The Cost of Sisterhood

I detest the idea of buying friends. Thankfully, we aren’t at the stage where people are putting their paychecks into some dystopian rent-a-friend machine. But, we are getting pretty close. Many private schools in Singapore have already fallen victim to this. Expensive tuition, designer bags, and private tutoring are only a few of the ways that high barriers to entry artificially create two groups: those who can afford it and those who can’t. 

That's why I struggle to see the appeal of sororities. I can see the benefits that sororities bring, being a space where women in college can find their 4lifers and bridesmaids. My issue, however, lies in their colossal cost, creating the same ingroups and outgroups that Goyard bags at the lunch table do. The communities that these sororities "offer" end up looking more like pay-to-play member-only clubs than actual sisterhoods.  

Still, I can acknowledge that not all sororities are uber-expensive. The cost of participating in Greek life ranges massively between colleges across the United States. For certain chapters, like those in the Northeast and Northwest, it's generally cheaper to live in chapter houses than both on and off campus.

However, for the majority of schools, especially where Greek life is prominent, the fixed costs of joining a sorority supersede general college costs. Big Southeastern Conference (SEC) sororities, for example, would put a dent in anyone's pockets. For some sororities at The University of Alabama, the cost of living in chapter houses comes close to double of the typical cost of room and board. Women are spending thousands of extra dollars per semester, and for what? A cozier bed, maybe bigger windows, and a few free lunches here and there. But it's all trivial to what that money is actually buying: a place in the community.     

The upfront cost doesn't even account for all of the one-off payments that come with sisterhood. $20 for sorority t-shirts. Another $50 for a cute tumbler. Shill out another $15 for a coaster, which matches the tumbler of course. All the "small" expenses of joining a sorority add up quickly. In a few years, these objects of ultimate sisterhood become little more than unfashionable memorabilia.

I wish the expenses ended there. Christine DiGangi writes on a Yahoo blog post about the immense pressure to purchase her way into conformity. Luxury brands like “Tory Burch, Longchamp, Vineyard Vines, [and] Lilly Pulitzer” were among the most popular brands that all the sisters had to shop at. This post was written in 2015, about DiGani’s experience in 2008. The rise of social media and the culture of consumerism has expedited the phenomenon massively. All of a sudden there are rush fitchecks that price in the tens of thousands of dollars—all just to show they’re a “great fit” for Kappa Kappa Gamma. 

There are now influencers now market themselves on giving future sisters the best sorority tips to stand out during rush and chapter. Their advice? Skip the “affordable” brands like Edikted and Brandy Melville—wearing those are sure to get you dropped. Instead, shop at Guizo, Fait Par Foutch, and a ton of other boutiques where a single shirt will run you upwards of 100 USD. Heaven forbid you buy a piece of clothing without the original tag attached. 

I simply cannot get my head around the extreme costs of sororities. Fine, maybe I can understand chapter fees, but all the extras are insane. I’m lucky enough to be insulated from the costs of rushing. I’m just not sure if I want to. It would be an easy way to make friends, but really I’d just be buying them. I don’t want to be part of a sisterhood that you have to pay your way into, nor do I want to perpetuate the inherently classist system that Greek Life is.