>I’m Not Laughing.
>Born with money and social clout, you’ve worked hard to make good grades and maintain a spotless reputation, managed to get into one of the best universities in the country and joined one of the school’s most prestigious sororities. The possibilities for you are unlimited.
Then you pose for this picture and all that hard work is shot to hell.
These girls represent last year’s Theta graduating class at Vanderbilt University. And they’re not necessarily the first to pose in their pasties- according to this article, it may have been going on for at least the last four years.
So girls, I just have to ask… You’re supposed to be among the nation’s best and brightest. How could you be so stupid?
This is the kind of photograph that will come back to haunt you for the rest of your lives. I can think of so many careers that would be derailed by this picture- Let’s say you wanted to become a judge or a theologian or Miss America or a politician, or hell, a politician’s wife. Now? Forgettaboutit. No matter what your profession, this photograph is guaranteed to make you a laughingstock when it surfaces.
Or imagine you’ve left your wild past behind and met the man you want to marry. Only problem is, you’ve got to tell him about this um, picture of you that leaves almost nothing to the imagination and has sorta been circulating the Internet for quite a while now…
And what about the day when your parents get the link from one of their friends or co-workers?
This is the kind of herd mentality stupidity that give sororities a bad name. And it’s especially frustrating in this case, because I’m sure the majority of these girls have moms and dads who invested a lot of time and money in their daughters’ futures and gave them every opportunity to succeed.
And now they’ve gone and made total boobs of themselves.
>Shoulda seen that one coming all the way down the page. Boobs. HA!How right you are. This is funny when it’s happening, amusing at a bar just before graduation, and horrifying every day afterward.I happened to be at a… Gentlemen’s Club one evening with some coworkers. After a drink or 4, I was out of it, and the guys got a couple of girls to come up next to me, then took a polaroid. I spent the next 3 years trying to get that picture back.I burnt it up once I did.
>Lindsay…you definitely said it well. I totally agree. These are girls who have it all (have it all and then some) and totally risk it all by one stupid night and one stupid picture. I’m not saying we don’t all make mistakes, we sure do…but this is one of those things that just hauts the future. Eek!
>This is a perfect example of when you are young you do stupid things because you don’t ever think things through. You are only concerned with the “now” and don’t realize that the actions you do “now” can definitely have something to do with your life later. AH, to be young and stupid again. Yeah, no thanks!
>Hear hear. Thankfully my niece (a sophomore at that school) is NOT in that sorority. Whew.And thank the Lord there was no Internet/MySpace/digital photography when I was in college way back in the late 80s!
>I don’t really think it’s a big deal. Their nipples are covered, right? Or was that photoshopped to cover them and their nipples really show in the real picture? I couldn’t tell. If it was taken with their nipples covered, I don’t think it will come back to haunt them. It’s just a little more than you’d see at the beach. At least they’re not posing for Playboy or something. And even then, in our hypersexualized society, people don’t really care if you posed for Playboy anymore.
>I think it can be challenging to have photos like that out there, but I also think society is growing more and more relaxed and “forgiving” as time goes on. For example, Dr. Laura’s nude photos, although certainly a nuisance for her in that she’s alternately had to explain and ignore them, don’t seem to have negatively impacted her career. Of course, her photos weren’t made public until she was already established and famous (to my recollection), and maybe she would’ve had a harder time launching her career if the photos had already been publicized. Dunno. Just the same, I think it’s best to err on the side of caution to save oneself extra trouble. The more important issue, I think, would be self-esteem. What possesses women to present themselves as objects at all, regardless of any long-term effects on careers such an action might have? Women say they want to be taken seriously and don’t want to be treated as objects…and then they go and undermine themselves. Self-hate? Who knows? One can only speculate.
>Betty Friedan must be turning over in her grave. I wasn’t around in the 60s, but I’m guessing this wasn’t the ultimate goal of the women’s movement. This is beyond “young girls doing stupid things” to me. This is “Girls Gone Wild,”, Bratz, the objectification of women in hip-hop…this is symptomatic of a culture that going backwards, not forwards.Great post…I wish I hadn’t it seen it, though. Now I’m depressed.
>Their nipples are covered, but to me, it doesn’t even matter. Anyone who wants to get online can tell now what they look like naked. I think it’s a matter of self respect. If you’re going to pose nude, put some serious thought into it first and try and figure out why you’re doing it and whether the circumstances are right and if you’ll regret it later. Don’t just stupidly do it because everyone else is doing it. This just looks like a Girls Gone Wild promo.
