Larry Hnetka Goes HMmmm

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Hannah Levinson, Megan Reback and Elan Stahl suspended after reading excerpt from The Vagina Monologues.

Three John Jay High School juniors photographed outside their school in Lewisboro, NY, after a news conference detailing their suspension from classes for using the word vagina in a recitation of ‘The Vagina Monologues’ in school the week before.

From left are Hannah Levinson, Megan Reback and Elan Stahl. (AP -The Journal News, Ricky Flores)

Okay, so the word “vagina” caught my attention while scanning through Abandoned Stuff by Saskboy’s blog.

Immediately what came to mind was the many times on my travels when I said I came from Regina, Saskatchewan, I received a shocked look and had to repeat that I did not say vagina, but Regina.

But back to Saskboy’s post which sums up the flurry of debate caused by these students uttering the word vagina out loud.

What I found interesting on his entry was this:

I challenge every blogger who reads this, to use the word “vagina” in a blog post title today, linking to Debra’s site to give your readers the reason why you’re speaking up for the genital that’s getting the short end of the free speech stick in a New York school.

My quick response to his challenge? As a man with a penis and little knowledge of the vagina, it’s not the word that’s getting the freedom of speech short stick. Vagina is simply the jumping off place for other underlying systemic problems.

I apologize for falling back on the cliche but “do you know where your children are and what they’re doing?”

Here’s my take on the hoohaa brouhaha in context as it played out.

Apparently when the girls auditioned to read an excerpt they were told they could read it as long as they didn’t say the word “vagina”. Wouldn’t anyone with half a clue predict what these honour roll students would do?

The other readings that evening included a student’s original work and the football coach quoting Shakespeare. Not to denigrate the student’s original work which I have not read nor to belittle the genius of Shakespeare’s work, but did the event flyer read something like this?

The principal defends the suspension saying the girls were not being punished for what they read rather for disobeying orders (i.e., his censoring of content). Shake your head Mr. Principal. You’re backpedaling a pretty lame defense. You’re spinning the story away from the action against the girls.

At first glance, if I had children, I might side with the principal’s argument. But that is too easy and lets responsibility fall in the wrong place.

If I was a parent, I’d be checking out the events my children were either participating in or attending. Where’s parental supervision and guidance in all this nonsense?

The issue was important enough for the principal to decide the girls could not say the word vagina. Again, it’s not the word, it’s how a word provides an opportunity for censorship.

The principal had no business making that decision. The event organizers are delinquent in overseeing a program appropriate for their audience. The parents seem absent in knowing what and where their children are doing.

I applaud these young girls for their courage to challenge censorship. I suspect these girls will continue on as honour students and will question the status quo.

It would be a sad day for everyone if our children did not push the envelope to keep those of us in the older generation on our toes. And maybe, as an added benefit, in touch with our genitals too.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 7th, 2007 at 10:34:07 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.