University of Alabama sorority Alpha Phi has yanked a recruitment video because it was slammed for being too feminine and too white. Vocal critics of the ‘Bama sorority video claim the now viral video is “racially homogeneous and lacks diversity,” and is “hyper-feminine.” The Alpha Phi YouTube video has now been completely erased from the internet.
The Alpha Phi sorority recruitment video was made by women, for women, yet critics feel that the content “damages” the view of women. Journalist A.L. Bailey claimed the sorority video is “doing more damage to women than presidential candidate Donald Trump.” The Alabama sorority is the fourth oldest sorority in the United States.
The Alpha Phi recruitment video features 72 members of the Greek organization attending campus events, dancing while at a party, wearing bikinis at a lake, and basically, doing traditional “girly” things.
“It’s all so racially and aesthetically homogeneous and forced, so hyper-feminine, so reductive and objectifying, so Stepford Wives: College Edition. It’s all so… unempowering,” Bailey wrote in a piece for AL.com . “They’re selling themselves on looks alone, as a commodity. Sadly, commodities don’t tend to command much respect. It’s a parade of white girls and blonde hair dye, coordinated clothing.”
Bailey has been deemed a hypocrite by some because she runs a fashion and lifestyle blog.
An excerpt from the Alpha Phi Alabama sorority website follows.
“Our sisterhood and our love for one another has consistently bound us into an everlasting love and friendship. Alpha Phi prides on our motto, ‘union hand in hand.’ We are a body of strong, motivated, and resilient young women who are tied together as a family and ultimately hold truth to our hearts and values as Alpha Phi’s.”
The Alabama sorority was founded in 1872 and was the first women’s society to use Greek letters in its emblem.
Similar University of Alabama sorority video — sans bikinis.
What do you think about the Alabama Alpha Phi sorority recruitment video?
[Image via: Katherine Welles / Shutterstock ]
