The Vagina Monologues at Notre Dame?

[sbcoral]

Lisa N:

First how can you possibly equate a painting of the Madonna with what was basically a homosexual rape? Same with the Passion. Those are appropriate art forms for a Catholic college. They might not be appropriate in a public college although certainly studying Raphael probably doesn’t hurt anyone.

However the issue is the SPONSORSHIP and the FUNDING of this offensive play. If the underwriters wish to put on VM in the same city and ND students like everyone can choose to attend or not to attend, that is fine. But why should parents who are paying for their child to have a Catholic education see their money diverted to a play that extols homosexual rape, objectifies and degrades women as body parts, and promotes activities that are not only sinful but against the law?

Realize that all art must be taken in context. Many literature departments disdain Huckleberry Finn for the racial slurs and stereotypes. But again it was written at a different time and if students are sufficiently sophisticated to understand the context then HF should not be on a banned book list. Similarly anyone who’s studied Greek plays sees a LOT of violence, incest, rapes, and all kinds of horrific acts. But remember the CONTEXT. These were written thousands of years ago. VM is a modern production that promotes violation of modern laws and mores.

Lisa N

What about the Catcher in the Rye, Lisa? How would you feel if students in a Catholic college were forced to read that book in English class? There is a lot of naughty, immoral behavior in that book, and the list of other novels with immoral or illegal behavior described in their pages is pretty endless. Maybe kids in college should only read Nancy Drew books, and only be allowed to see The Sound of Music at the campus movies. That would keep their delicate minds clean of impure ideas. Of course, we will have to keep them locked up in little cages once they graduate from college, in order to continue to protect them from exposure to such filth, but it would sure be worth it.

 

[sbcoral]

condan:

Thanks Professor.

One of the basic requirements for something to be called “art” is to embody, to some degree, beauty. It is meant to please the eye and to evoke emotion. To be called “art”, the creator needs to use a specific skill or talent.

Art is not meant to be upsetting nor is it meant to offend or degrade. The VM does both. It isn’t remotely art by any stretch of the meaning of the word.

I’ve been exposed to lots of art that doesn’t make my heart all warm and fuzzy but, rather, disturbs me and makes me think. That art, I think, has plenty of merit.

 

[Lisa4Catholics]

sbcoral:

I’ve been exposed to lots of art that doesn’t make my heart all warm and fuzzy but, rather, disturbs me and makes me think. That art, I think, has plenty of merit.

A cricifix in urine does not have merit

 

[HagiaSophia]

Finally, just a few words on the Queer Film Festival and the Vagina Monologues, which I share with you as director of Campus Ministry.

I have worked for many years now with gay and lesbian undergraduate students at Notre Dame. For eight years, I have been a member of the Standing Committee for Gay and Lesbian Student Needs. I have listened carefully to our students, learned a great deal from them and come to be friends with more than a few.

Like many of you, I support the continual need for each of us to combat violence against women, whether in our residence halls and classrooms, on our campus, in our city or around the world. I realize that the face of violence in each of these places is strikingly different yet remarkably the same at its roots.

But I share Bishop John D’Arcy’s deep concern for the clear direction each of these events is taking, moving more in the direction of promoting an ethic in conflict with Catholic teaching and the lack of serious indications that their presence on our campus is truly a search for truth in an academic setting. I doubt there has been an effort to provide forums to discuss the Catholic Church’s teaching on topics related to what these two events basically pursue and promote.

In the search for truth, faith and reason do go hand in hand, as D’Arcy states. As Catholics deeply steeped in a multi-centenary intellectual tradition, we never need fear where our search for the truth will lead us.

I urge our community to think deeply about what we are doing and why we are doing it in these matters.

Neither the Queer Film Festival nor the Vagina Monologues will help us “to bring the image of Jesus to perfection within us.”

ndsmcobserver.com/news/2005/02/23/Viewpoint/Lenten.Reflections-873179.shtml?page=2