Every year, women at Ball State University file into rooms as hundreds of eyes stare at every move they make. They hope to make lasting first impressions on the people who will ultimately decide part of their future.
That is what a sorority rush can be like. And, according to a recently published study by Northwestern University, the rigorous process can cause college women who pledge in sororities to have poor self-images.
Sigma Kappa sorority member Lauren Johnson described the rush process as nerve-wracking.
"I was very intimidated because I didn't know what was going to happen," she said. "You walk into a room full of girls and only get a short time to get to know all of them and make a good impression."
The study's conclusion is that women who pledge in a sorority have increased chances of developing eating disorders and higher levels of negative body image.
Ball State's Greek life is different than other larger universities. With a population of 8 percent of campus, greek life is smaller than the campus in the study. The authors studied a undisclosed Midwestern university where 54 percent of freshman women surveyed went through the process of recruitment. Unlike the surveyed university, Ball State does not provide all sororities with community houses off campus, decreasing the amount of time members spend together.
Still, for some Ball State sorority members, recruitment proves to be stressful. Sigma Kappa member Courtney Brown said pledging was difficult for her because of her shy nature.
"It was more of a challenge than anything," she said. "I'm trying to make a good impression and it was hard. I felt like I was trying to pick up someone at a bar. You have to approach them, talk to them and relate to them."
During fall recruitment, or formal recruitment, prospective sisters go to every sorority house on campus, narrowing down their favorite choices as they go. They are able to pick their top favorite choices and then play the waiting game until they hopefully hear back from a sorority with a bid.
In spring, or informal recruitment, women are able to choose what specific sorority they would like to learn more about. After attending recruitment events, sisters make their choice and then begin to wait on their bid.
Phi Mu sorority member Melanie Verburg said it is something all women should expect when they begin recruitment, but is only part of the evaluation.
"You know you are being judged solely on what you look like so you dress nice and you look good," she said. "There are so many different ideas about sororities. They aren't picking on you and saying, ‘Oh she is pretty' or ‘Oh she is ugly.' I thought about what they would think of me, but at the same time I knew they wanted to know who I actually was."
Melissa J. Pieczynski, vice president of community relations for the Panhellenic Council, said Ball State takes steps to discuss issues with body image.
"We [the Panhellenic Council] always try to promote being healthy and we have awareness about body image," Pieczynski said. "If people are in trouble we are going to help them with it. I mean, it's a major health issue."
The study, "Here's Looking at You: Self-Objectification, Body Image Disturbance, and Sorority Rush," published in "Sex Roles," found that women in recruitment for sororities are increasingly self-conscious.
One of the authors of the study, Ashley Marie Rolnik, stated in an e-mail that the study's purpose was to determine whether the criticism sororities receive for excessive focus on appearance during recruitment has any basis.
She said sororities provide college women with great opportunities for personal growth, but the cultural norms within the sorority play a large role in the outcome of the study.
Many sororities have been under scrutiny in recent news for trying to uphold a specific stereotype for pledges.
In November 2007, DePauw University's Delta Zeta sorority chapter interviewed 35 sisters about their commitment to the sorority and recruitment. Then just before final exams, it eliminated 23 members, all of whom were overweight, including the only black, Korean and Vietnamese members.
Rolnik hopes that the research will encourage Greek communities to promote healthy eating habits and encourage positive body image within the organizations.
"Although I present some controversial findings, I would like to highlight the positive aspects of sororities," she said. "I hope that my research will help to spark change in unhealthy norms among women."
Methodology
Authors studied women, 54 percent of whom rushed, in increments — before, during and after rush
They measured levels of self objectification — the tendency to take an outsider's perspective of one's own body — body shame and disordered eating behaviors
Results
Women who participated in sorority rush had higher levels of self-objectification throughout the rush process
The non-rush group exhibited flat self-objectification levels
New sorority members showed a significant spike in body shame at the end of the testing period
Both groups exhibited higher levels of disordered eating behaviors over time
Women with higher body mass indexes were more likely to drop out of rush and not join a sorority
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