Hey!
It's been a little while. However, I have much to report! I came back from the PASSHE Women's Conference at California University of Pennsylvania. I have to say that it was probably more for an older crowd of people, there were students there but the panels really didn't relate to anything our age group is going through. The hotel was BANGIN. The literally melted in the bed, the comforter, and the pillows.
It was a 3 hour drive to the University with another girl I had never met before. Turns out that she's pretty awesome though. She got a blister on her foot in the first hour of the conference and didn't wear shoes for the rest of it haha. We got along really well so it wasn't awkward hanging out with her for two days and two long car trips.
My favorite panel was the one about women representation in the media. They mostly talked about how female politicians are portrayed in the media. For example, did you know that Elena Kagan was harassed endlessly by the media over her sexuality. The cabinet told the media that she was not a lesbian, but did nothing to say that "Even if she was, what does it matter?" All because she didn't have a date to a wedding and had the stereotypical look of a lesbian. The other girl who I was with, who happens to be a lesbian, said "Funny, she doesn't look anything like me." That made me laugh because it's so true. Elena Kagan is the kind of woman that we've all seen before; over 50, short hair, stout body shape. True, she's not going to be a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader any time soon but she is a regular looking person. How many women can you count on your fingers and toes that look like this? Half of my female college professors have this same figure! And even if she was a lesbian, so what? Even if she was straight, so what? Why is her sexual preference front page news over her foreign policy preference? She's on the cabinet for goodness sake. Anyway, that's my rant about that.
My professor verbally accosted the hotel people because they lost her credit card information. They almost wouldn't let us leave the hotel because they knew that we had no way of paying. We were told that the university was paying for it, but they didn't have the card information so they thought we lied. I didn't hear the whole conversation but I did tune in for "It's actually very disturbing that you lost something as precious as credit card numbers in a hotel, I'm questioning your job abilities!" I think we ended up getting a discount on the hotel room :P
There was also a TON of free food! I ended up eating more than I probably should have because it was free. The first day I was so hungry that I ungracefully got up from the conference table in mid sentence of the chairperson announcing lunch. My female counterparts told me that it was the least subtle thing they had ever seen lol.
All in all, I had a great time! There were two awesome key note speakers at the conference. The first one was named Ellen Bravo, and she talked mainly about how the word feminism scares people away and men take the word the wrong way. She talked about how to incorporate equality in the home, especially in front of children. The other key note speaker named Ayana, talked about how women never negotiate because it's in our nature to accept whatever happens to us. The majority of women believe that if we "work hard and have good work skills" that we will be rewarded eventually by our employers, whereas men will ask for a raise without fear and without waiting for anybody else to say 'go'. Interesting topics, very great speakers.
My next topic is that of Greek life. Up until last week I was against the whole system. I was literally talking about how people are paying for friendships when they join greek life. Like, last tuesday I was complaining about it. Even on the car ride to the conference I was talking about my hate for all things greek. My older sister Jenna was very involved in Tri Sigma. Without it, she would have never made friends at school and never have been involved in anything. So when Tri Sigma had it's table set outside one of the class buildings.... I checked it out.
BIG MISTAKE because I might become a hypocrite. I went to one of their rush events and I was very impressed. The girl who talked to me was so so so nice and I ended up really liking the group a lot. They remembered me coming up to them and said how glad they were that I ended up deciding to come. I told them that I was on the fence about it because I'm a junior and I didn't know if it was me.
The reason I think I want to pledge tri sigma is because once I told my older sister that I was thinking of going to their rush event tonight she. went. balistic. She texted me super long texts, and then called and talked to me for a half hour. She told me what to say and wear and ask. She was so excited that now I feel like I can't back out. I like getting this attention from my sister. Then I actually went to one of their events and they were really awesome... so I don't know. I'm going to become a hypocrite if I join. And what do I have to gain from a sorority? I have a boyfriend and a best friend, do I really need anything else? What could it hurt? I've never really understood sororities, but they seem to have so much fun! It's like instant coffee, except instead of coffee grains it's a semester and instant friends! I've always loved community service and they're big into community service. Would I have the time? I'm not sure with my job being five days a week. And omg, my boyfriend would make fun of me so much. I'm going to ask my mom about it, and talk to Joe about it, and list the pros and cons. Since I'm not cheering anymore, it might be nice to be apart of something, something that doesn't make me feel like I'm not wanted. Cheering never got any better and I never made any good friends. I guess I don't miss the sport so much as the community and Lock Haven cheer never gave me that feeling anyway.... So I have a lot to think about. I want to, but I don't want to do it for the wrong reasons. I think it would be different if I really had nothing going on. A sorority would have been so great for me my freshman year when I had no friends or boyfriend or job... but now I don't know if I'm already fulfilled. And putting those pictures up all the time on facebook! And the corny status' about loving your sisters. But at the same time, so many people are in sororities and fraternities (including the co-ed honors fraternities) that it's almost strange to not be in one.
I'm very confused. As you can tell by my rambling that I'm on the fence about it. Please, if you're out there, let me know what you think.
-Lou
