Ryan Murphy’s latest hit, Scream Queens, took Greek life by storm when it premiered this past September. Whereas every show and movie prior — think Animal House, Greek, House Bunny, etc. — showed the outlandish, partying, super fun, and omg we’re so untouchable aspects of fraternities and sororities, Scream Queens showcased some of the real, not-so-fun, and very much controversial aspects of wearing letters on your chest.

While the show’s first season was campy and over-the-top, it still brought to life many of the issues that are currently plaguing Greek life. Not everyone on IRL Fraternity Row experiences two-story closets, Karl Lagerfeld-designed couture, and a crazed axe murderer running amok in a red latex devil costume, but the show did delve into real problems that you’d see at many Greek houses in the country.

Things like racism, sexism, homophobia, elitism, hazing, binge-drinking, drug use, date rape, and — well, you get the picture — have been haunting sororities and fraternities since their founding, but have just recently come under widespread public scrutiny. Thanks to the internet and social media, Greek life transgressions that might have been previously swept under the rug (or taken care of quietly on campus) are now being outed and reported on within minutes of happening. Whereas plausible deniability was once easy, these days it is impossible. Big bad brothers and sisters can no longer deny what they’ve done. Between Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and students who are all too happy to post questionable incidents to the internet, the dirty laundry, so to speak, is all out there. And, as a result, it’s now becoming a fixture in pop culture.

While Scream Queens certainly tackled the issues of Greek life in a comical and oftentimes campy way, the fact of the matter remained: Ryan Murphy was still bringing the issues to light. And though of course not everything was accurate (again, where was that insane closet when I was my sorority’s vice president?), much of it was. Of course we can’t delve into every. little. thing. that was true (though I’m sure somewhere out there someone is doing just that in their thesis), but we can focus on the biggest thing that the show got right, and that is hazing.

1. Is it still hazing if it doesn’t hurt?

GIF: Courtesy of FOX

One of the greatest misconceptions about hazing is that it pretty much has to nearly kill you in order to constitute hazing. Yeah, that’s not true at all. In fact, hazing is pretty much defined as “any situation created intentionally that causes embarrassment, harassment or ridicule and risks emotional and/or physical harm.” Being forced to wear a certain T-shirt to class every Monday? You’re being hazed. Getting locked in a basement and told to study the Greek alphabet? You’re being hazed. Forced to dance in front of fraternities while wearing nothing but a sports bra and Nike shorts so that the guys can point out all the places your body jiggles? Yeah, you’re for sure being hazed.