V*** Monologues and Catholic Universities

[fish90]

Can anybody explain how a Catholic University can have the V*** Monologues play at the University or have advertisements for it on campus? I thought the bishops were strongly against this play.

Best,
fish90

 

[mjs1987]

Some priests that run Catholic universities are very liberal and try to show their openness and tolerance for other viewpoints by allowing these things. They wrongly think that by allowing them that people will not see the church as rigid sexually and look at the church as an institution that is open minded to human sexuality and to sexual humour and jokes.

Also, many Catholic universities are Catholic in name only and the administration and faculty are frequently not Catholic and are hostile to the Catholic faith.

This is not a good thing because the Catholic name becomes associated with these things and Catholic students get led astray in Catholic colleges because of these types of things. Catholic colleges are meant to build Christian character, not break them down and destroy them. Liberal Arts does not mean you have to lose your mind when you study things.

 

[fish90]

Some priests that run Catholic universities are very liberal and try to show their openness and tolerance for other viewpoints by allowing these things. They wrongly think that by allowing them that people will not see the church as rigid sexually and look at the church as an institution that is open minded to human sexuality and to sexual humour and jokes.

Also, many Catholic universities are Catholic in name only and the administration and faculty are frequently not Catholic and are hostile to the Catholic faith.

This is not a good thing because the Catholic name becomes associated with these things and Catholic students get led astray in Catholic colleges because of these types of things. Catholic colleges are meant to build Christian character, not break them down and destroy them. Liberal Arts does not mean you have to lose your mind when you study things.

How do you answer the “the Church cannot censor everything” argument? Or, if the world followed Catholic teaching this world would be very bland?

Best,
fish90

 

[JimG]

How do you answer the “the Church cannot censor everything” argument? Or, if the world followed Catholic teaching this world would be very bland?

Best,
fish90

Many organizations and employers have standards of conduct and expression which apply to their membership. What good is a Catholic university if it does not promote Catholic standards of morality? Even from a secular viewpoint, a college cannot present every play that it wants–it has to make a selection. To pretend that the V-Monologues has some literary or dramatic merit is a leap of faith and a lack of taste.

 

[Rascalking]

There is NOTHING literary or artistic about this rubbish.

It troubles me as well that a Catholic university would sink to this level. I’m not surprised though. JimG was right-they are CINO. Catholic in name only.

We can have open discussions and debates-that is what makes this country great-but showing hardocore X rated garbage like this doesn’t promote open minds.

 

[aicirt]

freerepublic.com/focus/religion/1337974/posts

The above contains a list of schools, not all are Catholic, showing the play. Evangelical institutions appear to be the only ones who said “NO”.

Once, there was something called “an occassion of sin”. This would mean attending or participating in something that would cause you to sin either in thought or in deed. It is ironic to comprehend that Catholic institutions that teach one how to avoid sin, actually provide a platform for sin. The title alone would invalidate any excuse of “Gee, I didn’t know what it was about.”

 

[Rascalking]

freerepublic.com/focus/religion/1337974/posts

The above contains a list of schools, not all are Catholic, showing the play. Evangelical institutions appear to be the only ones who said “NO”.

Once, there was something called “an occassion of sin”. This would mean attending or participating in something that would cause you to sin either in thought or in deed. It is ironic to comprehend that Catholic institutions that teach one how to avoid sin, actually provide a platform for sin. The title alone would invalidate any excuse of “Gee, I didn’t know what it was about.”

Three cheers for the Evangelicals!

 

[Lutheranteach]

There is NOTHING literary or artistic about this rubbish.

It troubles me as well that a Catholic university would sink to this level. I’m not surprised though. JimG was right-they are CINO. Catholic in name only.

We can have open discussions and debates-that is what makes this country great-but showing hardocore X rated garbage like this doesn’t promote open minds.

I once had a referee tell me, back in my hockey playing days, that just because something hurts and I didn’t like it doesn’t make it a penalty. Just because you don’t find something meaningful and even find it offensive doesn’t mean it’s not art.

 

[Benedictus]

Can anybody explain how a Catholic University can have the V*** Monologues play at the University or have advertisements for it on campus?

