Allison Wint, a substitute teacher at a middle school in Battle Creek, Mich., told the Detroit Free Press that she was hoping to provoke a thoughtful dialogue about historical interpretations of O’Keeffe’s work on Friday when she used the word “vagina” during a discussion with eighth graders...Good thing they got her out of the school "within one hour." No telling how much damage she might have inflicted had she stayed until the end of the day.
Wint told the Free Press that, in total, she estimates she used the word 10 times during the course of the lecture, prompting giggles from her students, but eventually a substantive discussion...
The next day, according to Wint, she was reprimanded by a school official, who noted that she had said the word “vagina … without previous approval.”
The official told her that referring to female reproductive organs without approval violated school policy, Wint told the Free Press.
She told the paper that she was instructed to gather her belongings and leave the school within one hour.
Re the painting:
Flower of Life II - along with many to follow - presented the sexual anatomy of the flower in sharp focus. By drawing attention to the inherent androgyny of this subject, O'Keeffe could have been attempting to contradict the critical notion that her subject matter was related exclusively to her gender.
But if so, the critics in 1925 missed O'Keeffe's point (as most still do). They interpreted her flowers as they had interpreted her earlier abstractions, as expressions of her sexuality. In 1943, O'Keeffe finally responded: Well - I made you take time to look at what I saw and when you took time to really notice my flowers you hung all your own associations with flowers on my flower and you write about my flower as if I think and see what you think and see of the flower - and I don't. ”
I suppose if she said penis she would have gotten a raise.
ReplyDeleteDo people in the U.S.A. not have vaginas ? Is that why it is considered wrong to talk about them ? Here in the normal part of the world we speak about our bodies, not in a crazy way, just when it is appropriate. Also, it seems like the American (by American I don't mean American, I just mean that part of the Americas between Canada and Mexico) weird election system is going to have the second most voted for person as President (again ? didn't that happen with the younger, more idiotic, Bush ?) Just know that out here in the rest of the world (where the vast majority of our human population live) your street cred is diminishing. Just saying, like. Oh, O.K. from out here in the 'rest of the world' we all think Trump is a joke and Clinton is owned by the corporations, Sanders seems to be the only one even thinking about the 307 million 'Americans' that do not have vast amounts of money. Seems a shame that the person with the most votes can't get to do what most of the people want him to do.
ReplyDeleteHa, how to turn a talk about vaginas into a talk about Bernie Sanders.
Just curious, who do you think the person with the most votes is?
DeletePlease know, WilliamRocket, that not all of American is ignorant. The South, and especially areas that consider themselves to be Born-Again Christians, are almost always the worst offenders. Here in California we're a bit more normal.
DeleteCalifornia, isn't that the part of the US where all of internet's memory is built on top of a massive vault line that's way overdue for a massive earthquake? Very normal indeed.
DeleteA vault line, is that where they keep the faginas? ;)
DeleteExactly. Next to the disk drifes with all the internet. Kinda like Gringotts, but then with a lot of Gringos. All I'm saying is: Californica, not so normal.
DeleteGelukkig wonen wij in een volkomen normaal land ;)
DeleteI'll bet the kids were engaged in the discussion in the classroom. Sex in art is all around them (ads on buses, music, etc.). And I would suspect many of them had interesting discussions with their parents later that day about the teacher's firing.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, last year my daughter was in 8th grade. It was her fourth year of sex ed. Each year of instruction is different -- tailored to the kids' age. It has progressed from body part identification in the earlier grades to birth control and relationships in 8th and 9th grades.
I could see which state this was in mattering a lot. There are still multiple abstinence only states for sex education, frighteningly.
DeleteA certain subset of Americans loudly decry "politically correct speech", but will also loudly advocate for the removal of teachers like this. SMH.
ReplyDeleteThat same subset will likely decry the concept of tenure for teachers, but this is why tenure is important. A tenured teacher would have been protected in this incident. A non-tenured teacher is shown the door, with little or no due process or representation.
ReplyDeleteWhen my son was in kindergarten, he was punished and I had to meet with the principal because he had said "the P-word" at lunch. I asked the principal what "the P-word" was and asked my son what he'd said. He said, "I asked [other kindergartener] to stop pinching my penis." The principal was upset that my son wasn't going to receive a punishment at home. Cartoon steam came out of my ears. My son now attends a different school.
ReplyDeleteSaying the P-word was not okay, but having someone pinching his P-word was okay?
DeleteWow, if I've ever seen a lack of common sense at a school, this is it. What message does that send to young women, except that their body parts are so dangerous & shameful that they cannot be named without repercussions? I mean, it's not like this was a cooking class. This was contextually appropriate. It makes me sad....
ReplyDeleteIt isn't that body parts are shameful or dangerous. Our bodies are a wonderful creation by God. This is just a subject that doesn't need to be discussed at school. It's a subject that needs to be discussed at home with parents.
ReplyDeleteIf you can't say "vagina" in school, then you should not be saying "arm" or "liver" either. They are all body parts. As a mother of two young children, I feel that penises and vaginas need to be talked about more in school, in appropriate ways... not less.
DeleteIf not due to a perception of shame or danger, then why would it be forbidden to speak? This just teaches the kids that "vagina" is one of the dirty words. Even dirtier than most if a teacher can get fired for it.
DeleteSend 'em this, their heads will explode.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dBnj9XAF0E
Definitely nsfw, only for slang.
I can see the -gyny bit, but andro-?
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I was reminded of this:
ReplyDeleteWhy Men Shouldn't Take Messages:
http://www.theeldergeek.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=26678
Lurker111
I would be willing to bet that there is more to this story than this. I certainly don't want my eighth grader getting his/her sex ed from a substitute teacher making up lessons that she hasn't cleared with the administration.
ReplyDeleteStudying Georgia O'Keefe isn't sex ed. Its history. And vagina is the correct term to use when studying O'Keefe.
ReplyDeleteVulva is the correct word. NOT vagina.
ReplyDeletehttp://spaced.wikia.com/wiki/File:Vulva.jpg
Delete