Imagine a college English course in which a male instructor assigns a book that focuses crass attention on the male reproductive organ—names men have for it, how it might dress, what it would say if it could talk? Imagine that this shallow piece of faux-literature was filled with ridiculous paeans to the godlike quality of the penis. And imagine this vile work having a chapter that romanticizes the molestation of a thirteen-year-old-boy by an adult male.
Can you see college administrators saying, in response to complaints, that it trusts the judgment of its instructors? Can you envision adults taking all this in stride and even noting that such a text is sure to spur interesting discussions? Can you picture in your mind someone comparing this tasteless tripe to a literary classic?
One can hardly imagine such an insensitive, politically incorrect course ever seeing the light of day. And if it did, outrage, firings, and lawsuits would follow posthaste.
Now imagine English 100 at a community college. Imagine a short reading list that includes Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues and a lurid essay by bell hooks called Penis Passion. Imagine a monologue called “The Little Coochi Snorcher That Could,” that highlights a female’s fond recollection of being seduced at age thirteen by a “gorgeous twenty-four-year-old woman.”
Actually, one needn’t visualize such a course, since it was offered at Palomar College by an adjunct professor. Indeed, the course was thought sufficiently controversial to deserve a warning label—so it’s unlikely administrators were unaware of its content. Yet even after a public complaint, President Bob Deegan was satisfied to say, “There are no guidelines in course content because we trust professors to choose the right materials.”
To date, commentary on this incident has been decidedly ho-hum, and largely of the academic freedom variety. Any honest adult knows, however, that if the sex of the instructor, the offensive materials, and the complainant were reversed, there would be hell to pay. No one would be suggesting that academic freedom covers benign depictions of child molestation and gross, male-centered vulgarity. So why isn’t what’s sauce for the gander, sauce for the goose?
The truth is that higher education is on the cutting edge of societal decadence and that “academic freedom” is now an Orwellian concept used to sanction whatever immoral, intolerant, and conspiratorial lies are being proffered by tenured leftists. (Ward Churchill springs to mind.) Likewise, “diversity” is the term most employed to stifle dissent. Note the Arizona State University resident assistant who was put on probation after objecting to the school’s mandatory sensitivity training—a popular program that reeducates employees to the way white, heterosexual males and religious folk victimize every other grievance group in society.
Morality simply isn’t a component in the thought of elites who view The Vagina Monologues as feminist scripture. For them, politics trumps morality every time. That’s the sole reason this line was omitted from later editions of the play: “…if it was rape, it was a good rape.”
4 comments:
Hi Richard,
I think it's important to emphasize the point that the penis penetrates and is a prelude to pregnancy. The penis is viewed as something of a weapon with its ability to impregnate, spread disease and to poke violently. Vaginas tend to be associated with less domination and violence. That's why you aren't seeing Penis Theater just yet. Perhaps one day when the erect phallice of our male dominated society grows flaccid and limp such productions will be more accepted.
Sincerely,
-Chris Pogos
Chris' response is typical of a mindset (ubiquitous in Blue America) that isn't perturbed by the molestation of a 13-year-old girl if it occurs within the context of a politically approved cultural vehicle. Morality, in this view, is inconsequential. What matters are things that take morality out of the equation--the sex organs of political or cultural avitars, zero population growth, economic factors, etc. Part of this psycho-social faith involves the tiresome repetition of mind-numbing mantras like "male dominated society"--a dogma that continues to be promulgated despite the fact that more females now graduate from college than males, that Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House, that Condi Rice is Sec. of State (I suspect Chris thinks she's a "female imposter"--the insult hurled at Texas senator Kaye Bailey Hutchinson by a "feminist" leader), and that Oprah Winfrey is worth millions of bucks and can make a book a best seller simply by recommending it on her show.
Chris' politics force him to assert, in opposition to Harvard's former President, that men and women are exactly the same--except that women and the shape of their sex organs make them different (and in Chris' Phil Donahuesque POV, better). Chris is the poster boy for "good rapes"--i.e. those done by his political allies.
The poster boy for "good rapes"? I was just presenting the conventional wisdom. No need to label me so harshly. I've felt the inequalities of the feminist movement and I was going to mention the rising number of female grads versus male but you decided to take that and insult me with it. I hope you don't talk to your mother with that mouth.
-CP
You lecture me about a potty mouth? Look at YOUR post, CP.
Please make an effort to be clearer if you want to engage in intellectual discourse. Mind-reading shouldn't be a requirement you impose on readers. The Vagina Monologues (in contradistinction to your post, which may or may not be ironic)is not a work that lacks public acceptance. It is a long-running Broadway production that had the former Mayor's former wife eager to be an on-stage V. In addition, it has been the inspiration for demonstrations of morally vacuous feminists shouting the "C-word" in unison in traditional cultures (much to the chagrin of both males and females in those cultures who still believe in modesty and sexual restraint). See Dinesh D'Souza's "The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11."
If D'Souza is correct, a major reason for Islamic Terrorism directed against the U.S. is the "atheistic" and abysmally decadent culture promoted by the cultural left in America--a culture for which THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES is a poster girl.
I don't find that fact very amusing. Maybe you do.
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