Miami greek recruitment video lacks diversity

A recent Delta Gamma recruitment video from the University of Miami, Florida features scores of girls enjoying the Miami sun while attending rooftop pool parties and boating along the coast.

While the girls appear to be having fun, the video has sparked considerable criticism. The majority of the video displayed scenic views and beautiful weather; however, it also featured girls lacking in ethnic and body diversity. It failed to demonstrate scholarly aspects, but successfully portrayed a sexist representation of women and appeared to perpetuate the stereotype of a sorority girl — rich, beautiful and homogenous. The video itself is a poor representation of what a sorority and sisterhood are supposed to embody, and yet it’s a sad fact that much of this representation is exactly what being in a sorority entails.

The video portrays what it could be like to be a Delta Gamma, and shows that if you join this sisterhood, you’re in for a great time. Yet, it lacks depth in many aspects such as academic or professional aspirations. Not once does the video display the girls on their school campus, and consequently nowhere near a classroom or library.

The video also fails to demonstrate their philanthropic values — how they are benefiting and giving back to their university and community. It seems that not only is DG using this video to focus on the trivial and materialistic aspects of sorority life, but it’s also estimated that a grotesque amount of money was spent on the video that could’ve been put toward a charitable cause. The video itself is supposed to have cost anywhere from $200,000 to $400,000, a portion of which could have easily been donated.

The intentions are clear — this sorority knows how to party. However, it also appears that if you join DG, you fit the perfect mold of a beautiful young woman — which is somewhat ridiculous and unrealistic. The video doesn’t demonstrate much diversity, in that a lot of the girls are similar in stature as well as external appearance, with seemingly perfect tans accompanying their bikini-clad bodies. This only further perpetuates, once again, the stereotype and conventionality within greek life.

The video underscores a pattern in many sorority recruitment videos that only show parties, as well as little to no diversity. Just last year, the University of Alabama’s Alpha Phi was also criticized, for demonstrating how, according to one writer,  “it’s all so racially and aesthetically homogeneous and forced, so hyper-feminine, so reductive and objectifying.”

These videos disregard the main purpose of a sorority — to empower other women, make lifelong connections and benefit the surrounding community and campus. DG’s video, on the other hand, is laced with an undertone of elitism. This suggests that if potential new members become a part of this “sisterhood,” then they’re a part of this higher tier house meant only for girls on campus who fit this standard mold of perfection in beauty and in body.

Ultimately, yes, these girls are happy and having a lot fun, and there is nothing wrong with that. But when a video like this surfaces — accumulating more than 300,000 views — people might get the wrong idea and question what exactly joining a sorority will mean for them. Because in all honesty, what is this video promoting besides partying, exclusion and sexism?

Many women are watching, including potential new members and even young girls still in grade school. This may lead to assumptions of what a sorority’s intent really is, leading people to perceive greek life as nothing more than one big party meant for only one type of girl.