>Jamie has it exactly right: “Thank the Lord there was no Internet/MySpace/digital photography when I was in college way back in the late 80s!”Of course when I was in school much earlier than that. We had daguerreotypes, not photographs, and you had to pose stock still for hours….
>Well, at least they were wearing pasties. I’m sorry, but completely nude would be a totally different story. If they went to the beach and posed in a string bikini, you’d have the same, if not more information about their bodies. What makes this tacky is the context.To me, while idiotic, this picture is a lot more innocent than the ones kids take of themselves doing beer bongs or ingesting illegal substances. The latter might even carry legal implications.
>I agree with you, it’s totally stupid. Whether they are completely nude or wearing pasties, this photo will forever mar their image. Sad isn’t it, that they feel it necessary to follow the crowd?
>It’s shocking, really. Not the photo as much as that they would all be involved in it. I guess it is a herd thing and that’s such a shame. I just look back and think that for all the stupid things I’ve done, I’m glad something like this wasn’t one of them.
>There was actually a clarification issued last week in the Scene. Or at least at PITW. This is NOT the Vanderbilt Theta house.
>I think it is, Kat, because it’s written up in the Inside Vandy article and the author of that article interviewed several Vanderbilt sources, including the Theta and Panhellenic presidents at Vandy. Also, WSMV did a story on it.
>Ugh. The comments are off on the post at PITW, which is where I first saw the retraction.Sorry.I guess it is Vandy Theta. Not that I’m all that surprised.
>I like that the big sign above their heads says “THOUGHT”
>Oh God…how sad.I know it’s horrible to stereotype all sorority girls…but, really, things like this make it VERY difficult for me to refrain.(I’m 20…but the ‘young and stupid’ mindset doesn’t explain/justify this for me)
>Dang it all, and here I was expecting to see another onslaught from the sorority types ala Green Hills!I had one of those Polaroids floating around. My boyfriend at the time kept it for a loooong time, even after we broke up. I kept begging him to destroy it. He did…after he got married.But I hated it. And yes, it was completely a case of me being young and stupid at the time.
>A girl I knew in college posed for Playboy. She made no apologies and the only thing that kept her from doing more work was the fear of a future employer finding out.
>This is why sororieties and frats have such bad reputations.I mean, okay whatever, pose with pasties, and you think it’s all good fun, but every guy at the college has downloaded that page. And not because they think the composition of the photograph and the lighting is just spectacular. It’s because it’s boob shots. I don’t know. Will it hurt their future? I think mainly it will embarass them. If they want to be in public office, they’ll have to explain it. I was young and dumb, once, but the internet wasn’t huge then THANKFULLY. Shoot, it’s just not safe to be young and dumb anymore, but I agree with the self-respect aspect of it.We don’t live in a society where boob-flashing for the common girl is really acceptable. It’s okay if you’re some rock star and expected to be well, hypersexualized, but not for the average girl.
>Well I’m in the minority here and don’t really get what the big deal is?If they grow up to be Politician’s or whatever, and that photo comes out, then they can just explain it was a time and a place thing, and no be it- I mean everyone has stuff in there past that can hurt them, but I think if your in a position of power and people respect you then it wont really be such a big deal. People have been known to do worse things when they are “grown up” and can still get away with it.I don’t think the “self respect” thing comes into it much either. It’s like when a bunch of guys get together, have a few drinks, and then all moon the camera. It’s just a bit of a laugh.Guess I’m just more relaxed about this kind of thing.
>I love how some of those girls are hiding their pasties. It’s not that much better, but at least you get a slight bit of shame and embarrassment from them!
>money well spent on those boobs!guess i’m old, cuz i say let them have fun and enjoy themselves.
>They’re fine … the only people who seem to get offended are women. It’s really no big deal … it’s not as if they were photographed having sex with the b/f. I have seen more flesh at a beach. These girls are what … 20 – 22? They look at things very differently than even 10 years ago. Give them a break. heaven forbid you ever come to Ontario, Canada … women are allowed to be topless in public as long as there is no sexual connotation involved. Many women tan topless and people just walk by them as if they are all covered up.
>I don’t think the problem is the picture. The picture itself is just a picture of young girls having fun. The problem is what society will assume from these girls. It’d be one thing if it were like in other nations, where being topless is no big deal. But in America women are not allowed to say, show boobs and get respect. We’re still a very um, malecentric nation repressed about women and women’s sexuality. For instance, the reaction toward breast feeding in public. A BREAST! She showed a BREAST! It’s only okay if you’re showing boobs in a sexual connotation, and then you’re judged as a ho. Or something.So you could say, the problem isn’t the women posing, the problem is the male-culture of assuming that because they shorn their shirts for pasties, they are nothing but sex objects. No brains, just boobs. I could have worded this better, but i’m typing fast because dinner is burning.
