What joining a sorority says about you

March 5, 2010

I was in a sorority in university. We wore white to our initiation, sang songs about the sisterhood, we made sorority paddles for each other, we had mixers with frat boys and raised money for charity by playing 24-hour volleyball. And I know you’re all dying to ask the million dollar question — did you get hazed? Nope, no hazing (that’s all anyone ever wants to know!), not in our sorority, anyhow, so during rush we never had to strip down to bra and panties as members circled our problem areas with Sharpies. But I don’t doubt that this happens in real life (every teen flick had to get that storyline from somewhere…).

Anyhow, I was particularly saddened to read about this new study published in the journal Sex Roles. The research found that undergraduate women who join a sorority are more likely to judge their own bodies from an outsider’s perspective (aka self-objectification) and display higher levels of bulimic attitudes and behaviours than those who do not take part in the sorority’s recruitment process. Over time, those women who join the group also show higher levels of body shame.

Filed under: Diet,Healthy Swellness

Tags: 90210, anorexia, Beverly Hills, bulimia, eating disorders, healthy eating, pledge, rush, sorority