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One of my mom's best friends was a sorority mom at Bama from ~2010-2020. Happy to forward her any questions I can't answer myself. I graduated from Bama around 10 years ago, but like George_E_Hale did not join a frat. He mentions The Machine, which is very interesting if you're into Alabama politics. I haven't seen any comment mentioning test banks of xeroxed/scanned copies of tests, notes, assignments of previous students- this would have actually interested me at the time. Dark grey moral choice in a previous era of education, but probably light grey at this point.
As far as the conservative Christian father's concerns about paying a shitload of money to put his daughter in this environment, being a promiscuous alcoholic drug addict dropout is trivially easy for any American woman over the age of 16 or so. The sorority actively polices both pledges and members so that they do not get a reputation of a bunch of dumb drunk sluts, and in a way that is fanatically more authoritarian than what he could ever hope to get away with.
Hah this is a fascinating point, yes the amount of social control women can put onto each other is far worse than than what an authoritarian father figure can do, especially nowadays.
I wonder how much of it is reputational versus actual morality though. Probably mostly reputational.
I'd say its close to 100% reputational. Morality plays a meta role there, but I think what is being selected for is one's ability to keep bad behavior 'on the down-low' since being known for being a druggie whore is VERY DIFFERENT from simply being a druggie whore in private, but having an overall clean social rep.
Or, could we say, its testing your ability to be discreet and in-control of the bad behavior.
Its less about abstaining from all sins, and much more about not being obvious and obnoxious about the sinning, so as not to harm the social standing of those associated with you.
While I'd still judge the moral failings, I get that many, many people are fine with the sinning but care VERY MUCH that their partner doesn't do anything to harm their social standing.
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