Look at me and what do you see? The common white girl who is in a sorority, has blonde hair and loves Starbucks. There is no negotiating the power that stereotypes have. Without stereotypes, there would be less need to hate and to exclude. But luckily, we live in a world chock full of stereotypes and all the lovely consequences of them.
I’m in a sorority, but I’m not a sorority girl (whatever that may mean).
“About how many guys, on average, a week do you hook up with, being in a sorority?” “Is your entire closet full of Lily Pulitzer and Jack Rogers?” “Is it, like, a rule that you always have to look presentable and have to be extremely fake-nice to potential new members?” “Are you friends with other girls that aren’t in your sorority?”
These are some of the questions I have been asked recently, and I feel that they accurately describe people’s opinion of sororities, especially at Lehigh. It’s entertaining that anyone could think that entire organizations, with over 100 girls each, could all fall under the stereotypes from the movies. My ideal night is watching Netflix in bed with some Milk and Cookies Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, I care more about school than anything else, and my best friend happens to be in another sorority. I can assure you that I am not the only girl in a sorority who fits that description, and I have many sisters that share my sentiment.
My letters brand me when I walk around campus.
I feel people staring at me and stereotyping me by whatever gossip or “news” they may have heard about my sorority.
I am blonde and I’m a barista at Starbucks, so I do absolutely love Starbucks. I may be fulfilling the stereotype, and I am not ashamed. I can’t imagine loving anything more than I love coffee except for my cat, Napoleon; he is my world. You hear all the jokes about girls loving Starbucks and being “basic,” but how could anyone not like Starbucks? When I see a girl carrying a grande caramel Frappuccino, my first inclination is not to stereotype her, nor should anyone else.
On a more serious note, the most excessive type of stereotyping that happens to me is the stereotype of being a woman. As a female, I am expected to be overly emotional, appear helpless and in need of saving, and wait around until I find my Prince Charming so I can get married and not have to work a day in my life. There is a new age of independent, overachieving women being bred; it’s insulting to think that the traditional stereotype of women has not evolved as well.
This may seem like an unprovoked rant, but the reality of stereotypes can prove to be entirely wrong. Stereotypes are just that: “types.” They are assumptions made about the type of person you are and how you should behave based on your appearance or whom you socialize with. This lighthearted satire on stereotypes is to poke fun at some of the stereotypes I encounter here at Lehigh and to hopefully clear up any misconceptions about blonde, Starbucks-loving sorority girls.
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