A couple of days ago one of my good friends asked me my thoughts on Sorority Sisters. Not knowing he was talking about the VH1 reality TV show, which has drawn tremendous controversy as of late, I said I thought they were OK.
Baffled by his question, I Googled the term (as I often do whenever I get asked anything I'm unsure of) and found out all about the show, which chronicles the lives of several women from different sororities and is set in the Atlanta area. The big piece of business about the show - it's being hammered by critics while advertisers have been pulling away from the show left and right. You can click here for an article that goes into it in more detail.
Now before I take another step, I want to give a huge disclaimer - I did not pledge or even try to pledge Greek when I was in school (all those years ago). It just wasn't me. So what I'm about to say (write) might come as a huge shocker - but I don't understand why there is so much backlash about this particular show.
To me, it's no different from Love and Hip Hop Atlanta, or Real Housewives of Atlanta - two shows that are controversial in their own right and often show African American women in a negative light. If advertisers feel so strongly that Sorority Sisters is so negative and feel compelled to pull their ads, why don't they pull their ads for Love and Hip Hop Atlanta or Real Housewives of Atlanta, where there have been several incidents of onscreen violence. I have not seen any fighting on Sorority Sisters, but just a tremendous deal of cattiness.
Is it negative - yeah, it is. I would not want my daughter to behave like this when she gets older. I'm not going to argue on that point and say that this isn't offensive. But if people want this show cancelled and if advertisers want to continue to drop their support, how about doing it for the other shows that are negative toward African American men and women as well. If not, then all this backlash comes off as being highly hypocritical.
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