I never thought that I would be a part of Greek life. I hated the exclusionary ideas Greek life represented for me. These ideas were formed from movies like Legally Blonde, in which the main character Elle Woods is largely represented as a superficial person. This is a stark contrast from the first sororities which initially began in the 1800s for women to discuss their education, at a time when universities just began to accept female students. Since then sororities have become more of a social group than an academic-centered organization.
Image Elle Woods and sisters in Delta Nu from the movie Legally Blonde
My Experience
Growing up I was quite the opposite of Elle Woods. I had a negative association with femininity, with being “too girly”. So I leaned into the qualities that society deemed to be masculine: baggy clothes, hair tied back, absolutely no makeup, etc. A culture where girls are constantly being scrutinized and the roles of women are seen as less than men breeds this form of thinking. My experience, of joining a sorority and being surrounded by many female role models was very welcoming and helped me embrace my femininity.
Sororities can be a space where girls express their femininity and empower one another. However, I know that my experience is very different from the experience of many other individuals. This may be due to the fact that my sorority is a part of the Multicultural Greek Council; while many well-known sororities across the nation are a part of the National Panhellenic Council. Sororities can be isolating and exclusionary. Each year sororities have a rushing process in which girls who are interested in joining go to events and meet the current members. Then the members of the sorority choose who they want to recruit. Sisters choose individuals who they get along with and who often are similar to them.
Many decisions about the sorority are based on the members of the sorority. However, sororities are national organizations and there are rules that each college chapter must follow from the national board. When our sorority began receiving questions about gender inclusivity in our rush process I began to think about how these decisions are made. When doing some research I found that my sorority had a diversity and inclusion policy along with a transgender inclusion policy. These policies state the sorority will not discriminate based on race, gender identity, sexual orientation, etc., and that individuals who identify as women are eligible for membership. I could not find specific information regarding nonbinary individuals. I found it hard to find a straightforward answer as the general language used to write these policies was not gender inclusive. From the policies I read it seemed as though each chapter had the freedom to decide who they would recruit.
A National Conversation
Within Greek life, there are fraternities and sororities. This division upholds a gender binary as fraternities are for men while sororities are for women. One interesting note is that there are co-ed fraternities with both men and women but there are no co-ed sororities.
The question of gender inclusivity in Greek life is a national conversation. Especially with the increase of individuals in the LGBTQ+ community rushing and being interested in joining Greek life. The Greek life process, especially the Alabama sorority rush, became very popular on TikTok last year. There have been many popular influencers who are part of the LGBTQ+ community sharing their experience through TikTok.
Grant Sikes a nonbinary student at the University of Alabama gained attention on TikTok by showing her outfits and talking about her experience rushing the sororities on campus. Grant got cut from most of the sororities even before the first day of the rush process and ultimately was cut from all of the sororities. She used her platform on TikTok to discuss the lack of inclusivity within Greek life and gained a community of supporters.
Grant Sikes Tiktok Outfit of the Day Video Screenshots: Day 1 and 5 of Alabama Sorority Rush
Many of the sororities Grant rushed are part of the National Panhellenic Council (NPC), a large organization that oversees 26 national sororities. In April 2021, the NPC decided against holding a vote to determine whether nonbinary individuals are officially allowed to be recruited into the sororities within the NPC. Even in my research, I found the question of who makes the final decision to be more complicated. Although the NPC decided not to vote on this policy, individual sororities have the decision to recruit individuals who are non-binary. This lack of action from NPC leads to ambiguity across different chapters. Whether individuals who are part of the LGBTQ+ community are allowed to join differs based on the school and sorority an individual decides to rush. This does not protect individuals from discrimination within the recruiting process if they decide to rush.
Artemis Langford, a student from the University of Wyoming became the first transgender woman to be accepted into a sorority at UW in September 2022. Once accepted into the sorority Artemis began to receive a lot of backlash from community members, parents, and random strangers. Her story gained national attention when six of her sorority sisters filed a lawsuit attempting to void Artemis’ membership in the sorority. These anonymous women accused Artemis of inappropriate behavior. Ultimately, the lawsuit was rejected on the basis that the allegations were found to be false and that the sorority had the freedom to recruit an individual, whom they decided to fit into their community. This is because the sorority that Artemis joined, Kappa Kappa Gamma, is a part of the NPC. The NPC also does not have a national policy on transgender recruitment which allows each chapter to decide for themselves.
