Hayley Eselevsky, Student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

When deciding whether to join a sorority house or not, there are a lot of things to consider. Unfortunately, there are many mixed messages in the media about sorority girls, and I am here to clear up the common misconceptions about sorority girl stereotypes.

Myth #1: Sorority girls are stupid.

Most sorority girls are actually quite smart. Many sororities have chapter GPA minimums to ensure that each girl will succeed academically. Many chapter houses also reward their sorority members with involvement points and prizes for semester grades.

Myth #2: All sorority girls are mean.

Yes, it is true that some sorority chapters are mean and catty, but you can find this anywhere you go in life. Girls join sororities in order to make friends, do philanthropic work and to attend social events, NOT to be mean to each other. In most sororities, everyone likes everyone because they have a lot in common; there is no need to be catty.

Myth#3: All sorority girls are all “girly girls.”

This isn’t even the slightest bit true. On every campus and in every house, you can find numerous athletes who participated in basketball, soccer, softball and even more sports in high school. Many sororities even have intramural athletic teams you can join.

Myth 4: All sorority girls are promiscuous and exclusive.

In movies and the media, sorority girls are infamous for sleeping around and their promiscuity. In real life, sorority girls are not like this. A lot of sorority girls have boyfriends in and outside of the Greek community, and are just having fun as any other college student would do. Regardless of if you go Greek or not, at my school, everyone is invited to frat parties.

Myth #5: Sorority girls are buying their friends.

It is true that in most sororities you have to pay yearly social and living dues. So many haters use the expression we are “buying our friends.” This is false. Sorority dues have to deal with philanthropies, socials and more, NOT buying friends. These are solely the costs to keep sororities afloat to fulfill their main point, philanthropy.

So the next time you watch a movie like Legally Blonde or The House Bunny, really think about what stereotypes you are endorsing when renting these movies and laughing at the jokes. They are hurtful to many sorority girls, and mostly untrue.