sorority women neither virginal nor promiscuous by anne carothers Oex and the sorority girl. Helen Gurley Brown never touched the subject. The movie Animal House caricatured sorority girls of the 1960s with Babs and Mandy. All dressed up in prim and pretty pink; they were a little niave but none the less willing to massage their boyfriend's ego or any other part to win him over. Sara Davidson in her book Loose Change, detailed experiences of three not-so-typical sorority girls caught up in the changes of the late 60s. But all that was a decade and a sexual revolution ago. Where does that leave the sorority woman of the 70s? Today sexual attitudes for sorority women mean different things to different people. For some, mostly parents, these ivy-covered brick walls mean protection for their virginal young daughters. Others describe sororities as social in stitutions for cosmopolitan, promiscuous college women. However, a survey of UNL sorority members shows that although the Greek woman may not be a virginal, she rarely is cosmopolitan. A questionnaire answered by 30 soror ity members shows that 14 woman or 47 percent have had sexual intercourse. Forty percent of these woman now are sexually active. Those that indicated they had not had intercourse cited religion and personal pre ference as reasons for abstinance. "I'm against premarital sex because of my religion and my family upbringing," said one girl in a later interview. "Unless it's between two people with a serious commitment toward each other, it's wrong," she said. Clccording to the survey, those that are sexually active had their first sexual exper ience at age 19 or 20. Most have sexual intercourse from once to several times a week. None of the women exmployed a double standard for premarital sex. Nearly 97 percent said if premarital sex is per missible for men, it also is okay for wo men. However, the survey indicated that the women overwhelmingly, 27 to three dis approved of sex between two people not in love with each other. Casual one-night affairs definitely were not approved of. According to the survey, a majority of the sexually active women indicated that they have had sex with only one person. None indicated more than five previous sex partners. "Sex is okay if you're in love, I mean really in love with someone," said one wo man. On the questionnaire, although 30 per cent of the women said they would be un concerned if their fiance had intercourse with someone else previously, 50 percent said they would be bothered by it. And 10 percent said they would be concerned enough to prevent marriage. Basically, the rule of thumb for accept able sexual behavior is discretion, the standards (morals) chairman for one house said. "When it (sexual behavior) becomes so indiscreet that it becomes tasteless and creates a bad reflection on the house (sorority) the house objects," said one sophomore sorority member. m, ost houses have a written code of ethics. One such code reads "mature judge ment and good tastes should be reflected in every action and members are expected to maintain Christian moral standards." Premarital sex is forbidden in some sorority rules, the chairman said. "I don't think the (written) moral code will ever change although I think we do all we can to bend it," she explained. But one sorority member said such an antiquated moral code bothers her. "If you're going to set guidelines for be havior, they should be realistic ones. I think it's wrong when you go by rules that are 10 years out of date," said the junior sorority member. "Anyway, I don't think there is a "moral code." We live by our own moral codes," she said. "I mean, what is moral ity? It's too subjective." Continued on page 8. If ii n " J t J 3 Photo by Ted Kirk fraternity men pressured to be sexually active by john minnick 1 verheard at the breakfast table: "Hey, who'd you go out with last night?" "I picked up this gorgeous babe-blonde hair-you know that Sandy whats-her-name from Broken Bow." "You mean that beautiful pledge we met the other night at Wendy's?" "Heah, that's the one-you know with the big. . . ." "And those long, long legs-she's really cute." "Well, we came back to my room and I turned on KFMQ, and she was so hot, I mean, she practically. . "Go on, go on. . ." Other nearby diners stopped discussing the point spread on the Maryland game to listen, "Well, she was so hot, so I turned down the lights, put on my Chuck Mangione al bum and we started to make-out. Well, pretty soon her hands were all over my body, and you know, one thing led to another. . ." At another table, another diner mutters to one of hi? fraternity brothers "Listen, that is pui bull. That Sandy won't have anything to do with him. I know for a fact he watched television, went to get some tacos and then went to bed last night. He didn't get down with any hot chick." Sexual escapades, whether they be true of false, are commonly discussed in fraternities, according to several members. Barry, a 20-year-old junior, said most men lie about their sexual experiences to their fraternity brothers because qf peer pressure. "All guys ask another guy if he had sex with the girl he went out with," Barry said. "Most of it is lies. They have some male ego they must fulfill. If they lie it makes them look better to their friends." Whether they have a "good" reputation or not, girls get little respect in his fra ternity, Barry added. "Most guys say the rudest things they can think of about girlfriends, guys' mo thers, or even our housemother. It gets really old, but everyone sfe'Sys blighs 2t the jokes." Craig, a 21 -year-old senior, said there is "an immense exaggeration" of sexual ex periences in his fraternity. "People who exaggerate their sex lives lead pretty dull lives," he said. "All guys talk about it, but almost everyone tells lies" But one member disagreed. Alan, an 18-year-old freshman, said he does not like io talk about sex with his fraternity brothers. "1 like to keep it pretty low key," he said. "I don't mention what I do too often. It really kind of bothers me to talk about it or lie about it." Alan said that since he has come to UNL, he feels that his sexual activity has increased, but his attitudes toward sex have not. He said he first had intercourse when he was 16, and although he is a Catholic, practicing pre-marital sex does not bother him. He also said he feels some peer pressure to have sex from his fraternity brothers. Craig agreed. Craig said the lack of pri vacy in a fraternity prohibits a lot of sexual activity, but he feels that because of peer pressure and social contacts in a fraternity, there is a great deal of pressure for fra ternity men to have sex. Craig is also Catholic and said his re HgjOP. do?? not inhibit his sexual experi ence. Craig said he first had intercourse when he was 1 3, and was sexually active in high school, but has changed his attitude in college. "In high school I was really preoccupied with sex," Craig explained. "But now I'm more occupied with school and other acti vities so that sex is not as important to me any more." Craig said that after college he supposes sex will become a more important part of his life. He could have sex with someone he did not iove or care anything about, he added. "The partner knows you don't give a damn about her, and that you just want some sort of sexual pleasure, so it really doesn't matter," Craig said. Barry also said he could have sex with someone he did not love. "The way I see it," he said, "is that there are two types of sex-there is having intercourse just to have intercourse and having intercourse because you are in love." )n the other side of the coin is Frank, a 20-year-old sophomore who has remained a virgin among a household of "sexual athletes." "I never let it bother me all that much," Frank said. "I think most guys know, but they never give me a hard time about it." Frank said inat ne trunks wclZ Z't fO'Jf or five guys in his house who are virgins but "lie through their teeth" about their sexual experiences. He said he gets tired of all the "bull" that guys talk about on Saturday morning after their Friday night dates. "I used to listen to the stories, but I kind of tune them out now," he said. "I think most of the guys in the house know that most of the stories are lies." Frank said he has remained a virgin by continued on page S friday, november 10, 1978 fathom page 7