Members of Ohio University's Delta Gamma sorority are tackling negative stereotypes with a powerful photo series.
The women of Ohio University’s Delta Gamma chapter are tired of being stereotyped as lazy, egotistical party maniacs.
Instead, they want to be known as a hard-working group of women.
Kaitlin Hatton and Elizabeth Harris, members of the sorority, came up with an idea last semester to both empower their members and get their message out to others.
In order to do that, Hatton, a junior studying commercial photography, took photos of some of the sorority sisters and overlaid the images with a written phrase aimed at defying a stereotype.
The series of 24 photographs, which was posted to Facebook on Tuesday afternoon, has received more than 1,800 likes and has been shared more than 2,600 times as of press time.
“I just got the idea because I know that our chapter has unique and diverse individuals that hold so many qualities and characteristics that defy the stereotypes that are associated with sorority women,” Harris, a senior studying strategic communication and political science, said.
Harris said she was also inspired after seeing similar projects done at other schools, such as the Alpha Phi sorority at Baldwin Wallace University, who did their own photo series last year.
Hatton said sorority girls, including herself, face stereotypes on an almost daily basis.
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“A lot of the more common ones (stereotypes) that I had heard about before doing Greek life were that sorority girls were focused on the wrong things, that they paid for their friends and that they weren’t very smart,” Hatton said.
Other false portrayals include the assumption that sororities only party and that members aren’t smart or studious, she said.
“There’s a very obvious negative portrayal about partying and that’s not the case at all,” Hatton said. “A lot of that is what inspired this. Because we just hear these stereotypes all the time and we know that they aren't true, we really wanted the public to be able to know that as well.”
OU’s Sorority and Fraternity Life Office works to promote Greek organizations by helping to plan and promote events.
“We do our best to provide our undergraduate members with the skills and tools throughout the academic year that they need to be successful and to understand their values as an organization so that they are able to promote a positive image,” Kristen Kardas, assistant director for Sorority and Fraternity Life, said in an email.
Since posting the photo series, Hatton said she has received support from both Greek and non-Greek organizations at OU and across the country, as well as many Delta Gamma alumni.
“It’s kind of nice to see that it’s leaving a message and it’s reaching people who may have had those stereotypes carved in their head,” Harris said. “I’m very humbled by the positive effect that this is making at the Greek life community nationwide.”
— Bailey Gallion contributed to this report.
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