[23461] in APO-L
[APO-L] Gendered toast Song
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Lisa M. Covi)
Sun Jan 19 00:48:56 2003
Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 00:53:03 -0500
Reply-To: "Lisa M. Covi" <lmcovi@earthlink.net>
From: "Lisa M. Covi" <lmcovi@earthlink.net>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
Try singing this!
Here's to Alpha Phi Omega, loyal sisters we
True to self and to each other. firm in loyalty.
Daily working, Daily Striving ever more to be
Women of Alpha Phi Omega, Our Sorority
Sisters clasp the hands of sisters, strong the circle we
Ever mindful ever serving all humanity
Now we raise our grateful voices in our song to thee
Women of Alpha Phi Omega, may we always be!
I'm not proposing this as a change -- just trying to help you see the song
from a different angle, the angle of prospective members and the nonmember
people we serve. Consider the chapter that sings our toast song after
working in the soup kitchen or with children after you give a party in the
hospital. Our toast song is mostly for us, but the words we use can
communicate meaning to other people that confuse them. In my experiences
singing the toast song in many areas of the U.S., I've seen how it turns
people off, how chapters adapt it or don't sing it at all. I like having a
song, but sentimentality can cloud our perception of what message we may be
sending to others about ourselves.
Lisa Covi
Kappa '81
