Who ARE Sorority Girls?

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A brunette with ambitious goals, Hannah Hollon isn’t the first example of a sorority girl to come to mind. In fact, she calls sorority girls “Pink and green girls” because of their super animated accents and “sisterhood for life” mentality.  This stereotype of sorority girls is evidenced throughout American culture in movies such as “The House Bunny”, “Sydney White” and “Legally Blonde”. But not all sorority girls are similar to the cliche that Hollywood has set out for them. Hannah Hollon is proof that the stereotype of sorority girls is false; she has ambitious goals, isn’t “pink and green” and doesn’t care about what other people think of her.

In the movie, “Legally Blonde” Elle Woods decides to drop out of her college and sorority in order to chase down her rich boyfriend, Warren who recently dumped her. She studies hard for her LSAT, gets into Harvard Law, all so she can be at the same school as Warren to win him back. Unlike Elle, Hannah has bigger dreams and goals for herself. Because her parents work in the medical field, Hannah grew up in the hospital and has wanted to become a doctor since the 2nd grade. Interested in Math and Science, Hannah plans on going to Medical school in Charleston. However Hannah doesn’t want to major in biology because everyone who is pre-med majors in biology. Instead, she plans to add variety to her medical school application and major in nutrition since it fulfills most of the pre-requisites for medical school. Hannah has also always been a healthy eater and exercises everyday, so she feels that nutrition is a good fit in terms of majors for her. Contrary to Elle’s goals of marrying a rich man, Hannah wants be a doctor and already has defined plans to achieve her goal.

One example of the “Pink and Green” girls would be from the movie “The House Bunny”. In the movie, sorority girls are compared to Playboy “bunnies” in that they are all clones: they look and act the same. “Pink and Green” girls are all similar looking girls with a lot of spirit for their sorority and show it by using letters, wearing pins and dressing like the other girls in their sorority. However, Hannah is not a “Pink and Green” girl. Although Hannah enjoys being in a sorority, she doesn’t flaunt her sorority. She’s a brunette who enjoys camping and the outdoors rather than wearing makeup and partying all the time. Outside of her sorority, Hannah is also in nutrition co-alition, Habitat for Humanity and is taking 17 credit hours. She hates the combination of pink and green, letters and is much more laid back than “Pink and Green” girls tend to be. As evidenced by her personality and hard work, Hannah shows that the “Pink and Green” girl stereotype of sorority girls is a false one.

It seems that Hannah isn’t at all the stereotypical sorority girl, so why did she decide to join one? Coming from out-of state, Hannah didn’t know many people at UNC so she felt that joining a sorority would help her meet people. While visiting UNC, Hannah stayed at a sorority. She liked the girls because they were nice and not what she thought they would be like. The sorority she choose, Pi Nu, shares a lot of the same personality traits such as not being as uptight. Hannah thinks she breaks the stereotype by having a more carefree personality. “I don’t focus on my reputation, and I don’t worry about what other people think of me.” In the movie “Sydney White” Rachel, the President of Kappa Phi Nu Sorority, only cares about whether or not she’s still considered the most attractive girl at her college. As displayed through American culture, it is shown that sorority girl put a lot of time and effort into their appearance and reputation. Hannah however, breaks this stereotype and shows that people can be sorority girls and not have to care so much about how they are perceived by others.

The idea that most people have of sorority girls is that of a group of peppy blond girls who are only friends with each other. Hannah Hollon, a sorority girl at UNC, is proof that not all sorority girls are part of the stereotype since she has ambitious goals, isn’t a “Pink and Green” girl and doesn’t care what other people think of her.