Marquette University to Host “Vagina Monologues”
Written by Brian on January 30, 2007 – 1:41 am - Welcome, if you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed or subscribe to our email newsletter. Thanks for visiting!
The Warrior has a first breaking story by yours truly about Marquette University’s decision to reverse its decision last year to allow the Vagina Monologues on campus:
The highly controversial “Vagina Monologues†will be the heart of a symposium sponsored by the Marquette Honors Program entitled “Academic Conversation on Catholicism, Sexuality, and Human Rights,†April 14 at 4 p.m.
The announcement of the event is less than a year after the university denied left-leaning student organization JUSTICE’s request for the monologues’ performance last spring. The Rev. Andy Thon, Vice President of Student Affairs, said at the time a performance of the monologues would be “distractive” from the issue of violence against women.
But Director of University Communications Brigid Miller said this rendition of the monologues are permissible because they are being sponsored by an academic department, not a student organization. Unlike students, faulty-based “academic units are free to host lectures, discussions and symposia that are appropriate to their subject areas.
Marquette’s wishy-wash position on these violent depictions of women is not terribly surprising. Marquette has a pretty well known history (see here for example) of turning around on an issue when something feels more politically or financially feasible.
I find it sad and unfortunate that the best way that Marquette feels it can address the issue of violence against women is through the Vagina Monologues, a series of acts that includes underage rape, prostitution, and a grotesque lack of seriousness about sex.
The sad truth is that most feminists, such as those who wrote the Vagina Monologues, have zero interest in women’s health. For such individuals, the exercise of raw shock is supposed to serve some perverse sense of empowerment for angry, bitter political leftovers.
Speaking of Political Leftovers
My my, how times have changed. Time was when there was only one paper on campus, and the best we could expect of investigative journalism from that entity was a story three years ago about a professor getting tuberculosis.
Now, that same paper relies on it’s adversaries for sources while it pines for the day when it and the Administration controlled the flow of debate at Marquette University. “Come gather ’round people, wherever you are …”
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Posted in Marquette Golden Chickens, We're Scooping the Tribune |
January 30th, 2007 at 7:51 am
It just makes me sad Brian that you don’t understand the purpose of the monologues at all. And yes, I am a feminist, and I’m very concerned with women’s health, which is precisely why the monologues are important, and why condoms and other forms of birth control shouldn’t come with such a negative stigma. Our culture is teaching women to be ashamed of their sexuality, yet men can go around talking about who they “nailed” last night and are supposed to be praised for it. It’s a double standard set forth by the patriarchical system, and if the Vagina Monologues can be a first step in the direction of allowing women to discuss issues that are true to them and remove the negativity from female sexuality, then it’s a VERY good step.
January 30th, 2007 at 11:18 am
Your “first step” is falling backwards. How does a play that depicts pedophilia and homosexual rape help women in any way?
January 30th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
mu socialist,
I agree with the goals you posted (I seem to be more out spoken about gender equality than many of the liberals) but your post doesn’t address the issues that Brian brought up like the pedophilia, prostitution and rape. I would think the inclusion of those things along side such important messages diminishes and even compromises the before mentioned goals that we both share. I would be interested in reading your views on those portions of the monologues?
January 30th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
Nathan,
These portions of the monologues are the experiences of real women. Should we exclude them because they’re graphic? Of course not. And none of these stories necessarily “condone” such behavior. They are women who experienced these acts looking back on their experiences, and instead of wallowing in self-hate and disgust, they’ve found a way to use their experiences to empower themselves. You know why so many women don’t report their rape? It’s because we’ve taught our girls that rape isn’t ok to talk about ever, and that they should be ashamed of THEMSELVES if they’re raped. It’s ok to take a negative situation and turn it into something positive. It’s called SURVIVAL. The monologues are about exactly that — survival, empowerment, and women taking ownership of their own sexuality in a world that tells them they are the sexual property of men.
And Brian,
You’re a nice guy, and I consider you a pal, but don’t think for a second that you had this story before the Trib did. You just publish online before the Trib does. OBVIOUSLY I mentioned the Monologues’ approval to my Tribber friends, and as much as I appreciate your offer of buying me alcohol to keep quiet until the Warrior broke the story first, I can’t in good conscience do anything that would positively benefit a newspaper that is so offensive to the very core of my value system. I’m sorry, but I can’t let you toot your own horn on this one when you have nothing to toot about.
