Quote:
Originally Posted by thetalady
Yep. You betcha. I am firmly on that hill, no matter the consequences. Changing my organization's ritual would cause me to resign. Ritual is precious to me. We were founded when women were barely allowed to attend college. I refuse to be ashamed that they were all white. It has nothing whatsoever to do with racism.
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Agreed.
This may be where fraternities and sororities differ the most. College and university education were always open to men who could meet the requirements. Women had to develop their own schools, and gradually be accepted into men's schools.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SWTXBelle
Many of our groups incorporate Greek gods and goddesses - but how many of our members are practicing members of an ancient Greek religion? We understand their use metaphorically. Short of a ritual that requires a member to be a Christian, I'd argue that those who aren't might be able to regard inclusion of Christian symbolism, etc. in the same vein. YMMV, and I don't know others ritual, obviously, but just the mere inclusion of Christian symbols and readings shouldn't mean that the whole of it requires our members of any creed to have to BE Christian to understand their meaning within the ritual.
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Agreed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by carnation
I don't think there's anything particularly white about our rituals but yes, many are highly Christian. I have actually seen the rituals of many GLOs because some friends are ritual collectors. Our ritual is not demeaning in any way; it's very...cherishing. I never saw a sorority ritual that wasn't.
But as I've said here before, I wouldn't have pledged AEPhi and demanded soon afterwards that they remove all the Stars of David or sections from their ritual that made me feel uncomfortable. Same with a lot of honor societies I'm in. I remember how distinctly uncomfortable I was 5 minutes into the ceremony. However, I worked hard to get those letters and far be it from me to trash what some people wrote many years ago.
Change is not always necessary or best.
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Agreed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lake
Do you suppose the women of Gamma Gamma Chi, the sorority of Muslim women, are anxious about changing their rituals to be more inclusive and attract a more diverse membership?
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Agreed.
As I said above, my feeling is that women in general bring a slightly different past to the table than men. Our feelings are valid, and we do not like to be looked at condescendingly, especially when speaking of something so dear to our hearts.
