judge city

Now, just a second, I LOVE SORORITY GIRLS. What I am j’accusing is the TLC show Sorority Girls. The show’s gross misinterpretation of American sororities made me so upset I decided to post-pone my defense of the Hostess Sno Ball. SHIT CLEARLY GOT REAL.

Defendant: Women in sororities, women in general

Plaintiff(s): TLC and Britain’s new TV show Sorority Girls, the cast

Time: Present

Case: The premise of Sorority Girls goes a little something like this: an American “sorority” named Sigma Gamma (has anyone heard of this bullshit establishment?) travels to Britain to “colonize” their “chapter” and start the “first British sorority.” Along the way, Sigma Gamma will show the female British students “the way of the American Sorority Girl.” They’ll get lessons in manners, grace, and proper sorority girl lingo, such as the term “slooter cahooter,” which apparently is the term ALL sorority girls use to describe “sluts.”

I have never used and/or heard any of my sorority sisters use the term “slooter cahooter.”  Sure I’ve heard “sloot,” “slootbag,” “slore,” but it’s nothing my non-Greek friends and/or a Kardashian hasn’t said a million times before. It was a bad sign that I first saw a clip of SG on The Soup. The clip showed a round table of Sig Gams teaching the audience SG lingo like “PLC (poor life choice),” “Sorry ’bout it,” and “As a friend.” Such phrases are not sorority-girl-only and are relatively common colloquialisms. As a friend, I can’t let you Sig Gams make that PLC…sorry ’bout it!

True, there are some vain dimwits in sororities. But, there are plenty of vain dimiwits not in sororities. Stupid people are everywhere, what can you do? The difference between a video like the the funny ‘Shit Sorority Girls Say’ and Sorority Girls is that the former is a satirical look at some members of sororities, and the latter stereotypes entire organizations and teaches others using these inaccurate generalizations. The Goodwill Ambassadors Sigma Gamma sisters really have captured the terrible essence of decades of bad sorority stereotypes and propagated them internationally. Thanks Sig Gam, LYLAS!

I’m usually good-natured when I get these types of reactions. I understand due to some true and untrue aspects of the Greek system, not all people share my enthusiasm for it (and there are aspects I don’t particularly like about it, no organization is perfect).

However, I was taken aback that the intelligent person interviewing me would take the time to react the way he did.  Did he think I was an airhead? Or did he think I would go into a diatribe about the “horrible hazing” and “catty girls?” And worse, did he think I would be ashamed of being in a sorority?

I simply composed myself and replied, “Being in my sorority was the best decision I made while at BU. I am so fortunate to say that I genuinely liked and got along with my sorority sisters. My sisters have and continue to be an inspiration to me. I admire their intelligence, we had the highest GPA on campus, ambition and sense of humor. So, for me, being in a sorority was a great experience.”

That shut him up.

Verdict: Guilty. TLC is one of my favorite channels, but they are treading into dangerous territory with this show. Sorority Girls makes actual sorority girls a joke and also casts young American women in a silly, superficial light. REAL sororities raise thousands of dollars for various philanthropies and also are home to some of the most powerful, influential women in our society.