Ok, first, lets all hate on a fraternity girl we can agree on: Anne Coulter (she’s about halfway down the page) . (DG is technically a fraternity, as are Phi Mu and Alpha Delta Pi, for example). I think this proves that I’m a masochist, because normally I wouldn’t announce that I’m member of the same organization as she is. Imagine my shame.
Any time you get a large group of people together, you're going to get people who act like idiots, with or without alcohol. Think about the last sporting event or concert you went to. I've always been bothered by the theory of Greek = drugs/alcohol. One need not be Greek to purchase and use "roofies". One need not be a sorority girl to get smashed and sleep around.
I attended U of H. Its completely a commuter school. If you want to participate in "college life" you have to work for it. Pretty much the only way to do this was to go Greek. Now, I had always wanted to join a sorority, so for me it wasn't a problem. Growing up, I missed out on a lot of socialization thats important to have. I got that and learned "lessons for real life" as my best friend and pledge sister puts it. Someone commented above about groups laughing at rushees with disabilities. Unfortunately that happens everywhere. You'll see people doing it at the mall, at work, oddly enough even at a hospital. When I went through rush, my second choice was a group that had a member who was obviously disabled, but it was also obvious that her sisters thought of her as one of the group. While my problems weren't obvious at the time, I made no secret of them because I didn't want it to become an issue later. Know what? After my health started acting up, my sisters were a total blessing. Example: first week of school and my super amazing starfleet flagship power chair is ... still on the other side of the ocean. My sisters helped me get to class by pushing me across campus. It still gets me verklempt to this day thinking about it.
Was everything wonderful and happy? Of course not. Its a group of people, there is going to be backstabbing, jealousy, whatever going on. Look at the boards; how often does someone post about a friend who's hurt them/cost them money/done something incredibly dumb?
As for the o. p. I am terribly sorry about the bad movie experience, but I do my best to avoid any situation where there are going to be an annoying group of people (my friends know to avoid "teenager times" when we make plans). Sometimes though, going to the movies is a real pick your battle kind of thing. For those in Houston, my family and friends avoid the Edward's Cinema on I-10 like the plague (and it hurts when they're showing a movie I want to see on IMAX, that's about the only time we bite the bullet), because we've had so many problems with gangs there. (This past Christmas the police had to be called because my parents were assaulted.) Thank goodness for [The Alamo](http://www.drafthouse.com/westoaks/frames.asp) !
Finally, regarding hazing. We *wanted* to be hazed, but in a happy fun way. With 5 alumnae groups overseeing us, we weren't. One of the reasons that it gets all or nothing is that some fear the "slippery slope" theory. Other reasons include pledges saying that they wanted too but they really didn't. With lawsuits that have happened in the past because of very bad things (tm) that happened, most groups are just scared of what could happen.
So, if you went Greek and enjoyed it: yea! If you didn't go Greek: yea for you too! This would be a very boring place if we all did the same thing. Now, let us all proceed to pick on Anne, as we usually do and should. :-)