The strange world of sororities

Until very recently, the opaque world of American sororities was a mystery to me. I’m a British student at a British University, and these highly selective, members-only groups for American female students were about as foreign to me as guns sold at the supermarket. All of that changed when a hoard of long-haired, glossy-lipped girls at the University of Alabama started appearing on the homepage of my TikTok.

I had gained a new obsession. I was addicted to watching Southern Belles vlog what’s known as ‘rush week’ – a uniquely American phenomenon where thousands of girls spend a week or more interviewing at sororities to get a ‘bid’ – an offer to join the house.

This is possibly the most viral and pervasive TikTok trend ever, with videos racking up 300 million views in total and completely dominating the algorithm. The videos are mostly frothy OOTDs (Outfit Of The Days) and the girls – Potential New Members (PNMs) – chatting to their audience about their day. Harmless, surely?

Rush is taken incredibly seriously in the U.S. South: some over-ambitious mothers even move in with their daughters during the process. While the official message from the sororities is that they choose their new members by personality and ‘philanthropic commitment’, it’s really little more than a beauty contest. Some of the girls don’t get bids, meaning their first week of college is marked by humiliation. 

One girl, Makayla Culpepper (who goes by @whatwouldjimmybuffettdo on TikTok), was unceremoniously dropped by every sorority because of a video emerging of her appearing drunk at a party in high school. A race row emerged because Culpepper is bi-racial, and Alabama sororities only desegregated in 2013 – whether or not this was the reason for her dismissal, it certainly reveals the immaculate behavioural standards members are expected to adhere to.

A TikTok commenter from the sorority Alpha Chi Omega revealed that the wearing of makeup was compulsory for its members. Other students concurred that rules included not walking and talking on the phone and never being caught upstairs in a frat house. As a British student, this couldn’t appeal to me less. Why would I pay thousands of dollars to be told what to wear, how to behave and how to interact with fellow students? What happened to modern feminism? But behind the million dollar smiles lies the power of these sororities: the network.

Joining a sorority isn’t just about paying for college friends; it allows you access to the ‘sisterhood’ for the rest of your life. Each sorority is an exclusive club with powerful alumni all across the USA. Meghan Markle was a Kappa Kappa Gamma, Condoleeza Rice was an Alpha Chi Omega and Ruth Bader Ginsberg was an Alpha Epsilon Pi. There is barely a female member of Congress, a top judge or a Hollywood star who hasn’t been a sister.

Maybe some of the appeal of these TikToks is seeing the birth of future #girlbosses. You can find clues to the wealth and status of the PNMs slipped into the 60 second videos. The girls show off their Hermes jewellery as casually as they show off their dresses from Shein, and the occasional David Yurman bracelet owned by their grandmother, also a Sister. These girls are a curious combination of down-to-earth and totally unattainable, with their bright smiles, $1000 bracelets and immaculately bleached hair. As a UK student, they’re totally transfixing.

Sororities may be a decades old concept but their global audience is entirely new. And it is propelling them towards levels of not altogether welcome notoriety. Just last month a man who identified as an ‘incel’ was charged with planning a mass shooting at a sorority house in Ohio.

Sorority girls represent exactly the type of woman that misogynists hate: they’re rich, beautiful, and were mean to nerds in High School. And unsuspecting TikTok girls are brazenly post their full names, where they live (including their room numbers) and their hometowns for any wannabe school shooter to see.

I can’t blame 18-year-olds for being caught up in the excitement of the biggest beauty contest in the world. The glamour of Rush delivers a giant dose of escapism, and viewers across the globe have gained a glimpse into the lives of the wealthy American South. However, I wonder if many of them have thought through the consequences of broadcasting the goings on of their sorority to the world? Who knows what will happen when they run as Senators.