Differences Between Fraternity And Sorority

Fraternity vs Sorority

These days, when you hear the term ‘fraternity’, something negative comes to mind. To others, when terms like ‘sorority’ or ‘fraternity’ comes to mind, it would mean colleges, universities, and having certain grouping, alliance, even having a special group. In this article, we will be talking about fraternities and sororities, and how one is different from the other.

Let’s start by defining both terms.

Fraternity

A fraternity comes from a Latin word ‘fraternus’, which means brother. It is a group of men who are bound together because of a specific reason. It could be because of friendship. It could be of brotherhood believing in and following a common goal or aspiration. Some groups are formed because of something that is common among the group or its members. Because of the group, and the number that it comes up with, the organization becomes stronger. In time, the number increases as they share their beliefs to others and try to entice them into joining the group or organization.

Sorority

A sorority comes from the Latin word ‘soror’, which means sister. It is exactly the same as fraternities, in such a way that the members who belong to the same organization are all females and they are united with the same beliefs, values, friendship, goals, and aspirations.
Although these social organizations have brought both positive and negative reactions to the people in our current societies, more individuals who have gone through college and attended universities believe that belonging to the ‘right’ fraternity or sorority would give you a brighter future not only in the university you are currently attending, but in the future as well, when you have graduated.
On the other hand, some people believe that belonging to a fraternity or sorority only brings negative publicity.

So what are the differences between a fraternity and a sorority?

For starters, the main difference would be its members. Fraternity has male members and sorority has female members.

That’s about the main and only difference. Then again, in this modern day and age, some female groups actually call themselves fraternities, except that they put a special name ‘women fraternity’, putting emphasis to their group or organization as something that would have the same objectives and aspirations that is believed by all of its members.

It is best to understand that in most universities, chauvinism is considered quite uncontrolled, as many have given their observations. In most cases, the screening of individuals, whether fraternity or sorority, is quite prejudiced, to some extent. In most circumstances, if you have parents or family relatives who have been a part of such fraternity or sorority, instant membership is granted. Otherwise, you would have to go through a rigorous, not to mention, at times embarrassing, process before you would be granted connection and approval to join the organization.

So whether you wish to join a fraternity or sorority, it might be best if you learned more about the organization first. More importantly, it would be better if you also got the community’s feedback and comments about such organization, and not just the members but from those who have been members of such organizations in the past and those who are bystanders … which means, those who are supposedly objective about their comments.

More often than not, you would hear several positive comments from the members, especially as they would be enticing you to be a part of their organization. After all, a bigger organization, one that has several members, would always be considered a powerful and influential group.

Lastly, and probably one of the most rampant of topics when discussing fraternities and sororities: hazing. Some deny it. Some say it is a part of the initiation process. Ask yourself: do you want to be a part of an organization that ‘might’ put you on a certain pedestal or give you a guaranteed status if you need to go through a process called ‘hazing’? Think of it.

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