Walking the long path to sisterhood

Who knew that hanging out with girls could be so stressful?

College freshman "Jane," for one, did not.

Jane has spent the last two weeks walking around in heels - for four hours straight, at times - bedecked in black pants and fancy dress shirts in order to impress the sisters of the sororities that she is rushing.

For fear of repercussions from those sororities, "Jane" - a pseudonym - requested anonymity when opening up to The Daily Pennsylvanian about what spending two weeks with Penn's top Greek-life leaders is really like.

And what is it really like?

"It's been such a long week," she said, laughing and putting her head in her hands.

But while the ordeal of travelling from house to house, day after day - a mandatory procedure for the beginning days of rush - may seem strange and tiresome to those accustomed to the less-structured fraternity-rush process, it began to make sense as Jane started noticing differences among the houses.

For example, Delta Delta Delta is "full of blonds. . They're ditzy," Jane said.

The negative feelings were mutual; the sorority made it clear to her "after five seconds" that they were not interested in granting her a bid.

"I kind of expected that from them," she said.

Trips to other sororities brought more-amicable results, however, particularly at what Jane called the "down-to-earth sororities" - such as Phi Sigma Sigma.

"They care more about inner beauty," she said of that sorority.

Jane said she's not sure if she would join the sorority if that were the bid she received - women only end up with one bid at the end of the rush process, unlike their male counterparts - but she would consider it.

"I respect them for holding different ideals," she said.

And so, as bid night grows closer and closer, and the question of which sorority will grant her a bid looms larger, Jane is maintaining a relatively cavalier attitude.

"I have nothing to lose, so I have to keep that in mind. You can't get too invested" in one sorority, she said.

But Jane said other girls have been bawling after receiving their selections, usually because they didn't get invited back by the sorority they really wanted.

For example, when one of Jane's friends was only invited back by Phi Sigma Sigma after one such round of cuts, she immediately dropped out of rush due to "embarrassment," Jane said.

Stacy Kraus - Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs associate director for programming - warns against this sort of stereotyping: "We encourage every girl to look at the community as a whole and not just one chapter in particular," she said.

Still, according to Jane, having an open mind does not seem to be the most important thing for many female rushes.

"You go to the houses, and then you give your preferences, but it seems like your opinion doesn't really count too much," Jane said.

"What matters is if they like you."

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