Sisterhood in communication: assessing feminist ideals in modern-day sororities through interpersonal communication

Abstract

Greek life is commonplace on college campuses in America, and many women choose to join sororities each year. Understanding whether or not sororities are instilling feminist ideals into their members will help identify if these organizations have women’s best interests in mind, or if they are perpetuating patriarchal ideals from their beginnings in the 19th century. This study is comprised of data collected through qualitative and quantitative questions in an online survey distributed to members of sororities at an East Coast university to find commonalities among the experiences of participants. This study also included a thematic analysis over the course of ten weeks that analyzed Instagram posts from each sorority at the same university to understand how the ideals members view interpersonally differ from the image the organizations exude on social media. The results identified that there is limited use of feminist ideals and language in interpersonal communication within sororities.