The “v-word” controversy, in their own words
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- March
- 7
Click “here”:http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/VIDEO01/70306019/-1/WEBHEAD01 to watch a video of the John Jay High School students and principal talk about “The Vagina Monologues” controversy.
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on Wednesday, March 7th, 2007 at 10:53 am by Diana Costello.
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I’m 62 years old and a resident of South Salem. And I am ashamed. I THOUGHT John Jay was suppose to be an intitution of education – well I guess I was wrong. What a terrible message this Principal has sent. By the way his ASS should be fired. Vagina is not a dirty word.
these brave young ladies should be un-suspended and apologized to ASAP!!!
This is not about the word Vagina. This is about following instructions from a school official. If a student was told to not sing in the library or not leave campus and they did, there must be consequences. If you disagree with the rule, then you should discuss it and run it up the flag pole (Board & Superintendent). There are other venues to read this passage – cable TV being one. The smug girls liked the cameras of the news crews rolling. They didn’t come off as genuinely militant in their beliefs. Serve the time and listen to those in charge.
I’m a feminist. That said, I think these girls were one hundred percent wrong, and this whole thing is just a bid for attention. I’ve seen clips of them on every major news program, every single time I watch the news, and I have to laugh at how obnoxious and arrogant they are. They declare that saying the word “vagina?” was liberating??? How ridiculous. You need to have been opressed to be liberated, and someone needs to explain to me how a sixteen year old in Cross River has been oppressed, ‘cause I just don’t get understand.
The point, which seems to be lost on them and everyone else, is the school has a responsibility to other students. When you have an event that is open to the public, there is the possibility there might be young children in the audience. Whether or not there were, is not the point. The school had to prepare for the eventuality that there might be. They can’t say they’re having a G-rated event when it’s actually PG. In my opinion, it’s not the usage of the word itself that was the problem…it was the context it was in. This was not a biology lesson. I can see how people might view the entire passage as suggestive, and as such, it was not suitable for a public, family friendly event. There’s a difference between attending a public reading of THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES…since one would already know what is being read…and accidentally exposing a child to this material at an open mike night, where one might not be fully aware of the material being presented. In the latter case, people are relying on the princepal to censor material that is not appropriate for all audiences.
The fact that these girls disregarded the princepal and are now basking in the media attention, says much about what their motivies actually are. I cringe every single time one of them opens their mouth on a news broadcast. It’s obvious that they think they did something worthy, when they talk about “preserving the moral integrity of the piece.” How about having some consideration for your poor princepal, who is the one who has to catch all the flak he’d be getting from offended parents, or the parents themselves, who may not want their child hearing those passsages, for their own reasons? They are not the ones to decide what other “children” are ready to hear.
Wow. I mean seriously, wow… For a European this whole discussion is very difficult understand. How on earth can a SINGLE WORD being said cause you guys going completely nuts?
keep up the good spirit and keep us laughing! Send all sexual offenders above the age of 15 months to jail!!! They should know better, these annyoing brats 
I am sorry to say but the only possible reaction for us is just to laugh at you. How can on earth can a nation that owns a “statue of liberty” be so completely intolerant and ignorant to the basic human rights, which we in the “old world” would call freedom of speech?
This said, I’ll have to make a compliment as well: You are always good for a hearty laugh in the European media. Every time you send a 10-year-old to jail in handcuffs for kissing an 11-year-old good-bye, accused of sexual offence, we are having the time of our lifes
I’d like to know what word the students were supposed to use instead of “vagina”. Since when did vagina become an offensive word? I have to say that the Katonah-Lewisboro school system is one big mess. Maybe the school should have consulted with their PR firm that they pay thousands of dollars to before they suspended these students. They may have received some better advice. I don’t understand why these young women get punished and an athlete who’s been arrested for DWI (on more than one occassion allegedly) does not. One more reason not to vote for the upcoming budget. The money isn’t used for the students anyway.
Daniel, the answer is because the US is emotionally repressed.
Any word used can spark feelings and Rome cannot have that type of decent. otherwise how can we please everyone all the time.
NY State needs more administrators like Rich Leprine. These young ladies knew what was in store for them if they read the passage that they had agreed not to. Previous articles published in the Journal News indicated that they knew not to read it but they chose to anyway. Now they claim they were unaware of the consequences and never said they would not read it. Well what is it?? I personally would not want my daughters in the middle of this Vagina controversy. If they listened to Principal Leprine they would not be in the middle of this. Leprine needs our support not condemnation.
uh-huh. They were both wrong. principal for being short sighted, the girls for breaking a promise.
I don’t want a principal that has issues with body parts. lets not discuss the L word. cause we all have 2.
I AGREE with shannon 100%. She’s a real feminist, and would know best. All of you other people don’t know SHIT so keep your mouths closed.
Daniel,
Gee, I’m really upset to hear that a bunch of Europeans that live on a land mass that can easily fit into one of our states, are spending their time laughing at us rich powerful Americans. Especially since apparently, since there’s nothing going on there in Europe, you’re over here reading OUR news and commenting on OUR blogs. Notice we’re not over there reading yours. Guess why that is? I would burst into tears at the thought of Europeans everywhere laughing at me…but…oh gee…I don’t care!!! Have fun basking in your false sense of enlightened European superiority…because that’s all you’ve got!