Here at Penn State, there are 89 sororities and fraternities to choose from.  25% of the school is involved in Greek Life.  We rush first semester so within the first few weeks of school we are thrown into a crazy, competitive, scary process otherwise known as RUSH.  Rush lasts about a week.  It starts with open houses, then first rounds, second rounds, preference day, bid day.

I am currently in a sorority, but I will admit the process of getting to be in one was not a picnic in the park.  When starting off with the 18 sororities, and then slowly dwindling down, it is easy for girls to lose confidence in themselves when a sorority doesn’t ask them to come back to the next round.  I have seen countless girls crying because they felt like they were not good enough to be in one, so I decided to take a look at how sororities truly affect girl’s body images.

In a new study, it found that rushing sororities may have profoundly negative effects on body image and self esteem, as optimistic pledges are often evaluated predominantly on their outward appearance, putting a great deal of pressure on them to look hot to find a spot.  The study, “Here’s looking at you: self-objectification, body image disturbance, and sorority rush,” was published in the Feb. 2010 issue of the research journal “Sex Roles” by Northwestern University graduate Ashley Marie Rolnik.

The study followed 127 girls at a mid-size private Midwestern university between the ages of 17 and 20-years-old, 68 of whom were rushing sororities and 59 of whom were not. 67 percent of the participants were white, 16 percent were East Asian, six percent were Hispanic, two percent were African-American, four percent biracial, and five percent other.  The study attempted to determine whether or not sorority participants were more likely to practice self-objectification, defined as accepting a self-image based on an outsider’s perspective, as well as whether women rushing sororities were more likely to show signs of eating disorders.

Participants were initially asked a series of demographic and personal questions, including their age, height and weight, whether they planned to rush a sorority, and whether they participated in other extracurricular activities. The study’s respondents were entirely first-year students, who were sent e-mail surveys at four intervals, one pre-screening asking if they would be participating in rush, an initial study asking about body image and demography five days before rush, one four days into rush week, one on the seventh day of rush, the day on which students typically receive bids to commit to a sorority, and a final set of questions one month after rush. At the final interview, participants were asked their opinion of the rush process and if they had accepted a bid to be in a sorority.

The study finds that the mean score on the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT), which measures eating habits and opinions, for both rushees and non-rushees, was “well below the proposed cut-off score that indicates a clinical level of eating disturbance.”  Only women who accepted bids to sororities were included in the rush group, and only those who did not participate in rush at all were include in the non-rush group.  The study further finds that “women who participated in sorority rush had higher levels of self-objectification,” adding that there was a negative correlation between body mass index (BMI) and finishing rushing a sorority. Further, in terms of self-objectification, the process of defining oneself according to the physical standards of others, the rush group scored significantly higher.

On another metric, body-shame, which Rolnik measured according to feelings of guilt and shame in terms of appearance, time and sorority interaction were significant variables, as rush participants increased growing feelings of shame about their bodies over time and as they interacted more with fellow members.  Appearance, or perceived attractiveness, certainly had an effect on those who went through with rush.  While the study finds no causation between sororities and self-resentment, it does raise some interesting questions about who chooses to rush sororities, what they are looking for, and what issues they experience in joining a sorority.

“The most consistent finding was that women who chose to rush scored higher on self-objectification and eating disordered behavior and attitudes (particularly attitudes and behaviors associated with bulimia) compared to women who chose not to rush,” holds Rolnik. “Furthermore, the group differences in these variables were stable throughout rush and at the one-month post-test.”

In addition, a 2007 New York Times article describes how one sorority at DePauw University in Indiana dealt with what it saw as an image problem: evicting its overweight members.  “Worried that a negative stereotype of the sorority was contributing to a decline in membership that had left its Greek-columned house here half empty, Delta Zeta’s national officers interviewed 35 DePauw members in November, quizzing them about their dedication to recruitment. They judged 23 of the women insufficiently committed and later told them to vacate the sorority house,” the article reads.  The 23 women evicted were all the sorority’s overweight women, and of the 12 members allowed to stay, six quit the sorority in indignation.

I found these studies to be very thorough, as well as relevant to girls in today’s age who are rushing for a sorority.  I experienced the pressure it can cause on a first-hand basis. The study addressed many of the confounding variables and also included all different races to make the results broader and more accurate.  My only suggestion would be for there to be another study at a different college to see how it compares to the one in the first study.  This could show if some schools are more competitive with rushing than others or if it is equally competitive amongst all colleges.

Don’t get me wrong, sororities are an amazing opportunity to meet new people, get involved, become a leader, fundraise for important causes, and more.  However, along with it comes with a lot of insecurities that as a generation we should make an effort to help diminish so that girls can love themselves for who they are.