Search - Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities

Despite all its controversy, a fairly interesting insight into the world of sororities, and an even broader commentary on young college women today (coming from a sorority member myself). Part storytelling about a few main characters, part factual commentary on the state of student organizations.

This book was not really what I expected it to be. It had a lot more historical and social discussion than I had anticipated. I thought it would be written more like a memoir of the experience the writer had. It was interesting, but I did occasionally find myself getting bored. It definitely had some shocking stories, and I think was occasionally biased and preachy, but overall was fairly balanced in its representation of sorority life.

I loved this book. It presented sororities and the Greek system in a well rounded and interesting manner. Through interviews with actual members of sororities, Robbins gets a first hand look at the good, bad and ugly sides of sorority life. A fascinating and interesting read.

Am investigative view of sorority life by an author who followed around sisters for one year. I found the book to be unbiased and well written. It's an interesting look from a sociology standpoint, particularly the things girls do for acceptance and following along within the group mentality without even realizing it, even if they know it is wrong or immoral.

I read this book thinking I would get some deep dark insight to sorority life, however there was nothing that suprising at all. I was not in a sorority but was familiar w/ Greek life through friends and my psuedo greek living situation. I struggled to get through the book as I was bored with it.

Robbins goes undercover and writes what she is secretly told, and what she secretly observes, and then uncovers everything bad about sorority, fraternity, and greek-life.

As a sorority girl, I was interested to see what our "truth" really is. As I was reading this, I was furious at the stereotypes she claims to be sorority-wide. But, because of how angry I was, I couldn't stop reading!

A must read for sorority girls!

Interesting book to read, and I'm sure some chapters really are like her examples.. but read with an open mind!

Not at all what Greek life was to me. But I'm "old" so maybe life was milder back in the day. Who knows? It was a fun read; enjoyed it a lot.

If you are watching Greek on ABC Family now, you might enjoy this. I sought out this book because I read an excerpt in a magazine, and I loved it. I found it enthralling about how she went undercover to really let us know what it was like. Now, if we could only get the story behind fraternities...

An above-average read.

Don't let this fool you - this isn't a tale of everywoman's sorority experience. It's the tale of FOUR women Robbins followed over the course of a year. Binge drinking, drug use, cattiness, eating disorders - yes,while those things happen in sororities, they are not isolated to sorority women. Trust me - I saw plenty of that in my (all women) dorm.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a sorority woman. I could relate to some of the events in the book, but much of it was foreign to me. My chapter didn't have a house; however, one year I lived with some of my sisters in an off-campus apartment. I believe we would have faced many of the issues we did regardless of whether or not we were sorority sisters.

One bit that I did find interesting was Robbins' comparison of the traditionally white sororities versus the traditionally black sororities. I've often questioned why many women I meet who were intitiated into NPC groups don't consider themselves a sister after their college years; those who pledge an NPHC group are sisters for life. While the NPC groups do have national philanthropies (for which many of their events are fundraisers), the NPHC groups focus on community service. Perhaps there's a lesson to be learned from the NPHC groups.

Twenty-some years after my initiation, I am still active in an alumnae chapter. I have lived across the USA and have belonged to many different alumnae chapters. Wherever I've gone, I've found me an instant family -- and like a biological family, I've had sisters who I didn't particularly care for. However, my current alumnae chapter has provided me with great friends who I can count on in good times and bad. I'm definitely proud to be a sorority woman -- and believe that it's for a lifetime. While my collegiate experience was an overall positive one, it's the alumnae experience that has taught me the value of sisterhood.

The book is hysterical and focuses entirely on large state schools, where Greek oversight is sorely lacking. Are there sororities like this? Of course. But Robbins does a great disservice by not seeking out a newly formed chapter or a chapter on a campus not overrun by Greek life, where it's a non-residential organization.

There are interesting facts within it, of course, and Robbins does capture some very accurate factors, but the women she chooses are women who go directly against their chapters' bylaws to share their view of their org: it's a little biased.

I read it before I joined a sorority, and I found it unrealistic at the time (I go to a small college where Greek life is really limited, so the descriptions of keggers was totally unrealistic on my campus). I chose to join, and I have to say: it's accurate of large schools and large chapters, sometimes. It's rarely accurate to chapters of 50 or less, at least that I've seen, though I'm sure there are exceptions.

I really enjoyed this in-depth look at sororities. I go to a greek-heavy school and I was impressed at how deep Robbins was able to go into the workings of the sororities. This was eye-opening and even-handed.

In this expose into sorority life, Robbins went undercover as an undergraduate to rush, and ultimately join, a sorority. What she found was disturbing, to say the least. She experienced an alcohol soaked, catfight-intensive life, in which young women constantly competed with one another for male attention. What is more surprising, though, is that so many of the young women in sororities seemed to be miserable. Clearly, Robbins is very, very critical of the sororities she followed in this book. That said, she's much less critical of the individual sisters. Indeed, she stresses the promising future and intelligence these women have apart from their sororities. In completing her study, Robbins surveyed both traditionally white and traditionally African-American sororities. She concludes that historically black sororities have stayed far closer to the sororities' purported missions of sisterhood, philanthropy, and scholarship than have majority-white sororities. Still, she finds problems and racism in both. Overall, Pledged was a fascinating read that seemed to accomplish its goal of sympathizing with sorority sisters, while excoriating the larger organizations. Robbins ends her work with some suggestions for improving sorority life, such as delaying rush until after the freshman year so that students can experience more of college life before they decide if they want to join the Greek system. Whether these would change much, I'm not so sure, but I found this book interesting, and was especially taken with the stories of the four young women Robbins followed over the course of a year.

Incredible read. A.R. goes undercover in university to see the
"secret life" of these students. Awesome discoveries.

Not bad...interesting for a behind-the-scenes viewpoint.

An interesting account of life inside sororities.

Should be read with a grain of salt - not all sororities are like this!

Excellent inside story of sorority life.

Interesting behind-the-scenes look at modern sorority life. Times sure have changed since I was in a sorority!

An amusing read.

I used to think sororities were stupid. I still kind of do, but this book gave me a really good understanding of the girls who are in sororities and help define the issues.