The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
56°F
Current Conditions
Overcast clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

The Vox Box

  1. Blogs
  2. The Vox Box
  3. One woman's sorority experience: She "swore off sisterhood"

One woman’s sorority experience: She “swore off sisterhood”

I stumbled across what I felt was one of the best pieces of personal writing I've seen in awhile in the NYT the other day.

"My life’s greatest sorrow stems from my inability to feel close to other women," wrote Kelly Valen. Full article...

She goes on to write about her distrust of women, especially "women in packs" and how it all stemmed from an experience with her sororiety sisters at a dance in college.

"After the usual alcoholic overindulgence, I followed him upstairs, where I soon passed out on his sofa. There, I assumed the starring role in a garden-variety “ledge party,” my deflowering on display for anyone desiring a peek.

Ledge parties, for those of you who didn’t attend party-school universities, featured fraternity boys luring their unsuspecting companions to a lair of choice, where they engineered some semblance of sex for the viewing enjoyment of their voyeuristic brethren, who watched from the window’s ledge. Unlike typical fraternity houses, these were contemporary buildings with plate glass windows and wide ledges that formed perfect viewing platforms.

I suspect mine was one of the duller productions, but, alas, I remember none of it. I learned later that some sympathetic brothers had objected to the spectacle and pulled me from the wreckage, which, to me, was remarkable."

The girls shunned her. Even though what happened to this woman was nothing short of rape--and the young man who took advantage of her while she was unconscious was blackballed and dropped from the university--her sisters treated her like a tramp, gossiped about her, and eventually kicked her out of the house.

The author is frank in her responsibility about getting drunk and losing control, but says the "more searing lesson would be about women."

It's an excellent piece. I highly recommend everyone, especially those leaving for college, read it.

2 questions...

ONE: Girls, do you ever make sure you are in a group when out to watch each other's backs in this sort of situation?

TWO: How do you feel about the author's view on "sisterhood." Do women really often treat each other the way she describes?

In 2006, then-editor Steve Smith of The Spokesman-Review had the idea of starting a publication for an often forgotten audience: teenagers. The Vox Box was a continuation of the Vox, an all-student staffed newspaper published by The Spokesman-Review. High school student journalists who staffed the Vox made all content decisions as they learn about the trade of journalism. This blog's mission was to give students an opportunity to publish their voices. The Vox Box and the Vox wrapped up in June 2009, but you can follow former staffers' new blog at http://voxxiez.blogspot.com.