>yeah but if we all worried about what society thinks all the time then it would be a very boring world and no one would do anything “out there” within reason. These girls are having a bit of a laugh – it’s not like they are doing a porno shot. They’re young, carefree, and not worrying too much about the future. I dunno, I just don’t get what the big deal is. I have definitely seen worse pics out there to do damage to people’s rep.
>Most of me thinks, oh! your parents must be horrified.And a little part of me thinks, wow! you have photographic proof that the boobs were once higher.
>I think what bothers me so much is that these particular girls (given their old-line, venerable sorority and their school) have been groomed their entire lives, and worked toward it themselves, to be taken seriously and to be successful, not in the flashy anything-goes sense, but in the ‘I’ve got brains, beauty and morals’ sense. And then they go and botch all of that with one picture. I don’t think this picture would be a big deal to some sorority chapters out there, but it is here, given the school and the particular sorority involved. And again, with all that in mind, it just seems so. Stupid.
>maybe because they have been so “groomed” etc all their lives, it’s a big “Fuck You” to everyone out there – maybe they’re just breaking out of their mould’s they’ve been restricted to most of their lives.Or else maybe they are just pissed and like showing off there tits lolI think when your young you don’t think that far ahead. I have some pics out there that are definitely discriminating, but at the time it was just a good laugh. I never thought I could be a politician some day and it could all come back to bite me in the bum. Luckily, I’m not a poilitican anyway. So yeah, they are probably being a bit stupid, but at least they are having a bit of fun that’s not really hurting anyone else, and at the worst could be a wee bit embarrassing later on.
>I think the photo is cute. I never did anything like that, never had an interest in sororities, but they all look like they’re having fun and they’re really not showing more than you’d see in a string bikini. It’s not as if they’re kissing one another or posing lasciviously. I wouldn’t be too worried about my daughters’ future if a photo like that surfaced. Nudity is not the end of the world. Plus, they are not nude and they are not caught doing anything but having a laugh with a group of friends.I was at a resort in Portugal a few years ago and there were topless sunbathers all around. I don’t think any of them were worried about their careers or their reputations.
>Amen, sistah!!!What a waste….
>As the mother of two girls (and someone who has never posed nude or butt naked for anyone other than my husband) I can tell you I am scared to death. Those ads for Girls Gone Wild used to turn my stomach. What are we teaching our girls that they end up thinking this is okay? And worse…hot?But on the other hand, I do not have a problem with Playboy. I guess if my daughter was in the next issue I may feel differently.
>I was in a sorority in college (MTSU in fact) and while I have certainly been young and dumb, I would have thought really hard about doing anything like that. I look at that picture and think, gee, if I had done that and my coworkers saw it they would never take me seriously. I am also in a very male dominated field where women are to be more of an assistant than a leader.I am thankful that while the internet started to catch on in college it was not huge. As well as thankful that digital cameras were not around or camera phones. . . Personally, I would be embarassed if this got back to my parents or anyone back home. Having to explain why I did that would be difficult. I know that we all have done some silly things when we were younger but how many of us would have done those things if it could have been easily posted on the internet?
>…if only I’d had boobs in college (sigh)
>I keep thinking about this post and feel like I’m not expressing myself very well here. I posted about it today specifically because I’ve been thinking about it ever since I read about it last week and trying to figure out why it disgusts me so much.It’s not the nudity that bothers me. I don’t have a problem with Playboy and I even had a friend in college who became a stripper for a short time to finance a move to NYC- she had thought about it for weeks and decided she was comfortable with it, so while I didn’t agree with her, it wasn’t an issue because I knew she’d thought it through.The problem I have with the picture is that it wasn’t thought through. It was a bunch of bright, pretty young women “following the herd” and that just disgusts me. And these were Vanderbilt soon-to-be grads, so they really should’ve known better. So to those of you saying, “It’s not that shocking,” and “I’ve seen worse,” well, sure. We all have. I think I’m just gagging over the do-as-my-sisters-do-and-try-to-fit-in-even-if-the-decision-haunts-me-for-the-rest-of-my-life.Because to a lesser extent, I’m seeing too many women around me with this kind of mentality and it is soul crushing.