Why the asterisks? I must have missed the announcement when ‘vagina’ became a dirty word.

 

[fish90]

Why the asterisks? I must have missed the announcement when ‘vagina’ became a dirty word.

Keeping it clean, keeping it clean.

 

[grace_singh]

that is sad…

Catholic universities are supposed to be a beacon of purity, kindness, grace, holiness, and righteous works.

i attended a very liberal liberal arts college, and much of the campus went ga-ga over the V Monologues. it was so nasty…

be glad you didn’t see the promotional posters the Womyn’s Group made. gag

just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. what does a feminist burlesque show have to do with an education, much less Catholic faith?

modesty, where art thou?

 

[Eris_Discordia]

Um, what is so wrong about the Vagina Monologues? No, really, because a lot of it is bringing awareness of severe human rights violations suffered by women around the globe. I’ve seen it, and they’re bringing awareness to how rape and domestic abuse is rampant in other countries. Have any of you read it or looked into it? It’s about sexual abuse, at least a good majority of it is. I’m looking at this site, and I almost never see anyone decrying rape. I’m a sexual assault survivor, and everyone pretty much ignores it. Sorry if I call it like I see it, but I think there is a lot more to worry about than how dirty it is, and look at how powerful it is.

 

[grace_singh]

Um, what is so wrong about the Vagina Monologues? No, really, because a lot of it is bringing awareness of severe human rights violations suffered by women around the globe. I’ve seen it, and they’re bringing awareness to how rape and domestic abuse is rampant in other countries. Have any of you read it or looked into it? It’s about sexual abuse, at least a good majority of it is. I’m looking at this site, and I almost never see anyone decrying rape. I’m a sexual assault survivor, and everyone pretty much ignores it. Sorry if I call it like I see it, but I think there is a lot more to worry about than how dirty it is, and look at how powerful it is.

there are more modest and Catholic ways to bring attention to rape and women’s issues.

at a secular school, i don’t see how many would have a problem with it. but Eris, these are Catholic schools, and the Catholic Church has standards of modesty, purity, and decency which the V Monologues violate.

there is nothing wrong with addressing issues like rape and abuse of women. we should address these concerns. but there are ways of doing this which are modest and in accordance to the standards of the Catholic Church.

would you expect an Orthodox Jewish school to be hosting the V Monologues? what would your response be to their refusal to host it?

 

[Eris_Discordia]

there are more modest and Catholic ways to bring attention to rape and women’s issues.

at a secular school, i don’t see how many would have a problem with it. but Eris, these are Catholic schools, and the Catholic Church has standards of modesty, purity, and decency which the V Monologues violate.

there is nothing wrong with addressing issues like rape and abuse of women. we should address these concerns. but there are ways of doing this which are modest and in accordance to the standards of the Catholic Church.

would you expect an Orthodox Jewish school to be hosting the V Monologues? what would your response be to their refusal to host it?

I’m not saying much about their choice to host or not. It’s a private school, and it’s their business. I went to Catholic High School, and as much as it bugged me, we edited everything that went through the drama club. However, everyone on this site is saying “Oh, it’s so sick!” when I don’t think anyone has actually looked into it at all. Some of these stories are shocking, and in detail, and it’s heartbreaking. These women are finally telling their stories. Sure, some of them would be deemed inappropriate, but a lot of them bring attention to issues someone like me didn’t know existed, and I research human rights atrocities on a daily basis. However, I have never seen any Church, school, or anything else bring attention to it in any capacity. The first time I had even seen any sort of rape awareness was in the form of The Vagina Monologues this year. I’m almost 21. I went through 18 years of Catholic High School. I heard nothing. I wouldn’t be so annoyed about it if it wasn’t for the fact that I heard nothing about rape and abuse until college. Also, I went to an all girls high school. You would think that might be a priority.

 

[Rascalking]

I once had a referee tell me, back in my hockey playing days, that just because something hurts and I didn’t like it doesn’t make it a penalty. Just because you don’t find something meaningful and even find it offensive doesn’t mean it’s not art.

Oh? Really? Thanks for the info.

I totally agree with you. There are several things I find personally offensive that I think have artistic merit. The V monologues are not one of them.

