When I participated in Sigma Chi's Derby Days Lip Sync sophomore year, the venue was Shooters and the atmosphere felt more like a strip club than a friendly dance competition.
Girls were obliterated, scantily clad (not one of my proudest moments) and the place was a packed, jumbled mess of sweaty, gyrating people-all waiting for a glimpse of something scandalous.
Lip sync was also mired in controversy. Chronicle columnists wrote that "sorostitutes" were selling their dignity in exchange for frat boy attention. Older sorority women told stories about lip sync dances of old, including a necessary dose of shock value: "Oh my gosh, last year sorority 'X' stripped down to their panties and licked whipped cream off each other."
Friends argued over the value of lip sync. Sororities valued their participation because it was a chance for pledge-class bonding, but outsiders clearly saw objectification. Sorority women bared some skin, people paid to see it (all in the name of "charity") and men judged.
Yet, this year's lip sync brought change. The dark, "what happens here, stays here" Shooters abyss was replaced with broad daylight and the plaza steps. Participants were fully clothed. There were no wet T-shirt contests, no extreme grinding and, thankfully, no whipped cream.
In fact, taking off clothes was a prerequisite for winning in the past. This year the winners won because their dance exhibited talent and practice.
The Duke status quo seemed to change overnight. What happened?
Panhellenic Association President Kate Guthrie said it began with a unanimous decision. Guthrie and the 10 sorority presidents, increasingly under administrative and national pressure to end their lip sync involvement, reached a compromise. Lip sync could stay, but Shooters had to go. Sigma Chi met their demands and scrapped performances at Shooters-a change from last year, when the final three sororities still performed there.
Of course, this decision brought benefits for Panhel and costs for Sigma Chi. Sororities are trying to increase their campus power and secure physical space on campus. Lip sync Shooters-style undermines this power. A flagrant display of excessive behavior, the old lip sync created an unfavorable Lindsay Lohan-esque sorority image.
Conversely, Derby Days is Sigma Chi's premier event. When Shooters sells out (due to lip sync), the fraternity raises more money for its charity, the Duke Children's Hospital. In an e-mail, Sigma Chi lip sync chair Chris Concannon noted that the fraternity was indifferent to the location choice, but attendance at Shooters did decrease this year.
These conflicting interests remained at bay until the fraternity began to contemplate rain locations last minute. They had not secured a rain location, other venues were booked, and so the fraternity e-mailed Guthrie to tell her that the rain location would be Shooters.
The response from Panhel-absolutely not.
Sigma Chi members, under the impression that Shooters was what a lot of the sorority participants really wanted, talked with some participants about a Shooters performance and even went so far as e-mailing the individual sorority presidents to once again raise the Shooters option. Despite these efforts, the sorority leaders stuck together and remained true to their original decision. The result: a less objectifying and more respectful experience for their younger members.
This story is important because it demonstrates unification, the first step toward attaining power. Although the 10 presidents represent 10 distinct sororities with sometimes divergent agendas, they came together. They demonstrated that sorority women can change the way fraternities treat them if they demand better treatment.
But, with this in mind, several issues remain unresolved. Some argue for further reform, citing that lip sync remains inequitable so long as the women are dancing and the men are judging (note: Sigma Chi participated this year with its own dance). Also, next semester's fraternity rush brings a slew of more objectifying events-events where sorority women staff rooms, serve shots and give lap dances. It is my hope that sorority presidents and Panhel will exercise the same leadership when they encounter these events in the Spring.
Even so, right now I am excited to be writing a column that labels sorority women not as "sorostitutes" but rather as leaders who finally stood up and changed a Duke tradition for the better. Together upperclass women moved one tiny step closer to making the Duke sorority experience something of value. Let's hope there are larger steps to come.
Rachel McLaughlin is a Trinity senior. Her column runs every other Wednesday.
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