http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/head...23269.html
AUSTIN — They were pinching, itching and inching up her thighs. From the waist down, the 20-year-old college student was trapped, stuffed and squeezed into the wrong pair of Spanx (a control-top-looking contraption, designed for body slimming and shaping the tummy and thighs).
She had unwittingly grabbed her roommate's small, rather than her own medium.
But it was too late to turn back. Instead, the student, who goes by K.T., was being told to turn around. One of the older girls shouted, "Everyone, hands up. Turn around. It's your 'Spanx' check." A few giggles later, the entire line of ladies turned in tandem. There was no joking around; the only thing squeezing out of K.T.'s Spanx-situation was the skin at her waistline.
Ouch!
It's sorority rush at the University of Texas. K.T. and the others (in one of the well-known, nationally recognized, Greek-based sorority houses on campus) are lined up for their daily "inspection." The inspectors are dubbed "the Fashion Board," or "FB," a cadre of code-stickling sorority "sisters" described by another member of the sorority as "a group of girls who sit in a room nitpicking everyone's dresses, heels, makeup, jewelry and Spanx every day before
rush."
Apparently, the board is there to make sure every eye is dotted with a "glowing and clean layer of eye makeup" and every "tee" is crossed with the correct Greek letter. Oh, and yes, the Fashion Board also sees fit that every sorority sister sports her Spanx in just the right fit. A fashion faux pas can cost the nonconformist a fine of as much as $1,400 during
rush.
This is why, on this particular day, the size of K.T.'s Spanx will not adversely affect the size of her smile as she greets potential pledge sisters.
It seems sorority rush is looking a lot like single life these days. One girl's Fashion Board is another woman's foreboding foreshadowing of sorts.
Questions abound: Do we dress for our date or for the discriminating due diligence of our date's female friends? Do we conform to designer brands and trends or rock our own label? Should we embrace or reject the delicious deception of body slimmers and Wonderbras, Botox and boob jobs?
In both dating life and Greek life, all of this primping and preening is performed in hope of not getting fined by our own sex, while looking to find the perfect match from the opposite one.
The sorority-to-single-life similarities don't stop there. Our pledge describes how the more than 700 PNMs (potential new members) rushing at UT are sifted through for the first round of "cuts."
"It's pictures first," she says. "We look at the pictures they send us. If they are beautiful, we keep them. If not, we toss 'em." Suddenly, K.T. sounds like one of the 20-something bad-boy bachelors from Swingers. As the boys in the movie say, "It's all about the beautiful babies."
Clearly, it isn't any surprise that in the dating trenches and sorority life alike, women trade on their looks. But what comes next is a bit of a shock.
To some women, a man looks more attractive, taller and suddenly more desirable when he is standing on his wallet.
Apparently, so does a wealthy potential sorority sister. The Greek system has found a way to combine the worst dating discriminators from men (a woman's looks) and women (a man's money). Our pledge explains, "After we look at the girls' pictures, the second round of elimination starts with a ZIP code search." These "ZIP code cuts," as they are called, are further described by K.T.
"We look at lists from tax returns to determine which are the wealthiest ZIP codes to live in around the country," she says, then continues. "We will then look at the potential pledges' addresses to determine who comes from the right ZIP codes and who are from the wrong ones."
Wow! Just like the CW television show says,
being from the "9-0" (the 90210 ZIP code of Beverly Hills) will get you places and apparently spaces (in the sorority lineup).
Dating and rushing continue to run rife with similarities when it comes to the numbers game.
When picking a woman to date, a lot of men may say they want a "perfect 10." But if pushed, most will admit, their dating range is more like a 6 or 7. However, in the sorority rush-ranking system a 6 or 7 won't even get you a first date!
The system is described by K.T.: "After looking at pictures and ZIP codes, we rank girls with numbers from 1 to 10. Sixes and 7s are cut the first day. Then we look at the 8s and 9s."
These girls are allegedly then given the golden stamp of sisterhood approval. They are typically called the "RTPs" (rush to pledge), and the "legacies" (girls who have family members who were in the same sorority).
Finally, just as the sororities do, men have their own caveman terminology when it comes to the dating ranks. Terms such as "cougars" (single women between the ages of 35 and 45 on the prowl); "CITs" (cougars in training, single women between the ages of 27 and 35); and "silverbacks" (single women over 50) circulate among the bachelor-laden bar scene.
But yet again, the sorority sisterhood has trumped even the caveman when it comes to code.
"Girls can be classified and cut as GIs, GEs and QRs," says K.T. She explains that GIs are deemed as having "group incompatibility," GEs are "going elsewhere" and QRs are "girls with questionable reputations."
After finishing her download on all of the other abominable judgments, labels and qualifiers sororities may make to find the "perfect pledges," K.T. smiles a Cheshire-like grin.
"Everyone ends up fitting in where they are supposed to fit," she says.
Her grin is perfectly befitting of a girl in ill-fitting spandex. Her Spanx-bound thighs sit screaming for freedom, while her "sisters" sit scheming for exile. Both are desperately trying to fit in.
It seems that whether in the dating trenches or on the sorority rush benches, labels, judgments and Spanx may be holding us in, but in reality they are truly just holding us back.
Letting it all hang out is the only way to really fit in.
_____________________________________
My brethren, always remember to use this to your advantage.