If you’d would like to debate the beauty of James Joyce (an incredibly vulgar but brilliant writer) with the merits of trash like The “V” monolouges, I say go for it.

It’s so subjective…but I’m confident in my opinions anyway.

 

[grace_singh]

I’m not saying much about their choice to host or not. It’s a private school, and it’s their business. I went to Catholic High School, and as much as it bugged me, we edited everything that went through the drama club. However, everyone on this site is saying “Oh, it’s so sick!” when I don’t think anyone has actually looked into it at all. Some of these stories are shocking, and in detail, and it’s heartbreaking. These women are finally telling their stories. Sure, some of them would be deemed inappropriate, but a lot of them bring attention to issues someone like me didn’t know existed, and I research human rights atrocities on a daily basis. However, I have never seen any Church, school, or anything else bring attention to it in any capacity. The first time I had even seen any sort of rape awareness was in the form of The Vagina Monologues this year. I’m almost 21. I went through 18 years of Catholic High School. I heard nothing. I wouldn’t be so annoyed about it if it wasn’t for the fact that I heard nothing about rape and abuse until college. Also, I went to an all girls high school. You would think that might be a priority.

at the same time, aspects of the V Monologues are crude, lewd, pornographic, and promotional of what the CC understands as serious sins.

the V Monologues are not the only way to bring attention to sexual violence, and they are not on par with what the CC deems appropriate, or Christian.

a religious school is naturally going to edit content… a Yeshiva would do the same, Eris. it may bug you, but i’d say the best response (for a Christian) would be to address the issues that need addressing without relying on what is often a crass and vulgar stage show to do so. not all aspects of the V Monologues are about rape awareness. many pieces are simply sexual for the sake of being sexual. there are other ways to talk about rape, sex, and respect in a Catholic setting.

 

[Rascalking]

the V Monologues are not the only way to bring attention to sexual violence,

.

Your absolutely right on this. If you really want to bring attention to the horrific problem of violence on women, there are much better ways to do so.

 

[Eris_Discordia]

at the same time, aspects of the V Monologues are crude, lewd, pornographic, and promotional of what the CC understands as serious sins.

the V Monologues are not the only way to bring attention to sexual violence, and they are not on par with what the CC deems appropriate, or Christian.

a religious school is naturally going to edit content… a Yeshiva would do the same, Eris. it may bug you, but i’d say the best response (for a Christian) would be to address the issues that need addressing without relying on what is often a crass and vulgar stage show to do so. not all aspects of the V Monologues are about rape awareness. many pieces are simply sexual for the sake of being sexual. there are other ways to talk about rape, sex, and respect in a Catholic setting.

Then they should do that. But they haven’t. It bothers me because so many people are raped and they don’t talk about it at all. Rape is naturally going to be a slightly vulgur topic anyway because of the nature of it. They’ve never talked about it at all, and especially as a teenager, when you are far more likely to be raped, no one is doing anything.

 

[grace_singh]

Then they should do that. But they haven’t. It bothers me because so many people are raped and they don’t talk about it at all. Rape is naturally going to be a slightly vulgur topic anyway because of the nature of it. They’ve never talked about it at all, and especially as a teenager, when you are far more likely to be raped, no one is doing anything.

yes, they should do that. but not with the V Monologues.

yes, rape is going to naturally be a violent and visceral experience to talk about. and possibly graphic. but there are ways to address post-rape stress and trauma which are more in line with Catholic teachings, and standards.

the Catholic Church needs to find Catholic ways to address and help these issues, not invite worldly or vulgar stage shows to do the talking for them. in a way, you could argue that the latter is a good was to not talk about the issue on an administrative and school-wide level, but to allow a play to do the talking.

“there, we had the V Monologues, we talked about it, it felt good, it was empowering for those involved, eye-opening, and sobering, and many felt it was cathartic. moving right along…”

 

[LovinmyLife]

I’m glad I saw this thread. It is going to be at my college (a community college) and my Women’s lit class (a “wonderful” compilation of feminist rants if I didn’t need the college credit, I would’ve dropped it) is offering extra credit if we go see it.
I had been debating about it, but now I’ve made up my mind after reading up about it. I think this is some extra credit I can do with out!