>Excellent punch line!
>**do-as-my-sisters-do-and-try-to-fit-in-even-if-the-decision-haunts-me-for-the-rest-of-my-life.**Yes, unfortunately that is the classic peer pressure mantra of many a young person – I’ll smoke this, eat that, wear that, do that because everyone else is.It’s just a bummer the internet is around now to capture it forever.
>I’m with you, Lindsey. Fifty years ago women were grateful for whatever opportunities they could get. Thirty years ago women were marching and fighting to be taken seriously. It’s not a morality thing for me…but it’s not a youth thing, either. I don’t think college educated girls would have considered making this photo 20 years ago.
>Oh my…. now I have to admit that I did some pretty dumb things during my delta gamma sorority days… but I don’t think we EVER thought about showing our boobs to the world. Now, for the REST of their lives, their boobs will be exposed to the world. It may not seem like a big deal now, but in years to come, they will be cringing! What a shame….. You know their parents are livid and this picture will be floating around their home towns.
>I’m not shocked. It’s just a bunch of girls having some fun. No big deal. I see nothing obsene in it at all and don’t know why anyone would have to explain it away to their spouses. It’s college. They’re young. I wonder if so many of you would be condemning it if the picture were of a group of guys in g-strings?In any case, if it jeopardises their future careers that says a lot more about other people than it does about them.
>It’s just sad. They’ve done something that will come back to haunt them in later years. It saddens me to see a group of girls who have the opportunity to attend a very prestigious (sp?) university act so dumb, and make a mockery of it.Sickening, whether they have pasties on not… very DUMB. I wonder what their fathers think of that picture.
>Ugh. I’ve always hated these girls. They are so stupid. I loved being in a sorority but I could never understand the houses/and girls I’ve met over the years who think Girls Gone Wild type behavior is just fine. Why do I fight and work so hard for equality to get smacked in the face by twits like this who just don’t get it. UGH!
>”I wonder if so many of you would be condemning it if the picture were of a group of guys in g-strings?”I agree. I think that we women have a tendency to be much more harsh on other women than on men. And what’s so bad about the female body? It’s almost as if we, as women, have made breasts taboo!
>Read my last comment. It’s not the “female body” that bothers me here.
>Well, I was at this event in January, and have been aware of the “tradition” for more than 7 years now. The sorority bid day event has always included the Thetas begging to take this photo, and it was granted with stipulations. Only the girls who wanted to do it would do it. Only the girls in the photo could order the photo, and had to do it that night (no ordering online because photo was never put online for ordering). It worked well until this year. This controversy became public when one of the girls scanned the photo and put it on her myspace.com page. These photos seem to be a big tradition on Vandy campus, as even the Chi Omega Seniors take a picture in their bras and jeans. Obviously the Vandy admin doesn’t know about that or they would be in trouble, too I guess. Or maybe that’s more similar to bathing-suit-wear…
>Your last comment is so true, L. I get it.
>Oh, and in response to the sign in the background: During the bid-day week, it said, “Think Theta”, so on Bid Day (last day of Rush) it said “Thought Theta”.
>Photobug, thanks for the input. I wondered if any Vandy Thetas would read this-I’m just really surprised that this goes on at all. I was in a sorority at UGA, where the Greek system is taken very seriously, not that much longer than seven years ago, and this photo never would’ve happened at ANY sorority there, much less Theta or Chi O. I even kept my beers and mixed drinks behind my back in sorority social pictures for fear of reprisals, and I was hardly a goody goody. I don’t know if you’ll be back, but I’m curious to know whether you were in one of these photos and if so, whether you regret it. I would also love to know about how many girls, if any, opted out, because I would guess that this was most of the senior class of Thetas, although I could be wrong.
>Hopefully all copies of it are as small and slightly fuzzy as this one so they can’t be easily picked out… It’s true as some commenters said above that it’s not that shocking, but it’s equally true that it’s the kind of thing that could dog a girl trying to get ahead in a field, especially a largely male field, by making her the butt of jokes and snickers around the office and letting her colleagues look at her in a decidedly non-professional light. It’s obvious it was planned ahead by at least someone, as they had all those cute matching pasties, but it would be nice to think that each of them had really thought about it and opted for it. I doubt it, somehow.
>Geez, I went to a school very similar to Vandy. There was some serious stupidity going on there. Thank God there aren’t “too many” photos of me lurking around. Am I disappointed in these girls? Yes. Am I surprised? No.They are young, sexy, and beautiful. In some way, I’m sure they were celebrating that. I’m sure it was also some sort of “these are my crazy college years, the best years of my life” groupthink as well. Probably mortifying now.