AUSTIN — They were pinching, itching and inching up her thighs. From the waist down, the 20-year-old college student was trapped, stuffed and squeezed into the wrong pair of Spanx (a control-top-looking contraption, designed for body slimming and shaping the tummy and thighs).
She had unwittingly grabbed her roommate's small, rather than her own medium.
But it was too late to turn back. Instead, the student, who goes by K.T., was being told to turn around. One of the older girls shouted, "Everyone, hands up. Turn around. It's your 'Spanx' check." A few giggles later, the entire line of ladies turned in tandem. There was no joking around; the only thing squeezing out of K.T.'s Spanx-situation was the skin at her waistline.
Ouch!
It's sorority rush at the University of Texas. K.T. and the others (in one of the well-known, nationally recognized, Greek-based sorority houses on campus) are lined up for their daily "inspection." The inspectors are dubbed "the Fashion Board," or "FB," a cadre of code-stickling sorority "sisters" described by another member of the sorority as "a group of girls who sit in a room nitpicking everyone's dresses, heels, makeup, jewelry and Spanx every day before
rush."
Apparently, the board is there to make sure every eye is dotted with a "glowing and clean layer of eye makeup" and every "tee" is crossed with the correct Greek letter. Oh, and yes, the Fashion Board also sees fit that every sorority sister sports her Spanx in just the right fit. A fashion faux pas can cost the nonconformist a fine of as much as $1,400 during
rush.
This is why, on this particular day, the size of K.T.'s Spanx will not adversely affect the size of her smile as she greets potential pledge sisters.
It seems sorority rush is looking a lot like single life these days. One girl's Fashion Board is another woman's foreboding foreshadowing of sorts.
Questions abound: Do we dress for our date or for the discriminating due diligence of our date's female friends? Do we conform to designer brands and trends or rock our own label? Should we embrace or reject the delicious deception of body slimmers and Wonderbras, Botox and boob jobs?
In both dating life and Greek life, all of this primping and preening is performed in hope of not getting fined by our own sex, while looking to find the perfect match from the opposite one.
The sorority-to-single-life similarities don't stop there. Our pledge describes how the more than 700 PNMs (potential new members) rushing at UT are sifted through for the first round of "cuts."
"It's pictures first," she says. "We look at the pictures they send us. If they are beautiful, we keep them. If not, we toss 'em." Suddenly, K.T. sounds like one of the 20-something bad-boy bachelors from Swingers. As the boys in the movie say, "It's all about the beautiful babies."
Clearly, it isn't any surprise that in the dating trenches and sorority life alike, women trade on their looks. But what comes next is a bit of a shock.
To some women, a man looks more attractive, taller and suddenly more desirable when he is standing on his wallet.
Apparently, so does a wealthy potential sorority sister. The Greek system has found a way to combine the worst dating discriminators from men (a woman's looks) and women (a man's money). Our pledge explains, "After we look at the girls' pictures, the second round of elimination starts with a ZIP code search." These "ZIP code cuts," as they are called, are further described by K.T.
"We look at lists from tax returns to determine which are the wealthiest ZIP codes to live in around the country," she says, then continues. "We will then look at the potential pledges' addresses to determine who comes from the right ZIP codes and who are from the wrong ones."
Wow! Just like the CW television show says,
being from the "9-0" (the 90210 ZIP code of Beverly Hills) will get you places and apparently spaces (in the sorority lineup).
Dating and rushing continue to run rife with similarities when it comes to the numbers game.
When picking a woman to date, a lot of men may say they want a "perfect 10." But if pushed, most will admit, their dating range is more like a 6 or 7. However, in the sorority rush-ranking system a 6 or 7 won't even get you a first date!
The system is described by K.T.: "After looking at pictures and ZIP codes, we rank girls with numbers from 1 to 10. Sixes and 7s are cut the first day. Then we look at the 8s and 9s."
These girls are allegedly then given the golden stamp of sisterhood approval. They are typically called the "RTPs" (rush to pledge), and the "legacies" (girls who have family members who were in the same sorority).
Finally, just as the sororities do, men have their own caveman terminology when it comes to the dating ranks. Terms such as "cougars" (single women between the ages of 35 and 45 on the prowl); "CITs" (cougars in training, single women between the ages of 27 and 35); and "silverbacks" (single women over 50) circulate among the bachelor-laden bar scene.
But yet again, the sorority sisterhood has trumped even the caveman when it comes to code.
"Girls can be classified and cut as GIs, GEs and QRs," says K.T. She explains that GIs are deemed as having "group incompatibility," GEs are "going elsewhere" and QRs are "girls with questionable reputations."
After finishing her download on all of the other abominable judgments, labels and qualifiers sororities may make to find the "perfect pledges," K.T. smiles a Cheshire-like grin.
"Everyone ends up fitting in where they are supposed to fit," she says.
Her grin is perfectly befitting of a girl in ill-fitting spandex. Her Spanx-bound thighs sit screaming for freedom, while her "sisters" sit scheming for exile. Both are desperately trying to fit in.
It seems that whether in the dating trenches or on the sorority rush benches, labels, judgments and Spanx may be holding us in, but in reality they are truly just holding us back.
Letting it all hang out is the only way to really fit in.
_____________________________________
My brethren, always remember to use this to your advantage.
