Why the rush?

As sorority recruitment begins, various members of Northwestern's Greek scene have been getting their panties in knots over this video by an NU student filmmaker.

The most controversial part of the documentary seems to be when the anonymous rush chair explains how the sorority unanimously and without discussion eliminates unattractive girls. It's harsh, and maybe if I cared more for being attractive it would hurt me. It's no secret that looks matter. What surprises me is how people on campus complain that sororitities exist in a separate moral universe. Scientific research demonstrates that more attractive people get lighter court sentences and better job opportunities, and many other vague benefits economists would group under "the happiness index." And this is in the so-called real world.

The truth is that we live in an era where a woman's beauty isn't just a commodity for men to exploit (as some might suggest). Young people, especially, associate good looks with success. Think of the women who regularly make the news. Even on legitimate news channels, movie stars and pop singers appear almost as regularly as Condi and Katie. Beauty = wealth. Wealth = status, therefore, beauty = status.

It's an equality older than time. It exists in the Bible, witness Old Testament descriptions of Tamar and Esther, among others. The only card that trumps beauty is real wealth. If you're born filthy rich, the standards might not touch you. But as we've discovered, rich people have the resources to make themselves physically attractive. And they do. The dynamic doesn't change.

The fact is, sororities screen for the same qualities the rest of us do. The differences might be more stark because the screening process is more obvious. Let's put the infamous Average Joe in the same artificial position recruitment creates. Let's say Average Joe is holding auditions for some new friends. Two girls apply. They both seem kind of interesting, but neither sticks out in his mind. Now, he has to give these girls a number score based on how much he liked them, and the girl with the higher number will become his friend. Like I said, he liked them the same. In fact, the only difference between these two girls is that one is quite pretty, while the other is strictly average. I bet money that Average Joe will, whether consciously or not, give the pretty girl a higher score. Even if Average Joe is gay, and doesn't want to get with either of them.

The fact is, recruitment brings out the worst -or at least, the most animal and unfortunate - in all of us. That's why the video makes people uncomfortable, whether or not they're sorority members. We watch it and think, "we created this. This is us."

So can we blame sorority women for adopting a standard that, albeit ridiculous and no longer nearly as relevant, for many centuries determined all women's fate? Of course we can blame them. College campuses are supposed to sponsor progress. The fact that certain women's organizations are living in the past is lamentable, but let's not pretend that it's unique.