the large elephant in the room

I'd like to start of to say that I'd like to keep this post within the confines of our classroom if possible. Yes- I realize im using a blogspot and a url with my name in it... but heres hoping. Although this is a very personal issue they are thoughts I'd like to share...


When we were on the alternate tour of campus the other day- I had the thought that we should stop by sorority row to see how far we still have to come.Yet, I'm thankful that this did not happen because this would have been sufficiently awkward for me. However,  it only would have been awkward because the stop has validity.


When discussing this with friends the first response I always receive is " Well we couldn't go join AKA (a traditionally all black female sorority) if we wanted to" and the consensus is that many black students join black fraternities and sororities, which white Greek leaders agree are even more selective than their own.


          Whether this is true or not, this does not negate the fact that an African American would not be accepted (both literally, and socially) into a white greek organization on this campus. This counterargument does not make this fact suddenly sit well with my conscience.
        The segregation is intentional. Another argument is that organizations where members may in fact want to accept African Americans into their group cannot because they will lose alumni funding, social status, and standing on campus (because the larger group supposedly controls honor societies, SGA, and campus politics.) Also, this would hurt recruitment and ultimately be the result of the demise of the chapter. It would make the chapter a controversial one, and recruitment numbers would drop. Then if recruitment numbers were lower- we would have to drop our standards and offer bids to girls with lower GPAs to meet the quota set by Panhellenic. Then this would cause the house's GPA as a whole to drop, nationals to take notice, and the chapter would most likely be punished with probation and their charter being revoked. If the charter was not revoked the negative cycle with recruitment would continue. 


Apparently one sorority on a campus gave a bid to an black woman. She did not end up being initiated into the sorority but everyone claims that the sorority was "never the same." People are afraid, and I think with good reason. However, nothing incredible would ever be accomplished if people did not force change despite fear. I know that their are members of these Greek organizations that want change, but don't know how to initiate it.


The only solution that I think of that would force change and save sororities on campus would be for the National Panhellenic Counsel (the national level panel of all sororities) would have to force integration. This would not alienate one house, and would force members who want to be greek at all to join. This would be incredibly difficult. Chapters would lose money, members would drop, alumni would decrease funding, threats would be thrown, and there is always the possibility of terrible/dangerous/life threatening hazing, and it would be chaotic... but the question is- is it worth it? 


I also hear that "it will simply NEVER happen on Alabama's campus." I  hope that this is not true. I know that we are most definitely not the only school whose greek system is segregated, but I also know there are "southern" schools like Washington and Lee University that do give all students  an opportunity. I refuse to accept this as an impossibility for the future on Alabama's campus.  So maybe for Alabama this is a time game of catching up with 21st century and the christian values many claim to represent. I would bargain to say that most greek organizations ritual is founded on christian values and scripture is often used. We can say that we stand by these values all we want but if they are not backed by action they mean nothing. But what is a one member supposed to do? 


I am hesitant to post this blog because I personally have had friends who were forced through harassment to transfer from the university . I also want to add that my beliefs/observations are not a reflection of the views of my chapter or the greek community .

Mrs. Degree

My roommate come home infuriated because she was told  that because she was dating someone that she was working toward getting her Mrs. Degree in college. She was mad because "whose to say that _____ is not the one who will be at home and I won't be the one making bank."  It is the year 2011, and to assume that she was going to jump right into being a housewife and making babies is absurd.

here is the urban dictionary definition of the Mrs. Degree:

MRS Degree

noun: pejorative 1. A marriage as a result of attending a 4-year university with the soul purpose of getting married and consequently not completing college. 2. The attending of college, usually a 4-year university of moderate to high prestige, to get married to avoid independence or responsibility. 3. To go from one's parent's home to the home of a spouse with out ever achieving emotional or financial independence, or academic success. Betsy got her MRS degree from State. "I am majoring in my MRS Degree." Suzie's MRS Degree ended in divorce.

What is the male counterpart to this saying? I know that we have all heard it.. when I told everyone I was going to Alabama I had a lot of questions asking me if this was what I was looking for. I was offended because I did not choose this university with the sole aim of finding my husband. However, if I do find my husband this does not mean that I'm giving up my career and my personal independence. I also feel like just because college may be the prime time of my life to meet someone my age, possibly someone to date and then marry this should not, and does not negate the fact that I'm getting my degree and plan to pursue a career. 

Sports Issue

This weekend I went to a lacrosse tournament in Nashville. As I was telling some of my guy friends about it they gave me a the usual response "girls lacrosse is not even a sport." I've heard men say this so many times that I usually just shrug it off, but this time it sank in a little bit deeper. What is it about women's lacrosse that makes people say this? Most would answer that because it is not a contact sport. However, I don't think that they would have the same opinion about tennis, swimming, baseball, and softball. I think that sometimes this comment goes deeper than contact vs. non contact sports but rather mens. vs. women's sports. As an athlete, I have swam, played soccer, lacrosse, and tennis. I can safely say that I have experienced some sort of sexism in every one of those sports. Women do not receive the same support financially or psychologically as male athletes. Men usually make a lot more money than their female counterparts and this is most likely because mens sports have more media exposure, higher attendance, and more sponsorship money. What about our society makes it like this?Women are breaking ground at universities everywhere, and programs are being expanded. Title IX was a huge leap and promotes fair gender representation in athletics, but I think its obvious that women still have a long way to go to have equal compensation.

Gender: Human

”

"Have you ever guessed somebody’s gender wrong? There’s no recovering from that. You’ve just gotta move on because you ain’t wrigglin’ out of nothin’. “Hey, excuse me, sir.”
“MA’AM!”
“OK. Bye, Human. Bye, Person. Nice to meet you, Individual.” - Brian Regan


In class the other day, I really wanted to reference this joke but restrained myself. However, I think it fits pretty well with what we have been talking about. How you characterize yourself, or how society fits you into a gender ideology greatly affects how you live your life. Our society works on the basis of the dominate idea of a dichotomy. We have been socialized to understand that men are the norm. So, She gets annoyed because not only did Regan identified her with the wrong gender, but maybe also because her attributions as a women (minority) were not being noticed. What did she do/look like that made Regan say "sir?" I hope to figure out what exactly these gender differences are, and come to my own conclusions about societies popular framework and what happens when its upset. I have to wonder- what would we call someone when we associate their sex with one gender, and they claim another? What wouldn't be offensive? In the beginnings of starting to work this out.. I have come to the conclusion that: if you associate yourself with a gender it is of infinite importance to your identity, if you do not society still does and this is of infinite importance, gender can never be of no importance.