Ashamed to be a girl.
Published March 13, 2003
So I watched MTV's Sorority Life for the first time last night, and for the first time in my life, I'm ashamed to be a girl. (Well okay, this probably isn't the first time I've been ashamed to be a girl. There are, of course, the other humiliating moments in life, such as one's first period, one's first PMS-induced extravaganza of fury.) I only watched maybe 15 minutes of it, from one commercial break to the next, and in such a tiny span of time, I was immediately made grateful that I attend a school like New York University, where the Greek scene isn't so huge. I just keep thinking to myself, "If you had gone to UVA [University of Virginia] and not NYU, this could be you!"
See, the thing is, I hate girls to begin with. I prefer hanging out with boys. They're so much more fun, so much less judgemental. With boys, I can actually voice my opinions on things that aren't boys or being pretty or other girls. I also think that the great majority of girls are stupid to begin with. Society has convinced us that our number one priority is looking pretty; being smart is demoted to number two, if not number 6, behind being attractive, being cute, being beautiful, and keeping a cabinet well-stocked with tampons and makeup. But I'll admit, I am inevitably girly in one sense: that I will always talk shit about other girls. (If you haven't noticed this yet, read the above paragraph again.)
Anyways, watching Sorority Life cemented my theory on the stupidity of other girls. In this particular episode, the pledges were whining about how for the next few weeks, they were going to be the sisters' bitches, driving them to bars, losing sleep over waiting for the come-pick-us-up phone call, etc. One night, some frat boys stopped by to meet some of the girls and found nothing but an empty house. They decided to have a little fun and set up a post-it note scavenger hunt. Forward to later that night. Some of the sisters stop by to say hi to the pledges and instead find the frat boy scavenger hunt. They immediately assume that it's their pledges who set it up (even though the handwriting is clearly MALE) and start bitching about how the pledges need to respect them.
Alright, how is a scavenger hunt a sign of disrespect? We've all done them in elementary school, and I never was insulted by one. "Okay class, today we're going to have a scavenger hunt!" "No, I don't think so, Mrs.Kennedy, I find scavenger hunts to be offensive and disrespectful. I refuse to participate." Right. I didn't think so.
- Ashamed to be a girl.
- Published: March 13, 2003
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- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: Television
- Writer: Vivian St.George
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hey, i checked out your blog. i read something there about your being asian. and i kinda got the impression that you're filipina... i dunno, am i right?
Well done. I'm linking you. Yeah I'm one of the girls that hates girls too. Haha I haven't ever had a female friend for longer than a month.. besides my mom.
go violets! yeah, i thought about going to UVA too, but i hate frat boys, so i guess we're both in a better boat.
I easily sympathize with anyone who loathes their own gender, as I far prefer the company of women to men. I have no male friends and, while I completely support their right to do so, I cannot possibly understand why any man would want to be gay.
I don't loathe my own gender, but I have always had a lot of female friends and I enjoy their company. But dude, all of that estrogen clogs up my pores and I have to be around males a fair percentage of the time, if only to talk about women.
I grew up with older brothers, which is how I've always explained why I never have friends that are girls.
I pledged a sorority in college, hoping that would be my 'in' to finally have a huge group of estrogen-driven friends. I dropped out for exactly the reasons you questioned. I just don't get girls.
I mean, I am proud to be a girl... I'm just not as proud of our club's self-perpetuated stereotypes.
i'm viv's little sister. my sister kicks hardcore donkey. (explanation: i gave up cursing for lent, kids. doesn't seem i've been able to keep that very well.) but yeah. girls suck. i like hanging around guys a lot more than i do around girls. guys are just...not snotty.
i get along with girls better... though i do have a few guy friends.
actually, i don't have many friends at all period.
peace.
You raise some good points, Vivian. It took me a while to make female friends, I guess in part because I never fit in the girls who'd join sororities. But then fraternity guys never appealed to me either.
I totally agree. Girls are bratty to each other. Most of my friends are guys too. I have one really good friend that's a girl and that's it.
I totally agree with almost everything you said. I do not have many girlfriends either and hate they way that girls constantly put down other girls just to feel better about themselves. The problem at the end of your article is that you wrote like the girls you are against. You talked about the show and how it is fun to watch because you can say "I'm so much hotter than her." Not only are you comparing yourself to these girls, you brought up beauty first. Also I went to UB and it is not Greek oriented at all. There are 30,000 students at that school. I knew no one in Greek life. They are showing you a very small portion of the life at UB. I am not trying to pick on you at all but see girls and women stand up like this and then go right into being like the girls they say they hate. GIRLS stop hating each other. You are competing and it only slows us from; having friends, having confidence, advancing in society, getting respect. Just be happy with who you and try to respect others for their differences.
scholarship. This kind of thing is imitated badly and often by others, but Carson's ambien phraseology within poems remains her own: pharmalogies "Rotate the husband and expose a hidden celebrex side," she urges early on
Ah, the pursuit of excellence. It's good to see young women taking advantage of the opportunities laid before them, preparing themselves to wrestle with the problems of the world. Thank you, MTV, for giving us hope.
Girls will be Girls and boys will be boys. That you get along better with boys does not mean a majority of girls are stupid. You just do not share the same interests as these girls in your area. Obviously! Its not an issue for me, the gender of a person, on how I get along with that person. I find that other things take priority so I haven't noticed what sex I get along better with.
However, I would like to add that there is nothing wrong with gals wanting to look pretty. Why the hell not? Why should you run around looking like something the cat dragged in or the back end of a bus? Dear heavens, I would have a seizure if I woke up one morning and did not find my Mac chestnut lipliner..a woman must apply her ammunition/weapons of mass destruction before she heads out in full view of the opposite sex. This does not mean she does not have other interests or is a dimwit. She is simply being a woman.
I dont think these sorority gals should be disparaged for being complete lunatics enjoying their youth. You only live once. Some of them will grow up to be mothers and probably people of importance in whatever field they choose. There is no reason to think them complete wastepaper baskets because of this show you are watching.
We do not have this sorority business in Europe but I have always wished that we did. Its part of life and life is for Living. People live life in different ways. Some prefer to go on a futile search about the deeper meanings of life, some just live and find meaning in the living. Let the gals have fun and be floozies. They will age and be something else and another generation will take over the sorority...c'est la vie.
I dont understand how that makes you ashamed to be a gal. I couldn't be prouder of the sorority chics. I wish I had that time back to be completely stupid and unaware of more important matters. Reality of life comes crashing in far too soon if you ask me.
Yo, Vivian, what is your email address? I was going to give you a link earlier this week, but couldn't find it to send you a question. Now, I have something up at Mac-a-ro-nies, I think you might want to read.
I agree with most of your comments until you slam the sorority girls for being ugly. It just goes to show that the absurdity of being a girl has no limit; even girls who hate girls for being obsessed with looks slam other girls for not posessing good looks.
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To a European mind like mine this all sounds totally lunatic;-) I've read quite funny articles on American sororities and couldn't really understand what these girls do this for.