Artemis Langford with Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority sisters
When browsing on TikTok I did encounter many individuals in the LGBTQ+ community speaking of positive experiences they have had in Greek life. Hopefully, the increase in discussion and representation within these organizations pushes people to challenge current standards. Policy changes at a national level are required to create safe spaces for individuals and challenge the inherently binary structure of Greek life.
Sources:
- https://medium.com/@amandasimpson1851/the-sorority-and-its-role-in-women-s-rights-f1bdf2ecabd9
- https://people.com/bama-rush-tiktok-sorority-recruitment-true-story-7501627#:~:text=During%20the%202022%20Bama%20Rush,sorority%20during%20the%20recruitment%20process
- https://dbknews.com/2021/04/20/greek-life-gender-inclusive-sorority/
- https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/sororities-excluding-nonbinary-students#:~:text=In%20April%202021%2C%20the%20National,to%20officially%20recruit%20nonbinary%20people.
- https://www.uwbrandingiron.com/2022/10/12/kappa-kappa-gamma-first-to-accept-open-transgender-student-in-uw-history/
- https://wyofile.com/this-is-artemis-langford-uws-first-transgender-sorority-sister-speaks/
This was a really interesting blog post! I believe that there is so much power in embracing ones femininity and I’m really glad to hear your sorority was able to support you in that journey. Often, hyper femininity is looked down upon as solely for the purpose of the male gaze, but that overshadows the beauty and power that femininity has. That being said, Greek life has a ways to go in the discussion surrounding the gender spectrum as you mentioned.
It was really interesting hearing about the differences among sororities being driven by certain policy decisions. The differences you mentioned reminded me of the discussion we had during class about performing gender. We discussed the fact that individuals rushing would often display a much higher performance of femininity than in their everyday lives. This might imply that this is also what they are being judged on. I’m curious if this standard is changing/what the criteria of selection implicitly will become if that aspect is entirely removed.
Thank you for sharing your experience with us! Even though I am a man, I think I had a similar opinion of sororities as you when I was a child, but now that I have gotten to college it’s changed because they are much different in practice than on TV. I find the discussion of policy and the precise language of policy so so interesting, because at the end of the day, these policies were likely all written very long ago and might need revision. For one, like you say, there’s a lack of inclusive language in the policy. If the policies do not address trans and non-binary individuals, then the sororities have to use their own discretion. In an ideal world, sororities would just be using their own discretion to decide whether or not they want someone to join them, but the policy is a good support system for defending against prejudice. Since sororities began as a inclusive space for women to discuss their education, it would also make sense that they would extend that inclusivity to trans women and femme non-binary people who wish to be a part of the community as well. It should matter less about how they identify and more about how much they want to connect to their femininity as a part of the sorority.
This is definitely a really interesting area to explore, and it was eye-opening to read about your experience and the experiences of others with the processes of rushing and being admitted. It definitely seems like, if an attitude of inclusion was more universally adopted among sororities and fraternities, they could become important places for many trans and gender non-conforming individuals to form close bonds and get the support that they deserve in such a formative period of their lives. From the outside looking in, it seems like most fraternities and sororities aren’t really at that point, though. Given the stories from the Universities of Wyoming and Alabama, it seems that a lot of the bias and discrimination that exists in society towards LGBT people is also reflected in the attitudes of at least some of the people participating in Greek life in these spaces, which is concerning for whether or not the idea of LGBT inclusive Greek life can ever truly be achieved. I can’t imagine having one’s supposed brothers and sisters filing a suit to attempt to void membership in an organization one was already accepted into feels very good.
Thank you for this interesting blog of gender inclusion in Greek culture. I was annoyed by the traditional concept of Greek life before reading your blog, but you provide me with a more well rounded understanding (and concerns) of it. Your personal experiences, when paired with larger picture, demonstrates the gap between sororities’ origins and modern depictions. I also found that the lack of clear policies at the national level is troubling, as it merely promotes ambiguity and potential prejudice at the local level. As society’s concept of gender and inclusiveness evolves, it’s critical that organizations like sororities and fraternities develop as well. The stories of Grant Sikes and Artemis Langford also show the critical need for change to make Greek life a more welcoming and supportive environment for all.