It’s no secret that sorority girls stereotypically get a bad rep. That’s not a stereotype specific to Tulane, but almost every college campus across the country. However, a video recently went viral across the Tulane campus focusing on the behaviors of Tulane sorority women and portraying them in a highly negative light. I personally am in a sorority, and stereotypes of sorority girls aside (which I think are grossly untrue, but that’s an article for another day), this video purposefully manipulated actions of a few of our chapters so that people could mock and belittle them for really no reason at all.
So what video am I talking about?
You can watch it here.
To summarize, Quinn Marcus, a cast member of MTV’s Girl Code (of which I am a fan), arrives at the Tulane campus to promote her comedy show, “Chasing Ballerinas,” right in time for sorority Bid Day. The clip starts off with Quinn in rehearsal, but is interrupted by one of our chapters’ cheering and excitement to welcome their new member class. Upon coming to the scene – which was clearly premeditated – Quinn does a Disney villain-esque laugh and mocks their dance moves. From the get-go, she seems to have a condescending attitude towards the sorority girls she encounters. Later on, you can see her catching girls completely off-guard and passing out flyers when they are clearly dressed up for a special occasion and in somewhat of a rush.
When a group of friends passes by each other, Quinn exclaims, “Ah! Everybody just laughs all the time!” and proceeds to ask the girls if they ever have real conversations. I think this is way more of a reflection on her than the sorority girls. Even though sorority girls (or anyone for that matter) do not laugh all the time, laughing is a good thing and there’s no way it can be constructed as rude in this context. Asking someone if they ever have real conversations, however, is downright rude and disrespectful, but the girls in the video handled that question with grace. For the record, sorority girls do have real conversations – organizing sisterhood events, philanthropy events, and generally just forming a community to foster growth and well-being.
One of the scenes that stuck out the most to me was when Quinn approached a group of girls by the LBC who were cheering and waiting for the new members, and started talking about her show. One of the girls even said, “Now’s not really a good time. I’m not trying to be rude or anything,” and she meant it genuinely. Sorority Bid Day is an important day for sorority girls alike. Active Greek members are busy and so excited to welcome the new members to their sisterhoods, and are happy to finally be done with recruitment. Again, this is more of a reflection on her by patronizing things that they care about and thinking that her interests are superior. Had she approached any person in the library studying for a test, Greek or not, I’m sure she would have warranted the same response. The same goes for someone in the middle of a workout at Riley or grabbing some food for lunch. The point is that this was an important event and a very busy day for a decent amount of Tulane’s general population. She injected herself into that environment, and simply stated, it really wasn’t a good time.
Which brings me to my last point – if she really wanted these girls to go to her show, she should have respected their time and traditions. Instead, she was condescending, made the girls very uncomfortable, and portrayed them as something they’re not. She even tried to enter one of the houses! It’s private property, the same that an off-campus house or on-campus dorm is. I’m sure most of you will agree that if a stranger approached you telling you to come to her comedy show as you were entering your house after a long day, you would have told her she can’t come in the house, either.
I took such offense to this video because I know there’s more to Greek life than the stereotypes perpetuated by the media, this video included. Granted, there is more to sorority life, and life in general than Bid Day, but this video was made with the mean-spirited intent to embarrass and disrespect some of Tulane’s most involved, generous, and influential students.