the right not to be offended

The Same Students Who Defend Illegal Immigrants Appropriating American Rights And Benefits Make Clemson Grovel For Borrowing Mexican Culture

/ Jack Marshall / 29 Comments

sombreros

Actually, they didn’t make Clemson grovel, Clemson chose to grovel rather than teaching the proper lesson, which is that when you live in this melting pot culture, every thing it has belongs to you, and everything you bring to the pot belongs to it. Clemson’ ethical and responsible response to two students who were “offended” by “Mexican Food Night” and students wearing sombreros should have been “Oh, grow up!”

Clemson Dining’s “Maximum Mexican” night is a regular event popular among students.  However, when two students  took to Twitter to protest that the “#CulturallyInsensitive” food fest was offensive, Clemson officials rushed to apologize. The university also has a Irish-themed night for St. Patrick’s Day, but it might survive because the Irish missed their opportunity to become political correctness bullies and dictators.

Another student objected to the wearing of sombreros, saying, “Our culture isn’t a costume and we will not be mocked!” Once again, the correct response from the University was “shut up, you’re embarrassing yourself, and if you can’t understand this country better than that, then you really should do some nation shopping. ” Continue reading →

Ethics Alarms Mail Call: Mt. Holyoke Ditches “The Vagina Monologues” As “Non-Inclusive,” and the Misuse of Kindness

/ Jack Marshall / 20 Comments

VaginaI’m an ethicist who often writes on college controversies, and I make no secret about my double life in professional theater, so it figures that my inbox would include more than one query about Mt. Holyoke College’s decision to end its annual student performance of Eve Enlser’s “The Vagina Monologues” on the grounds that it is now admitting women without vaginas—I know, it’s confusing–who would feel excluded from what was supposed to be an inclusive experience and statement for the all-women’s school.

From Campus Reform:

The annual production of the play is part of a country-wide tradition to perform Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues on Valentine’s Day to raise awareness about gender-based violence and usually coincides with the V-Day campaign. The proceeds are donated to sexual assault prevention organizations or women’s rights organizations. This year, however, Mount Holyoke’s Project Theatre Board is defying tradition by permanently retiring the play. In a school-wide email from the Theatre Board, a representative from the group, Erin Murphy, explained the problems with the play and the reasoning behind its discontinuation.

“At its core, the show offers an extremely narrow perspective on what it means to be a woman…Gender is a wide and varied experience, one that cannot simply be reduced to biological or anatomical distinctions, and many of us who have participated in the show have grown increasingly uncomfortable presenting material that is inherently reductionist and exclusive,” the email, obtained by Campus Reform, said.

Replacing the play will be Mount Holyoke’s own version that will be trans-inclusive and fix the “problems” supposedly perpetuated by Ensler. Murphy also claims that there are problems with race, class, and “other identities” within the play. The new production, comprised of students’ monologues, will be performed in a fashion reminiscent of the feminist classic. The program will be performed alongside the College’s Peer Health Educators, an on-campus student-led group that provides education and workshops for students, including a workshop on how to use sex toys properly.

Continue reading →