[9613] in APO-L
Re: female Brothers
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Ellen d Kranzer)
Tue Oct 4 01:33:53 1994
Date: Tue, 4 Oct 1994 01:32:21 -0400
Reply-To: Ellen d Kranzer <ccrazy@WORLD.STD.COM>
From: Ellen d Kranzer <ccrazy@WORLD.STD.COM>
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L <APO-L%PURCCVM.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>
Cammy L. Burns writes:
>WHY females are refered to as brothers?
>
>Why am I still puzzled? 1. The fraternal term "Brother" is not unique to
> Alpha Phi Omega.
>
> 2. I know that it is not presently because chapters
> are trying to hide the fact that females are members.
> Is this a pre-'76 carry-over?
This is how it was explained to me by several of the women who were
involved in the efforts at the 1972, 1974, & 1976 conventions to get
APO to admit women as full members.
1) They wanted to use a single term to refer to all members of the
fraternity, men and women, in order to emphasize their common interest
in the goals and ideals of Alpha Phi Omega rather than the difference
between the sexes. Brother was the obvious choice as it was already
the term being used.
2) Being a 'sister' of a fraternity had an *extremely* negative
connotation at the time. Basically 'sister' equates to 'little
sister' equates to 'sex toy'. On many campus, this stereotype still
exists, but I don't think it is nearly as strong now as it was in the
mid-seventies. Using the term 'sister' at the time would have sent a
message that was the exact opposite of 'full & equal member'.
> 3. What are the connotations in APO associated with
> the term "Sister"?
There are some chapters, mostly on the west coast, that use the term
'sisters' when speaking about their female members. Some of the
all-male chapters use the term 'sister' to refer to women who are
'friends of the chapter and involved in some chapter activities' or
women who dating brothers or similar things.
I hope this helps.
Y.I.S.
c.c.
Alumnus, AX
ekranzer@harvard.edu or ccrazy@world.std.com