January 31st, 2007 at 6:36 am
Jess,
The Tribune’s Editor in Chief and Managing Editor both told Warrior staffers that they first heard about the Monologues news on GOP3. Take that for what you will. In addition, think about what that logically says as far as who/what the Tribune pays attention to, and also who they do not keep a keen ear open for, in order to find news.
Brian
January 31st, 2007 at 7:35 am
Brian,
I happen to think that oftentimes things that shouldn’t even be news become news because you GOP’ers get your panties in a twist over something that isn’t even an issue. Perhaps the Trib pays attention to your postings in an effort to more fairly (generally, this isn’t always the case) report on things that might become skewed in a troublesome way if they’re solely reported by you guys.
I do, however, applaud your ability to say the word “vagina.” That’s more than I’ve come to expect from a lot of anti-monologues protesters. Honestly, if you can’t say it, if you can’t talk openly about it, you shouldn’t be allowed to see one
January 31st, 2007 at 7:44 am
Jess,
I’m a little confused. Clearly you think that the monologues are a serious and important way to discuss “women’s issues,” to collect them under one umbrella, but then you seem to assert that, well, you know, it’s not really a big deal/newsworthy that they could/should be played.
If the Trib wants to report on stuff because we are, that’s fantastic. That means that we’re facilitating the debate about issues on campus and the Trib is running around playing catch up to us, which I don’t mind at all.
January 31st, 2007 at 12:40 pm
It was not the graphic portions that concerned me. I’ve been accused of a lot of things but being squeamish has never been one of them. I read in the Trib (yes I do read it) that a portion describers a particular experience with rape as the victims “salvation” It is hard to image how a….lets say women’s issues presentation…. can provide that commentary in a representational or constructive context. Additionally, it does bother me that things, such as rape, especially of a minor, is presented in a comedic fashion. The holocaust was a horrible experience for may people too but I don’t think presenting any portion of that in a comedic way would be deemed constructive or appropriate.
January 31st, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Nathan-
Check out the movie Life is Beautiful.
February 1st, 2007 at 1:59 am
“The holocaust was a horrible experience for may people too but I don’t think presenting any portion of that in a comedic way would be deemed constructive or appropriate.”
As Greg said, watch the movie Life Is Beautiful. It is my favorite Holocaust movie specifically because it finds humor in the dark places of the human experience, and beauty in a particularly ugly patch of history. Rather than wringing its hands and saying, “Wasn’t that terrible?” as films like Schindler’s List do, Life Is Beautiful says something much more powerful…that life goes on amidst pain and horror, and is…well…beautiful.
Brandon, how can the real views and experiences of women who have endured sexual abuse, rape, and violence NOT help women?
February 1st, 2007 at 9:22 am
First, I can feel compassion for women who are raped without watching it. Do we all need to watch pre-teen homosexual rape to feel that it is wrong? No. It’s vulgar, obscene and unnecessary. This is a Catholic university, if they want the play shown elsewhere fine, I am all about freedom of speech but the fact that this campus is Catholic differentiates us from others. Why not remove the Catholic if we are not going to stand by it?
On another note.
Just as a correction, there was some confusion over who had first knowledge of this story and where it came from. The Editor-in-Cheif of the Marquette Tribune did contact me and state that he and one other reporter learned of this from the Gop3.com post but another reporter was already assigned to the story and had prior knowledge. It was posted on The Warrior website first and then the story that the Tribune was working on was printed in their Tuesday edition. Thank you for the clarification Ryan.
February 1st, 2007 at 11:22 am
I’m always open to learning something new. I just read about it on yahoo movies and will rent it. It seems to have gotten great reviews. It doesn’t seem to make light of horrible events so much as getting through it. The monologues talk about rape of a minor as a great experience for the child. Contrarily, this movie doesn’t seem to be talking about what a great experience the holocaust was. Never the less I am a movie buff and always enjoy a good flick. Thanks for the tip.
February 1st, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Kat and Greg-
I agree, Life is Beautiful is an amazing film. However, it isn’t really analogous to The Vagina Monologues. There is “comedy” in the film, but it is in no way crass and not about the actual Holocaust (as opposed to the “If it was rape, it was good rape” line in TVM). The beauty and the comedy is found in the strength of the human spirit, not in the situation.
Nathan-
I promise it will be worth your time.
February 17th, 2007 at 12:44 am
i’m confused as to how you would solve the problem of violence against women by being blind to it. silence and ignorance only help those who wish to continue censorship and imprisonment.