Do people really understand the secrets behind the Greek community? There are many pressures girls face that the public is not familiar with that are specifically evident in sororities. Alexandra Robbins, the author of the book Pledged: The Secret Lives of Sororities, went undercover and followed four different girls during their experiences within the Greek system. Although there are many struggles girls can face in sororities, the five most prevalent type of pressures include: having a perfect body image, substance abuse, stress, silence, and hazing. One of the many forms of dangerous pressures girls face from their membership in a sorority is body image. Being a member of an organization with typically 100 women opens the door for pressure to conform to a certain ideal look. Forms of hazing often would include activities that brought down the girls’ self-confidence. “During circle the fat, pledges undress and, one by one, stand in front of the entire sorority membership. The sisters (or, in some chapters, fraternity brothers) then use thick black markers to circle the fat or cellulite on a pledge’s body....For many sororities, thinness, as the pledges discover, is a priority” (Robbins 259). These types of activities are not uncommon for sororities. From day one of pledging, the idea of having a perfect body is obsessed over. Even girls with healthy, fit bodies are criticized just as much for the sake of the upper classmen to break them down, so they could build them back up they way they want. Its manipulating and confusing. The pressure to be accepted by the sorority was a common outcome from the priority of perfection, which could also lead to eating disorders. A study was done and found that “the most consistent finding was... ... middle of paper ... ... Why should people stand around and let these pressures shape the lives of young women? Works Cited Butterfield, Sam. "New Study Finds Sororities Have a Negative Impact on Body Image." The Daily Collegian. The Daily Collegian, 11 Mar 2010. Web. 17 Feb 2014. Hansen, B. (2004, January 9). Hazing. CQ Researcher, 14, 1-24. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/ Mantel, B. (2006, August 18). Drinking on campus. CQ Researcher, 16, 649-672. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/ Robbins , Alexandra. Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities. New York: Hyperion, 2004. Print. Scrivo, K. (1998, March 20). Drinking on campus. CQ Researcher, 8, 241-264. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/ Worsnop, R. L. (1997, March 14). Alcohol advertising. CQ Researcher, 7, 217-240. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/
Balko, Radley. "Let My Students Drink." Reason. (Feb. 2009). Web. 19 Feb. 2016. John McCardell was a former college president who took his experience dealing with underage drinking and decided to develop an organization called Choose Responsibly. The organization supports lower the legal drinking age. He later developed the Amethyst Initiative to help campuses across the U.S. to join together. In the article, Mr. McCardell gives his reasons for starting the growing movement. The purpose of this article is to inform other college delegates and leaders about the organizations they can join they share the same beliefs. It was published in a magazine that discusses rising issues to help promote the initiative. The article is unique due to its interview arrangement which gives it a more personal feel. My thesis is supported by this article because it provides me with
"Some have argued that fraternities are places where rape is likely to occur on college campuses and that the students most likely to accept rape mouths and be more sexually aggressive are more likely to live in fraternities and sororities, consume higher doses of alcohol and drugs, and place higher value on social life at college." according to the article "Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture: Why Are Some Fraternities More Dangerous places for Women?" written by A. Ayres Boswell and Joan Z. Spade. The article ...
“80 percent of teen-agers have tried alcohol, and that alcohol was a contributing factor in the top three causes of death among teens: accidents, homicide and suicide” (Underage, CNN.com pg 3). Students may use drinking as a form of socializing, but is it really as good as it seems? The tradition of drinking has developed into a kind of “culture” fixed in every level of the college student environment. Customs handed down through generations of college drinkers reinforce students' expectation that alcohol is a necessary ingredient for social success. These perceptions of drinking are the going to ruin the lives of the students because it will lead to the development alcoholism. College students who drink a lot, while in a college environment, will damage themselves mentally, physically, and socially later in life, because alcohol adversely affects the brain, the liver, and the drinkers behavior.
The mission of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated is to cultivate and encourage high scholastic and ethical standards, promote unity and genuine friendships among college women, aid in issues concerning girls and women in order to come up with solutions to eliminate or ease the circumstances they may face, maintain an ongoing interest in college life, while also being of service to all mankind. This sorority has not only empowered women to help others, but it
We've all heard it before: "Too much of anything is bad for us." The amount of binge drinking occurring on American college campuses today proves that college students do not heed this warning. Binge drinking, or drinking for the purpose of getting drunk, harms both drinkers and non-drinkers alike. As today's college students come dangerously close to being swept away in the sea of papers, exams, jobs, and interviews, they use bingeing as the lifeboat that allows them to escape the stress. It allows them to forget their worries, fit in with the crowd, and live on the edge in a fast-paced world that normally does not leave time for such activities. Teetering on the brink of adulthood, yet still trapped in childhood makes drinking decisions difficult for many college students. A desire to get away from our usual lives because of societal regulations and conformity, psychological and emotional problems, and the stress of everyday life causes college binge drinking.
Day in and day out we hear about high school and college students wanting to pursue a sorority and/or a fraternity based on the stereotypes these organizations uphold, well I chose to differ. I told myself if I ever decided to become a member of a sorority it would be based solely on their ethical standards, history, and values they are founded upon. Alpha Kappa Alpha, Incorporated consists of ladies of distinction and exemplary character who excel in scholarship, leadership, and service, which are qualities I have chosen to uphold. From my perspective, I encourage myself to maintain a respectable appearance and reputation which doing so inspires me to embrace my self-concept; which helps me confidently excel academically and professionally as a “lady of distinction” and “exemplary character.” Most importantly, I continuously remain involved in community service, being involved allows me the opportunity to learn and understand the lives and circumstances of others by opening my mind, heart, and soul. Overall these qualities strengthen my passion to be a member of the prestigious Alp...
