Oh my God, how ridiculous
Way to empower young women!
http://www.nbc5.com/education/11187138/detail.html?rss=chi&psp=nationalnews
The excerpt from "Monologues" was read Friday night, among various readings at an event sponsored by the literary magazine at John Jay High School in Cross River, a New York City suburb. Among the other readings was a student's original work and the football coach quoting Shakespeare.
The girls took turns reading the excerpt until they came to the word, then said it together.
"My short skirt is a liberation flag in the women's army," they read. "I declare these streets, any streets, my vagina's country."
The suspension has prompted allegations of censorship. But Principal Richard Leprine said Tuesday that the girls were punished not because of what they said but because they disobeyed orders not to say it.
In a statement, Leprine said that because the event was open to the community, including children, the word "vagina" was not appropriate. He said the girls had been told when they auditioned that they could not use the word.
Reback said Tuesday that no one in the audience was younger than high school age. "What did we do that was so wrong?" she asked. "We were insubordinate, but the reason we were insubordinate was that we talked about our body."
The principal said that the school respects students' right to freedom of expression. "That right, however, is not unfettered.
"When a student is told by faculty members not to present specified material because of the composition of the audience and they agree to do so, it is expected that the commitment will be honored and the directive will be followed," Leprine said. "When a student chooses not to follow the directive, consequences follow."
Bob Lichtenfeld, superintendent of the Katonah-Lewisboro school district, which includes John Jay, said, "If the high school students wanted to put on a production of 'The Vagina Monologues,' they probably wouldn't have had any opposition. As long as the intended audience knows what to expect, we don't have a problem with it."
Ensler said the girls were right for "standing up for art and against censorship."
"The school's position is absurd, a throwback to the Dark Ages," she said. "So what, if children were to hear the word? Would that be terrible? We're not talking about plutonium here, or acid rain, a word that destroys lives. It's a body part!"
She said she called the girls to support them because "the school put them in an impossible position."