Controlling the Narrative: Gatekeeping, Secret Societies, and Good Ol??? Boys Networks

What had happened was I was dating a writer who often bragged about being a part of several secret societies. (Why anyone would brag about this…) It turned out a few of my friends and several local political figures and historians that I looked up to were either members of or engaged in activities at Knights of Pythias’s downtown temple, Commencement Lodge #7. The first several times he invited me to hang out were under the auspices of giving me a private tour of the historic building. Over cocktails one night, I met the then incoming Chair of the Pythian Sisters. I was told the Pythian Sisters were in charge of the KOP’s charity efforts and they wanted to diversify their membership. She encouraged me to attend the upcoming meeting. I was under the impression that I would be asking questions and learning about the organization. Instead, I ended up sitting in a hallway with the Chair’s husband/ a.k.a. the writer’s best friend for an hour. When the Chair came to get me, she gave me bizarrely specific instructions for how to enter the room, asked about a vow of purity, instructed me to walk around the room in a circle, and the group congratulated me on becoming a Pythian Sister.

Tags: Boys Networks