In the United States, forty-four percent of persons ages eighteen to twenty-one are enrolled in colleges or universities (1). According to recent statistics released by the Health and Education Center, forty-four percent of college students are categorized as heavy drinkers. Alcohol abuse is one of the biggest issues on college campuses nationwide, but what is it that makes excessive alcohol consumption such a concern in the year 2003?
It has been stated in each research source that hazing and particularly binge drinking is the most serious problem affecting social life, academic life, and health on college campuses today. The journal article pertaining to this issue, How Harvard’s College Alcohol Study Can Help Your Campus Design a Campaign Against Student Alcohol Abuse (CAS: Campus Alcohol Study for short), focuses more heavily on binge drinking and prevention than it does on the Greek system itself. The authors, Wechsler, Nelson, and Weitzman, contend that binge drinking is a nationally recognized problem but has not been studied efficiently enough to warrant effective prevention plans. The purpose of this article is to share with the public the results of a survey representing 50,000 students in 140 colleges, in 39 states. This is the first nationally representative survey of its kind and the analysis of its outcome by the authors of this article has resulted in seemingly sound prevention ideas. To begin interpreting the binge drinking phenomenon, a solid understanding of the term must be presented. Binge drinking is defined by all the articles as consuming five or more drinks in rapid succession (four or more for women) at least once in a two week period. Shockingly, the College Alcohol Study (CAS) found that two out of every five college students binge drink. The authors of this article argue that binge drinking has negative effects not only on the drinkers, but also on the entire student body. The binge drinker might get alcohol poisoning, other related physical injuries, or weakened academic performance, while the non-binging students are subjected to insults, arguments, vandalism, physical and sexual assaults, and loss of sleep due to alcohol influenced peers. The next topic that the article gets into is the different areas that change need be made to lessen the presence of binge drinking and ways in which these changes might be made. The first idea presented is that simply educating students about alcohol abuse and related problems is not effective. The CAS shows that four out of five students have been exposed to anti-alcohol education and still two out of these five binge drink, let alone drink at all. In fact, Wechsler, Nelosn, and Weitzman state that most members of predominant binge drinking groups like athletes and Greek organizations openly admit to being educated in this area. These findings display how ineffective alcohol education on college campuses is.
It is evident that binge drinking is common, but it is not known why so many students it is the only way to drink. The idea of moderate drink is becoming more and more uncommon on college campuses. This matter of contention is not about how it is being done or the statistical number it is being done, but why it is being done. What is most important is getting to the root of the problem. It is imperative to understand why moderate drinking is a no longer accpetable style of drinking. Even while knowing the health risk, it is more socially acceptable to engage in large consumptions of drinking for multiple reasons. Could this contention be the prequle to the expectations of college being damanding or are students pushing the limits? Is it possible that binge drinking is just now the “in-thing” to do or is there a deeper issues growing throughout
Over 49% of the college students within America do not consume alcohol on a regular basis (Lankford, 2007). However, a significant percentage of these students lack the control to abuse alcohol when they start consuming it. The annual Health College Alcohol Study indicates that the social interaction within a majority of the societal settings has significantly been affected by the increased amount of alcoholic consumption. This has seen the rise of fights and disorderly communities, especially within those areas where colleges are set up. ...
On college campuses across America, the use of alcohol has been an topic in need of explanation for many years. The concept will be explaned with emphise on the negative effects of hooch. Alcohol in cardio-sport athletes is especially harmful. But at any rate the negative concepts apply to all student. Besides the fact that a large number of students are underage when they drink, alcohol can put students in dangerous situations and give them a headache long after the hangover is gone. The short and long term effects alcohol has can impair students physically and mentally, impacting their education and health.
A staggering 80% of college students consume alcohol and around half of those students are frequent binge drinkers (“College Drinking”). The excessive consumption of alcohol has became a widespread issue at universities nationwide, causing many people to wonder where the problem got its roots. However, the problem of underage drinking is not exclusive to college campuses. By the time a student graduates high school, there is a 65% chance that they will have consumed at least one alcoholic beverage. Some researchers could claim that this epidemic is due to the historical time period of Prohibition in the 1920s and early 1930s. The eighteenth amendment, ratified in January 1919, outlawed the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” and caused drastic changes in American society (qtd. in Anderson). The ratification of the eighteenth amendment not only affected citizens
Binge or excessive drinking is the most serious problem affecting social life, health, and education on college campuses today. Binge or excessive drinking by college students has become a social phenomena in which college students do not acknowledge the health risks that are involved with their excessive drinking habits. Furthermore college students do not know enough about alcohol in general and what exactly it does to the body or they do not pay attention to the information given to them. There needs to be a complete saturation on the campus and surrounding areas, including businesses and the media, expressing how excessive drinking is not attractive and not socially accepted.
This study will investigate the drinking social patterns among the enrolled undergraduate students at Texas A&M University (TAMU). This research will focus specifically on different drinking habits among the four classifications, i.e. freshman, sophomore, Junior, and Senior. I would like to know the different views TAMU undergraduate students have about the drinking habits of their peers and whether or not students believe that drinking habits have an effect on the student’s personal life.
Most people do not realize that alcohol is a drug that claims the lives of youth in college campuses across the world. In my case, it took the encounter with the ORL staff at UCLA for me to come to understanding that I am putting myself and those around me in danger through my risky drinking habits. With hours of self-reflection and the help of a cosmopolitan article called The Deadly Drinking Mistakes Smart Girls Make, I have found that there are several risks associated with alcohol that can put me at a quarrel with death. Even so, drinking does not always need to be deadly, and by keeping in mind the well-being of my fellow bruins and the skills mentioned in the article, I can find a balance between drinking for fun and drinking till death.