.
But you see, it's not the sorority T-shirt in and of itself that I'm after here. Not that there aren't some absolutely shameful ones I've seen floating around recently.
I'm not about to name names here, but let's just say that ripping off some overdone, cheesy corporate logo doesn't exactly make you creative. And if that overdone, cheesy corporate logo happens to be for a brand of car or a plastic form of money, you're not doing so much to dispel the stereotypes that already plague sororities.
But these shameful exceptions aside, most sorority T-shirts are perfectly legit. Some are even
cute. Catchy. Clever.
The problem emerges when the entire University community is forced to see about a hundred of these cute, catchy and clever T-shirts floating around Grounds on any given weekday. Talk about no better way to win nasty looks from perfect strangers!
I know, I know, it's a spirit thing. A rah-rah, show the first years how much we love our sorority type of thing. A "Hey, join our sorority and you can get a catchy T-shirt, too" thing. I know all this. Like I said, I'm in one too.
Call it self-consciousness, but I have a hard time sitting next to a friend in class who's wearing the exact same T-shirt as I am. It would be one thing if it were a plain T-shirt, but let's not forget that most sorority T-shirts are made to be noticed, not to blend quietly into the crowd.
Again, the stereotype issue comes to mind. How better to propagate the homogenous sorority girl stereotype than for all your sisters to wear the same thing on the same day? And on a weekly basis, to boot?
I know, I know. I'm probably forgetting that first years eat up this stuff. After all, the whole point of wearing recruitment T-shirts is to spread the word to first years -- have them notice your sorority's presence around Grounds. As long as you're doing that, who cares about everyone else, right?
I beg to differ. Yes, it's great to get the recruitment ball rolling, and the mass-sporting of sorority T-shirts is a convenient and legit way to do that amid ISC recruitment rules that are more complex than a United Nations multilateral treaty.
But in doing so, are we really sending the right message to the rest of the University community?
Are people getting the (wrong) idea that we can't get dressed in the morning without some higher Greek power telling us what to wear? That the only way for first years to tell that we love our sororities is by uniformly sporting a cutsie tee?
I propose a new recruitment rule to be implemented immediately: no wearing of the same sorority T-shirt by 10 or more women on the same day. Not that many rush chairs will agree with me, but I have a feeling a few other people might.
After all, at first it's interesting to spot a new species on your morning walk to class. However, when by noon you've discovered that this species has overrun its natural habitat, I'd say it's time to call animal control.
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