(no subject)
Censorship at the John Jay's "Open Mic Night."
Max Novendstern
To the students and teachers of John JayHigh School:
On Friday, March2nd, at an "open mic night" sponsored by Reflections, our school's literary magazine, three junior girls were suspended whenthey ignored the advice of the administration and decided to use the word "vagina"in their reading anyway. They used the word only once. The word, for those youwho are unaware, refers to a body part that, I am quite certain, at least half ofthose in the room had that night, and all in the room, at least in passing, hadheard of before.
A democratic society depends on an electorate educated inmore than integral calculus. JohnJay HighSchool has an obligation, paramount among others,to impress upon its students, the future leaders of our nation, the tenants of ahealthy, free society: fairness in deliberation, equality, justice, respect forothers and the right to dissent.
By that standard, I believe John Jay High School has failed.
As a schoolsystem, we must stand by the clear, unequivocal declaration that sex is neitherwicked nor sinful. The suppression of sexual knowledge is not only an intellectuallyrepressive practice, but also the cause of a great deal of human unhappiness. Knowledgebased on deception and filtration is not knowledge at all. And I cannot supporta decision by the school's administration to sponsors ignorance - especiallythe breed of ignorance that debases a topic, such as sex, that is so vitallyimportant.
From what Igathered, the intent of the students' reading - an excerpt from theaward-winning play "The Vagina Monologues," a play I saw just one week ago - wasto celebrate femininity, what for so long has been seen as frail and inferior,or lascivious and sinful. The students uttered the word not as an admission butas a declaration: no longer should a word so natural and important be shroudedin a mist of ignorance and irrationality.
It is the heightof irony that by censoring this word, and by punishing those who said it, theadministration has compounded the mist of ignorance and irrationality that theword set out to dispel in the first place.
As I listenedto the various voices and words of my peers and teachers at the "open mic night,"I realized that my purpose in being there, all of our purposes, was tocelebrate the individual's voice. Perhaps it is true, as I very much believe itis, that Mr. Cass and Ms. Kor, by making the decision to suspend the girls for theirmentioning of an anatomical structure, were attending not to their own personalbeliefs, but to those of a vocal minority in the community. However, bycapitulating to the simplemindedness and bigotry of a few, and consenting tosuppress the free exchange of literary and important ideas, the administrationwas undermining the most basic principles of the "open mic" that night and of thewriters who were willing to share their words.
Even if youare not sympathetic to the girls' use of the word "vagina," or even thepurposes of their reading, I hope and trust that you are sympathetic to thepremise that human prosperity depends on the expression of a diverse array ofideas, and that in an educational institution we are entitled to hear theseideas.
What isneeded now is not less speech, but more. These girls took a great risk in defendingtheir convictions. I urge you to contact the administration saying that you donot support its decision to punish girls who had the integrity to stand up fortheir beliefs - that in a school system, information ought to be open anddiverse, and ignorance combated.