Should this be allowed in High School? (1 Viewer)

[WillG]

This one sets off my bullshit detector. The girls who wore the button may be in favor of violece against women etc. But honestly, how many people in the school are going to see these girls wearing buttons that say "I heart my Vagina" and make that connection? They must have known that the buttons would invoke some sort of disciplinary reaction. I really fail to see how any intelligent person would think that it would fly in a public school. I have to suspect that they may have wore the buttons to be provocative and hide behind the guise of promoting feminism. Like others have said, there are better ways to promote the feminism that they claim to be doing. I do believe that stunts like this and the fallout is distracting to the learning process. If they want to wear the buttons outside of school, in a place where they won't offend other people, that's cool. But, I don't think schools are a place to test the system (unless students are getting legitametly fucked over in some way.)

Would people here support a student's right to wear a shirt or a button that said "I hate N*ggers?" in a public school? It's free speech, right?

 

[Jason Adams]

I honestly dont see a problem with it. Is it really hurting anyone? Its more "cute" than, say "a distraction to the learning process." I think of it just like those shirts with those stupid phrases on them.

But meanwhile....

*sets up Hot Dog and Lemonade stand for the return of John Alvarez *

 

[Glenn Overholt]

I don't see where a button like that is offensive. Since it doesn't answer everything, people will ask, and (hopefully) the correct answers will get out.

How about - "I (heart) Emily's lungs!" ?

Offensive?

Glenn

 

[Chucky P]

Well, it depends on what your definition of "support" is.

 

[John Spencer]

So would it be ok for some of the kids to wear shirts that say, "I Want Your Vagina."? No, it wouldn't. But there's nothing in their claims that contradict that.
These children aren't stupid. They're just pushing the envelope to see what they can get away with. That's how you get noticed in school. And then you can feel all cool, and be the unique snowflake that looks just like all the other cool snowflakes who flipped their fingers at The Man. Then, when the parents get into trouble for their child(ren)'s behavior, they will blame (Bush/God/Rock Music/TV/air/Society/food additives/Cola/Disney/et. al.) and sue their choice of scapegoat for ruining their child's development.
If these girls can be allowed to wear said shirts, then I think it only fair that the administration be allowed to say "OK, prove it. Right here and now."

 

[John Alvarez]

Thank you...Thank you...Thank you very much....
I agree I do think it's in bad taste and should not be allowed. Like someone else said if you feel that strongly about it then go volunteer at a clinic or shelter. How many high school boys REALLY feel that way though.

 

[Marko Berg]

I see people in this thread referring to the incident with terms such as "shock value" and "pushing the envelope". I fail to see the big deal about this. Is the word "vagina" considered shocking somehow?

It's not like the young women wearing the buttons are shouting bad words at the top of their lungs, yet that seems to be how some people at the school feel about this. Where I live, I doubt such buttons would have raised many eyebrows even when I went to school many many years ago, and rules are generally speaking less restrictive these days.

 

[MarkHastings]

Marko, the US (unfortunately) is extremely prudish when it comes to sex, nudity or anything else related to those subjects. Knowing this, it is pretty safe to say that they wear these kinds of things for the pure "shock value".

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Marko,

I'd like to relate an anectdote about this, seeing you are from the great country of Finland, I have one that applies. I have a good friend that is of Finnish descent, and (back in the day) when he had too much to drink, he tended to curse in his parent's native tongue. One of the words he used was very similar in meaning to the English "vagina", but far more derogatory, especially when paired with another vile word. I had no idea what it meant, but it sounded really foul and I picked it up as a good generic curse. One day I was hanging out with my friend and his attractive female cousin. She spoke fluent Finnish. I was eager to impress her with my newfound fluency in her native language, so I blurted out the only words I knew (the afore mentioned curse words). Needless to say, I got slapped and she immediately left the party.

Moral of the story, what is offensive to some may not be offensive to others, especially across cultures and languages.:b

 

[brentl]

"Where I live, I doubt such buttons would have raised many eyebrows even when I went to school many many years ago"

Exactly. If I saw this at work(retail) I'd just laugh and wouldn't find it offensive at all.

The world is WAY too PC as it is.

