Wingnuts shift uncomfortably
Cute high school girls who are proud of their sexuality, and not afraid to show it? And the ACLU is involved? Watch out for howls of protest from the right. Meanwhile, notice how the wingnuts shift uncomfortably in their seats.
Star Tribune: 2 Winona High students put free speech to the test:
Two Winona High School students have found themselves in hot water with school officials.
Why? Because after Carrie Rethlefsen attended a performance of the play "The Vagina Monologues" last month, she and Emily Nixon wore buttons to school that read: "I [heart] My Vagina."
School leaders said that the pin is inappropriate and that the discomfort it causes trumps the girls' right to free speech. The girls disagree. And despite repeated threats of suspension and expulsion, Rethlefsen has continued to wear her button.
The girls have won support from other students and community members.
More than 100 students have ordered T-shirts bearing "I [heart] My Vagina" for girls and "I Support Your Vagina" for boys.
"We can't really find out what is inappropriate about it," Rethlefsen, 18, said of the button she wears to raise awareness about women's issues. "I don't think banning things like that is appropriate."
Their case could become another test of whether high school students have the right to express their views in school. Charles Samuelson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, has offered to help the girls.
"It's political speech," he said.
posted by Luke Francl @ 11:50 AM |
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16 Comments:
As both a public school employee and someone who has read The Vagina Monologues in one sitting, I have mixed feelings about this. While I certainly support a student's right to free speech, and I don't doubt that these girls are truly proud of their respective vaginas (why shouldn't they be?), I have to wonder what they were hoping to gain from such an undertaking. The cynic in me asks if these girls are making a statement for the sake of advancing women's rights, or if they are looking to stir the pot of controversy so that the media will make a big stink out of the opression of teens in school. I guess I am having a hard time with the idea of it all. Maybe this will spark a new trend much like the Lance Armstrong "Livestrong" bracelets that everyone wears these days, but only half do so because they know what it stands for. I bet there is a market out there for "I [heart] my penis" pins, too. My question is, what is their ultimate goal? If they can answer that question intelligently, then maybe I will form a more solid position. Right now, however, I have to go cook dinner. My penis and I have a date.
True, true.
I mostly think it is hilarious. And I am looking forward to enjoying the response.
Color me stupid, What right do I have that these girls don't? I know you'all are going to rail on me for this statement but here it goes anyway. They are highschool kids, what they know is mommy and daddy clothe them, Feed them, House them. Move out, get a job and get kicked in the head by life a couple times and then make your statements. I love vagina's too, does that mean i should wear a button proclaiming so? What the hell do they know about anybody's rights. I think they are getting a big kick out of the whole thing.
Scott K
The girls will win. Time after time the right of school newspapers/yearbooks/rallies etc to speak freely has been upheld.
The thing about free speech is...it's free!
Notice what made a big deal out of it. It wasn't two girls wearing buttons. It was an uptight bureaucrat saying, "Hey! You can't wear something that says 'Vagina!' Silly. If they just let it slide, nothing would have come of it. The girls would have gained some perspective and taken the things off, or not.
I don't think I'd want my son sporting a shirt saying I HEART MY SCHLONG but then again he's only 2.
Nasty comments about high school womens' crotches have been deleted. Please show some respect.
Why do those Winona High School officials hate cute girls and America?
Here's a long, lovely Fark thread on the whole thing.
I don't believe minors in school can exercise their free speech rights without restrictions. My high school had an alternative paper that the school banned. I think the case went to the MN Supreme Court and they lost...
Correction... I think the school can only restrict "offensive" or "obscene" or "disruptive" speech. The argument of political speech wil hopefullyl be a stronger argument, but not necessarily a hands-down victory.
I think my high school's alt-newspaper had some nasty cartoons and other questionable (but funny) content that probably lost the case for them.
The question comes down to, "Are the acts of these children disruptive?" If they are, then they should be modified so they are not.
Children are without franchise. As a result, the importance of "political speech" is not the same as it is for an adult. Regardless, the same political point could be made wearing an I HEART FEMINISM button. This is an easy arguement to reject.
There is another side to this though. Girls, especially during the teenage years are prone to feelings inadaquacy, reduced self-esteem and associated resultant (generally) self destructive behavior (drugs, alchohol, promiscuity, eating disorders etc.)
If this activity also disrupts those behaviors, it may be a good thing.
Finally, for those of you who reject the I HEART MY SCHLONG arguement, I will only add that the way to build up a group is not to tear down the esteem of another. If you allow the first, you make the second a necessary evil.
Signed,
-Censored
"I [heart] Feminism" doesn't mean the same thing as "I [heart] my vagina".
Feminism is gender-neutral. Being happy with one's vagina is something only a woman can experience. Which is the entire point of The Vagina Monologues.
See, I also believe that 'feminism' is gender-neutral, but I once got into a pretty good argument with a good (female) friend who said otherwise. She claimed that since I'm a guy, I can't be a *real* feminist; I can only be supportive of feminists. I thought and still think that's asinine, but it serves to show two things here. One, even widespread and important politcal/ social/ philosophical movements don't necessarily have agreed-upon identites or definitions. Two, "I heart feminism" and "I heart my vagina" still mean two separate things... but not because of gender-neutrality.
I think that once again, high school kids are doing a big thing badly. If the guys at the school were getting shirts that said "I (heart) your vagina" instead of "I support your vagina," you can bet the difference in meaning would be clear.
The word is clearly chosen for the way it's culturally charged. That's the WHOLE POINT of the monologues. The argument that "vagina" is not the point of the argument is tenuous... which is a pity, because the larger argument (the one about feminism and identity) is so obviously worth having.
I don't think the "I (heart) my penis" argument can be so easily dismissed. Is some broadway show really enough to establish the larger political connotations of the "I (heart) my vagina" button? I'm not sure. I do know that if these young women win, within two months some meathead jock will be wearing a "I (heart) my penis" button and asking for equal protection. The legal subtlety of protected speech vs. getting away with having a dirty word on your shirt is likely to be lost on most highschoolers. The courts or school system will really have to split hairs to explain why one is protected political speech (based solely on the content of some show), while the other is just offensive.
Luke,
No matter how whipped you are, no matter how PC, no matter how metrosexual, you must conceed that there are differences between men and women.
The notion that "feminism" is gender neutral is just plain stupid.
That is all.
Signed,
-Censored
Feminism is the ideology that argues for equal rights for men and women, not that men and women are the same in all ways (that is obviously stupid...so stupid, I'm surprised you even bother setting it up as a strawman. Oh, wait...).
Ideologies can be held by anyone. There are plenty of male feminists.
Actually, speaking as a classmate and forced observer of the situation, this IS a joke.
Carrie has gotten exactly what she wanted: attention.
Note: NOT attention directed toward discussion of the issues she CLAIMS to feel strongly about. If that were her goal, you would think she would have TALKED ABOUT IT at all, which she hasn't. Now that she has the world's attention, she has nothing to say.
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