We explain what sorority is, the origin and etymology of the term. Also, what is its relationship with current feminism.
What is sorority?
Sorority is called bond of solidarity between women especially in the face of discrimination and violence coming from a patriarchal culture. The term is a neologism rescued at the beginning of the 21st century by the rising feminist movements, which is why it was accepted in 2018 by the Royal Spanish Academy.
Sorority is a union between women based on similar feelings and in a shared experience of the feminine condition and the social place associated with that condition. From there arises a bond of trust, complicity and reciprocal support.
See also: Gender equality
Origin of sorority
The meaning of the term sorority goes back to Latin terms brother ('brother')—where they come from fraternity and sisterhood-, and sorority ('sister'), and refers to a relationship of mutual respect, care and solidarity but instead of occurring between men, it occurs between women.
The first use of the term sorority in Spanish it is found in the novel by Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936) Aunt Tulapublished in 1921. There, the writer, referring to the character of Antigone, says:
“Fraternal? No: we would have to invent another word that does not exist in Spanish. Fraternal and fraternity come from brotherbrother, and Antigone was sororitysister. And perhaps it would be appropriate to talk about sorority and of sororalof female sisterhood.”
Subsequently, During the so-called Second Wave of feminism (1960-1980), the term acquired its political and militant charge. By then, American feminist movements had incorporated the English term sisterhood as a reaction to brotherhood (fraternity between men), to refer to solidarity between women.
The English voice sororityalthough sometimes it is used with the same meaning as sorority in Spanish, designates mainly university student sororities made up of women—as opposed to fraternitiesmade up of men—, present in universities in the United States and other countries.
In the Latin American sphere, one of the main disseminators of the concept of sisterhood is the Mexican feminist activist and researcher Marcela Lagarde (1948-). Lagarde, who introduced the term in Spanish, defines sorority as a “political pact between women” which “are found and recognized in feminism, to live life with a deeply libertarian sense.”
Sorority, in that sense, obeys the same principle of the Marxist call to the union of the proletariat, that is, to the idea that only the oppressed and discriminated against together can exercise political action powerful enough to change the social structure. Thus, without a fraternal bond—rather, sororal— among women, the fight for equality between the sexes would always be weakened and fragmented.
Sorority and solidarity
Solidarity between women is a central part of sisterhood. However, it is not an adherence to external causes or interests, as it is usually understood. Nor is it an appeal to a hypothetical solidarity natural between women.
Within the framework of the concept of sorority, solidarity is understood as mutual support based on the awareness of the place that women have in society, and with a common objective: to achieve the empowerment of each one. It is, therefore, a practice associated with a political objective.
The practice of solidarity implies, among other aspects:
- Dismantle certain commonplaces regarding relationships between women such as the supposed female rivalry or the impossibility of a sincere bond between women.
- Build alliances between women of diverse cultures and social status without hiding the differences, in search of agreements on specific issues that affect all women.
- Assume other women's experiences of oppression as their own although they have not been lived in the same terms nor are they part of history itself (for example, the experiences of women in some Islamic countries).
- Support and lean on other women and share experiences in order to build trust and generate symbolic references between women. This idea links solidarity with affidamento ('trust'), an Italian word that refers to a concept introduced by Milan feminism.
Sorority and fraternity
Implicit in the concept of sisterhood is the idea of the bond of sisterhood between women; In this sense, it opposes the concept of fraternity, understood as brotherhood between men. This opposition is expressed in the respective terms:
- The root of fraternity, frater-refers to the brother; that's where it comes from friarand its apocope friarterms by which monks are known in some religious orders.
- Sorority recovers to its roots soror-the Latin word that designates the sister, present in sistersister of a religious order.
To the extent that sorority implies the common experience of oppression experienced by the mere fact of being women, it differs radically from male fraternity. While fraternity aims to perpetuate patriarchal power established through pacts between gentlemen, sorority seeks to break the barriers that subject women to a subaltern place.
Phrases about sorority
- Sister, I do believe you.
- We are not rivals, we are allies.
- Sorority is not a destination, but a journey.
- Sorority is being together, feeling together, healing together and rising together.
- Every time women gather in circles, the world heals a little more.
- “A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and not ourselves, a special kind of double.” Tony Morrison
- “The fight against machismo begins with mutual female support.” Marcela Lagarde
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References
- “Sorority”, in Brief dictionary of feminismby Rosa Cobo and Beatriz Ranea Triviño (eds.), Madrid, 2020.
- “Sorority”, in Wikipedia.
- “Sorority” in the Language Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy.
- “What is sorority?” in Efeminist.
- “Sorority, the new fraternity between women” in La Vanguardia.
- “Pact between women: sisterhood”, by Marcela Lagarde y de los Ríos. Available in EFD Library.
