Panhellenic Council hosts author Liz Funk

Students gathered Wednesday night at the Kappa Kappa Gamma house to hear Liz Funk, author of Supergirls Speak Out: Inside the Secret Crisis of Overachieving Girls, discuss the importance of young women balancing achievements with leisure.

“The requirements of being an ‘it girl’ have changed,” Funk said. “It’s not enough to just be pretty. They need to be smart, charming, people pleasing and of course, nice.”

Funk argued that the perfectionism women are striving toward is the result of a domino effect. If one girl sees the positive outcomes that a “super” or “it” girl achieves, whether it be a top university admittance or an award, others model themselves after this ideal. She said that the solution is for girls to take time to find themselves through leisure.

“You need to start being yourself and doing things in an authentic way,” she said. “When girls start being themselves, others will follow.”

Funk suggested that young women take time to focus on hobbies as a way to relax.

“It’s critically important to have downtime,” she said. “And by that, I mean time where you don’t check emails, where you paint your nails, or don’t go anywhere near your textbook.”

The event was hosted by the Panhellenic Council in an effort to help Greek women and the surrounding community understand that taking time for oneself is necessary for a healthy and fulfilling life. The speech was accompanied by a workshop where those in attendance spoke about their personal struggles with trying to be a “super girl.”

“Despite that today’s young women have more opportunities than ever before, they’re under intense pressure … to be a perfect 10 and excel in everything they attempt,” Funk said.

The author also said that young women are reluctant to slow down and take time for themselves because they feel that their communities would disapprove. She stressed that competition with close friends and other’s perceptions of them make young women question whether they are good enough without their extracurricular and achievements.

“It’s kind of a façade, they’re really kind of exhausted,” Funk said. “Being constantly on the move and constantly part of some project … if many young women felt that they could slow down, they would.”

Mackenzie Roof, event organizer and vice president of athletics for Panhellenic, explained that women in the Panhellenic community are often involved in many extracurricular activities, which can often be overwhelming.

“Add to that their sorority commitments, exercise, eating and sleeping, it’s hard for many people to find time just for themselves,” Roof said. “I hope that this talk can encourage girls to realize that taking time for yourself is not a selfish thing — it can sometimes be the best thing for your future.”

Funk has given presentations about this issue to nearly 100 colleges throughout the United States, including Cornell University, Duke University and New York University.

Women in the audience had mixed reactions to Funk’s ideas. Eleni Sehremelis, a junior majoring in human biology, disagreed with the speaker.

“While I do think it’s important to have some downtime, I think it’s important to be active with your school work and your academics because that is what going to get you far in life,” Sehremelis said.

Not all were dismayed by Funk’s words, however. Some took the advice to heart. Jessica Bjerke, a junior majoring in business administration, was motivated to take a load off her busy schedule.

“It made me want to make more time to just relax,” Bjerke said.