Our purpose

By: Emily Tingle

One of my favorite parts of being involved with Alpha Gamma Delta is that I am constantly learning new things about the sorority that make me love it even more. Lately, I have been falling more and more in love with our beautiful purpose. This process began a few weeks ago when we were asked to choose a favorite line or two and think about how they were important to us. While I find significance in the piece as a whole, I must say that my absolute favorite part of our purpose is the closing line, specifically the phrase “and love her for her Womanhood.” I personally interpret this line in two different and equally meaningful ways. First, I take the word womanhood to mean us, the women who make up the organization. I like this interpretation because it reminds me that being a part of this group comes with responsibility. What I do affects the reputation of the sorority which, in turn, is reflected back on me. Although it may not always seem like it, every woman associated with AGD contributes to the atmosphere and reputation of the group, and I want the outside world to be able to love all Alpha Gam women. My second interpretation of this line relies upon a less concrete definition of the word womanhood, a definition that includes everything it truly means to be a female. Something that I have felt for quite some time is that mainstream society tends to only accept female roles that are easy to understand. Many of us were raised in an environment where we were told that girls can be smart OR pretty, attractive OR successful, desired OR respected. It often feels like we are being pressured to pick a side, because if you want to be a CEO you can’t care about having cute shoes. This is as untrue as it is impractical. I believe that womanhood encompasses all of the things, good and bad, that come along with being a girl. When our purpose reminds me to love Alpha Gamma Delta for her Womanhood, it also reminds me to look at myself as a whole woman, not as someone who should be valued only for her physical appearance or her cognitive abilities but for everything that makes me who I am. I believe that my tendency to cry a lot and my love of shopping and my compassion and my strong work ethic all make up my womanhood, and I want to be able to love myself for all of these things, just as I want to be able to love Alpha Gamma Delta for all of her women.

As we move forward as a group I think we should continue to embrace our Womanhood and the different ways it manifests itself in each of us. We should continue to challenge and question what we have been told about what it means to be a woman in today’s society and we should continue to recognize that while being female holds many challenges it also gives us many opportunities. Most of all, we should continue being some of the most innovative and empowered women on campus, all while wearing cute shoes.