Brent

 

[Eric Kahn]

My High school had a dress code, It did not have issues like this, if they did not like what you were wearing, they sent you home to change.

I am one of the people that believes that all schools should have a dress code, it removes a big distraction from the classroom

I have been to strip joints where the strippers wore less revealing clothes than some of the girls I see passing the local highschools in the warm months.

 

[Chu Gai]

You need to hang out in a better class of strip joints Eric

 

[MarkHastings]

Remember, just because YOU don't find it offensive, doesn't mean it ISN'T offensive. I don't find it offensive at all, but I agree that the kids shouldn't be wearing them.

And in this case, offensive isn't the main issue, it's more about what the school deems "acceptable". As others have mentioned, every school has a dress code policy, some are more strict than others. My school wouldn't allow jackets to be worn inside. The reason was that kids would steal food by hiding it in their jackets.

Is this fair to those who didn't plan on stealing food? Not at all, but if you wore a jacket, you got in trouble...plain and simple, no if's and's or but's.

Asking students not to wear these buttons is HARDLY a case of an over-oppressive (or too PC) school. It's just a matter of what the school finds acceptable school wear.

 

[Marko Berg]

Jeff,

I have a pretty good idea what the words you blurted out were, and if you still remember them, I'd advise you to forget them and never use them again.

Your point regarding cultural differences is noted, but the situation you were in was a bit different. The young women who got in trouble were wearing buttons that didn't have a derogatory word in them. They also didn't say it out loud as far as I know.

"Vagina" is a clinical term, I would think it is frequently used in television and radio in appropriate context in the US. I don't think it would be considered offensive in, say, a 60 Minutes type of program with a segment where female health was discussed. (The Finnish language has borrowed the word too, and it is - again in context - common vocabulary.) Why then would it be considered offensive in a button? Isn't it a good thing the young women are raising awareness about the subject the Vagina Monologues is about, assuming this genuinely is what they wanted to do? And while they could certainly find other ways to help, such as do volunteer work at a shelter as has been suggested, why should the two options be mutually exclusive?



This could of course be the actual motive for wearing the buttons, to deliberately offend some people. The problem is, by making a big deal out of it, I think they have lost some sympathy.

 

[Holadem]

Soo... Whatever happened to Elinor?

--
H

 

[Jeff Gatie]

I think this is the root of the problem. Many people who feel strongly about something tend to get in the face of people who may not share, understand or even know what their view is. This not only offends the other persons, it does a disservice to their cause by chasing people away from what may be a legitimate endeavor. I know I would rather discuss the subject with a woman that wears a "Ask me about battered women" button than someone who professes to "(heart)" their vagina. The former is a definitive something I could be interested in supporting, the latter could mean anything and doesn't really do much other than shock.

Sort of like the difference between wearing a yellow ribbon to support troops in a war and wearing a "KILL THEM ALL ... and let God sort them out" T-Shirt.

 

[Marko Berg]

It seems the women have left the thread, and it's just the men involved in the Vagina Dialogue. Typical. :p)

 

[MarkHastings]

During 60 minutes, yes, but I don't think they're allowed to say it on "Sponge-Bob Square Pants". That's where the 'appropriateness' of the term comes into play. I still say that the word is not acceptable to be wearing on buttons (or clothing) in a school system.

 

[Ryan Wishton]

I think the real stupidity is how people let these words get so out of hand to begin with all these years ago. Are people really that shallow? I guess so.

Vagina is no different from knee and head according to the dictionary. Just the name of a body part. Maybe if people knew more about their body parts, we wouldn't have so much stupid sex (15 year old's getting knocked up left and right, spreading diseases, etc.)

This comes off as more immature than anything. Especially the male shirt's saying. I mean how many teen males are going to intentionally see The Vagina Monologues?

Mark,

Spongebob might not have said vagina, but he has said clitty and big balls. You obviously haven't seen the show.

Farting and obscene noises seem to be all the accepted glory nowadays. I could only imagine what would happen back in the 1950's if someone let out a big fart at a fancy dinner party? Probably get hit with a belt like 55 times.

 

[Richard Kim]

Um, what about sex-ed class? Or heck even human anatomy/physiology class? Is the use of words like "penis" or "vagina" obscene in those instances??