Free Bliss Week: Yield and Surrender (Interview With Loose Women Series) by Safira

 
    Chapel Hill, NC
    Subject #283
    Transcript.
    Length of  Recording 1:32:42
     
    Interviewer: Let’s start with your age, sex, and
place of birth.
    Subject: 21, female, and, um, I don’t want to say my
place of birth. You said this was anonymous.
    I:  Answer only what you wish. Your age at the time
of the encounter?
    S: 19.
    I: What were the circumstances?
    S: It was the spring semester of my freshman year and
I was pledging for a sorority. I don’t really want to say which one. It’s about
an 8-week process and the final week is called Bliss Week. And—
    I: Bliss Week? Why is it called that?
    S: It used to be called Hell Week. And that became
too well-known and it became associated with hazing, which is against
university rules. So they changed it to its opposite, Bliss Week, to be cute.
    I: Okay. Go on.
    S: Anyway, during Bliss Week you're split up into
groups of 4 pledges and each group gets assigned a senior sister.
    I: She has to be a senior?
    S: Yes, a senior member of the sorority. The group
has to pick one girl to be 'The Bearer.'
    I: How does the group pick her?
    S: They just have to come to a mutual agreement. If
they can't agree then they're all dismissed.
    I: Meaning they don't make the sorority?
    S: Yes.
    I: And what does 'The Bearer' do?
    S: I was getting to that. The senior sister assigned
to the group assigns her a task, and she has to complete it, or else the entire
group is dismissed. And if you tell anyone about the task, even later, your
group is dismissed.
    I: What do you mean by later? If they found out now,
two years later, that you're telling me about it, you and the other three girls
in your group are out of the sorority?
    S: Yes. It's a way to maintain the secrecy.
    I: Ah, so nobody talks because she wouldn't just be
getting only herself kicked out, she'd also be bringing trouble to her friends.
    S: Yeah. I was chosen as The Bearer. Well, I wasn’t
really chosen, I volunteered. I could tell the girls in my group were a little
hesitant about me being The Bearer; I guess I was a little shy and they were worried
I might not do task. But I insisted.
    I: Why did you volunteer?
    S: I thought the sorority would be impressed that I
showed initiative. Also, I was sort of a nerd and was always volunteering in
class and that just carried on to the sorority.
    I: So what was your task?
    S: The senior sister assigned to our group told me
to meet her at the sorority house the next Friday night wearing the shortest
pair of shorts I own. So I wore my little white shorts and threw on an old
sweater and went to meet her.
    I: So the rest of your group doesn't have to do
anything anymore?
    S: No, only me. I'm 'The Bearer.'
    I: Okay. Go on.   
    S: So I go to the sorority house and she takes me to
her room. She throws a t-shirt at me and tells me to wear it. It's light blue
and I unfurl it and see 'SLUT' written on it in large, bold letters. So I put
it on and—
    I: Did you hesitate?
    S: No, I was mentally preparing for some crazy task
and honestly I was a little relieved. I was guessing she just wanted me to go
out and walk around wearing that shirt for a bit. It could have been worse.
    I: I see. Go on.
    S: So I took off my sweater and bra and put on the
t-shirt. She—
    I: Was it a good fit?
    S: You mean the shirt or the labeling of me as a
slut?
    I: Both.
    S: The shirt was sort of tight. And no, I wasn't a
slut; I had a single boyfriend almost all through that freshman year.
    I: You were still with him at the time of this
story?
    S: Yes.
    I: Go on.
    S: So yeah, she tells me to go out and hang out at
the bars and clubs that are on this main street where all the nightlife of the
campus happens. Again I was relieved that it wasn’t as crazy a task as it could
have been. But then as I’m heading out the door she says, if anyone asks you to
prove it, you prove it.
    I: Prove it?
    S: Yes. She said if anyone says the exact words
'prove it' I have to prove it.
    I: Prove what?
    S: That’s what I asked her. She said