>” do-as-my-sisters-do-and-try-to-fit-in-even-if-the-decision-haunts-me-for-the-rest-of-my-life”I cannot understand why you all think this has ruined their careers, their futures and the possibility of finding husbands (OK so I am exagerating a bit). 10 years from now is anybody even going to remember this pic? Do they have to worry about being interviewed for a job when suddenly the interviewer starts combing through drawers of paper to pull out a copy of this picture and staring at interviewie’s chest says “I knew I recognized you”.C’mon people, lighten up.
>Typical man comment… “Duh-uh-uh, I like it.” Only kidding, George.But yes, it will come back to haunt at least some of them, particularly now that it’s getting play on the Internet. I know a woman who posed for Playboy at 18 and has a serious career now that she’s in her 40s- That magazine photo makes its way around her office every few years, and who dredged it up I’ll never know. And I’m sure she’s mortified.And yeah, I deleted your next comment because for God’s sake, leave George W. out of this one. He’s everywhere I turn lately. Gah.
>I read this post and thought about what was written and the comments…and I have to say, in this day and age I just don’t see a problem with it. Maybe I’m desensitized, but when you have Lil Kim going to fashion awards with one boob hanging out and a pasty on, all kinds of celebreties posing naked for “a good cause”, half naked celebreties plastered all over magazines…. I don’t know, this photo just didn’t surprise me. Or shock me. People do stupid shit every second of every day, and while it’s not something I or many others would do, I seriously doubt it will hurt any of their careers…
>Okay,Here’s my thing. It’s not the picture that bugs me. Young women that look better than they ever will. Pasties. Taut tummies. Whatever. Good, enjoy youth.The thing is, half of our population, or the men, will objectify them. And listen, it WILL affect their careers. One day, at my last job, someone browsing the net found a topless photo of a female co-worker. GUESS WHAT! It was shot around to every male in the office, INCLUDING the bosses and her boss.Do you think anyone said “ah, she’s young, young people do these things’ and ‘why not, she was having fun’ no Not At All. She was gossiped about by every male. Every woman *young, all of us* wondered why she did it, and while some of us felt bad, other women treated her differently because of that one photo. Also, all the men suddenly started flirting with her, and not for her sparkling personality, because CLEARLY if she would pose topless, she’d do anything. Did anyone take the photo seriously? No. But they no longer took the girl seriously, and she eventually had to quit.Yes, that photo CAN haunt these girls.
>Stupid stupid stupid!
>Lindsay … I only made the Military Commissions Act 2006 reference to point out that there are far more serious and dangerous things going on in the USA than a picture of boobs and so many people getting hot (pun intended) about it.Thank you for at least letting me know the reason.
>Dude. Sounds like you’re at the wrong blog. Boobs are wayyyyyy more important here.
>So glad I didn’t pay for my friends in college…and mine are real and are much more perkier – even over 30!
>I’ve gotten a few e-mails about this topic, and I’ll say one more thing that’s come to mind. If I had taken this photo in college and it ended up on the Internet, my husband would be very disappointed about it. I just know that he would. And I’d be really worried that my stepdaughters (and later, my daughter) would see it, because it would really mess up my credibility with them. So I’d say that’s another way this will come back to haunt these girls.And yeah, I’ve seen more skin in Sports Illustrated, but there’s something about the context of this photo that’s just sleazy and amateurish. And it’s made worse by the fact that I think these are good girls who likely were raised by caring parents, not girls who are going into the entertainment industry or grew up in shitty families and really don’t know any better.Okay. I’m done.
>i disagree. I think they will be rewarded for this kind of behavior. There will always be someone who will toss off the picture as a’youthful indiscretion’ and hire any of the girls featured in the photo.That’s the way real privilege works in America.Now if they were strippers, that would be a different story.
>Please Please Please tell me you are kidding and this whole post is a jokle about this photo! This is just STUPID! This photo is not going to HAUNT or DAMAGE anyone, geez people! If IGNORANCE is BLISS you MUST be in PARADISE!I did something similar to this when I was in college. My husband knows about it, my parents know about it, my kids know about it. I finished college, I have an excellent position in a large U.S. corporation hasn’t hurt me and it won’t hurt any of these young ladies either.Can we say PRUDE.
>I don’t know, the fact that you, as a first-time commenter, would come here and insult and name-call everyone who has a different opinion from yours doesn’t do much to support your side…