TIME alabama

Alabama Sorority Removes ‘Objectifying’ Promotional Video After Backlash

The six-minute-long video was published last week to attract potential new recruits

The Alpha Phi sorority chapter at the University of Alabama has removed a promotional video from all of its social media accounts after complaints that it depicts women “selling themselves on looks alone, as a commodity,” according to one op-ed, and shows a lack of diversity.

The six-minute-long clip was published last week to attract potential new recruits ahead the annual sorority rush recruitment event at the university, Mashable reports. The video shows the sorority sisters running around campus in bikinis and football jerseys and putting on makeup, among other things.

Criticism towards the chapter was initially sparked by an op-ed published by writer A.L. Bailey on local news website, AL.com. “It’s all so racially and aesthetically homogeneous and forced, so hyper-feminine, so reductive and objectifying, so Stepford Wives: College Edition. It’s all so … unempowering,” Bailey wrote of the video.

Since then, the video has been reuploaded by countless YouTube users. While commenters panned what they referred to as the video’s sexist undertones, others have defended the video as just being a fun promotion for the group.

It isn’t the first time the university’s sororities have come under fire for a lack of diversity. An investigation conducted last year revealed the extent to which traditionally all-white sororities at the school rejected women of color as pledges.

“This video is not reflective of UA’s expectations for student organizations to be responsible digital citizens,” University of Alabama’s Associate Vice President for University Relations, Deborah Lane, said in a statement.

[video id=9zJDXklZ]

Read next: Is Facebook Messing With Your Self-Esteem?

Download TIME’s mobile app for iOS to have your world explained wherever you go

See Sports Illustrated’s 100 Best Masters Photos

Masters Golf Best Photos Sports Illustrated Masters Golf Best Photos Sports Illustrated Masters Golf Best Photos Sports Illustrated Masters Golf Best Photos Sports Illustrated Masters Golf Best Photos Sports Illustrated Masters Golf Best Photos Sports Illustrated Masters Golf Best Photos Sports Illustrated
Tap to read full story

Your browser is out of date. Please update your browser at http://update.microsoft.com


YOU BROKE TIME.COM!

Dear TIME Reader,

As a regular visitor to TIME.com, we are sure you enjoy all the great journalism created by our editors and reporters. Great journalism has great value, and it costs money to make it. One of the main ways we cover our costs is through advertising.

The use of software that blocks ads limits our ability to provide you with the journalism you enjoy. Consider turning your Ad Blocker off so that we can continue to provide the world class journalism you have become accustomed to.

The TIME Team