May 2, 2013

At the UW-Madison: Who pounded on the window and made a lewd gesture during a performance of "The Vagina Monologues"?

"Actors in the play asked for a public apology from a sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, whose members were filing out of a bus and in the area near the Brink Lounge, 701 E. Washington Ave., when the disturbance occurred."
“It came at the absolute worst moment, when women were putting themselves out there and telling stories of real pain and violence,” said Aliza Feder, a UW-Madison senior theater major who was part of the cast.

It’s not clear that the people who disturbed the play are part of the sorority, said Kevin Helmkamp, associate dean of students.
Sorority! Is there a rift in the enormous sisterhood of women?
It’s also unclear whether they knew it was a performance of “The Vagina Monologues,” the popular play by Eve Ensler about women’s empowerment.
Well, then I guess it was also unclear — if they did know it was a performance of "The Vagina Monologues" — whether their pounding and gesturing expressed their objection to the message of empowering women, their wild enthusiasm about vaginas, a thoroughly justified aesthetic opinion that the play is bad, an alert to the audience members that it's not the 90s anymore and it's time to come out and have some fun, or maybe it was a protest against the monologue "The Little Coochie Snorcher That Could, in which a woman recalls memories of traumatic sexual experiences in her childhood and a self-described 'positive healing' sexual experience in her adolescent years with an older woman," in which case it was unclear whether they knew if the line "If it was rape, it was a good rape" was censored from the play in this particular performance.
The show was held in the basement of Brink Lounge. Near the end, a bus parked on East Washington Avenue let out members of the sorority for their spring formal to be held in a basement lounge adjacent to the theater space. A large window forms part of the back wall of the theater fronting East Washington Avenue. 
The majority of sorority members walked by without incident, Feder said. One woman allegedly starting pounding on the window as the scripted portion of the play was concluding, she said. After a brief lull, other young men and women joined, with most pounding on the window and one woman briefly lifting up her skirt, she said.
I'm guessing wild enthusiasm about vaginas.

44 comments:

Scott M said...

"It came at the absolute worst moment, when women were putting themselves out there and telling stories of real pain and violence"

...and good rape.

Scott M said...

After a brief lull, other young men and women joined, with most pounding on the window and one woman briefly lifting up her skirt, she said.

More evidence that the young women of today are turning into the men their mothers divorced?

edutcher said...

That "self-described 'positive healing' sexual experience in her adolescent years with an older woman, " is deemed so "positive"because the woman is thus "saved" from a life of heterosexuality and is forever ensconced in a life of homosexuality. This is the reason this vignette is rarely performed.

Of course, had it been done by a man, it would have been called rape, and, yes, we do mean rape-rape.

edutcher said...

And, if they were protesting this obscenity, the sorority should recall the words of one of America's greatest cavalry tacticians,

"Never apologize. It's a sign of weakness".

mccullough said...

College

rhhardin said...

Assistance supplied:

Dictionary of lewd French hand gestures pic

DADvocate said...

Probably someone protesting the idea that there's such a thing as a "good rape."

Anonymous said...

Did you wander back into the feminist temple, today, Althouse?

I'll bet it's as you stroll from the 'Hall of Bad Statistics' to the politics lounge with dreamy photos of Clinton and Barry the boyfriend on the walls, you'll decide to leave.

Good on you for hitting the Temple Beat.

KCFleming said...

Oh! Oh!
I have the UW Madison administration press release all ready for them, right here:

"This episode has sparked an important discussion reaffirming that the UW community has no tolerance for sexual violence or violence of any type."

Thank you.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

The second part of the disturbance came during the final scene of the play when actors step to a microphone one by one and share personal, unscripted stories of their own experiences with sexual violence, Feder said.

It's not too often you see a play with more than one climax.

KCFleming said...

Did UW Madison provide the audience with grief counselors afterward?

Robert Cook said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rusty said...

I'm guessing wild enthusiasm about vaginas.

That would be my guess too.

Robert Cook said...

"Never apologize. It's a sign of weakness".

And "Never apologizing" may be a sign of psychopathy.

edutcher said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Achilles said...

Just remember when you read stories such as this that parents send their kids to the victim factories to learn how to resent and hate the people that are paying for their education. Irony.

edutcher said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Achilles said...

Robert Cook said...
"Never apologize. It's a sign of weakness".

And "Never apologizing" may be a sign of psychopathy.

5/2/13, 10:50 AM

Socialists and totalitarians around the world agree.

KCFleming said...

How do we know their complaint isn't just another hoax?

James said...

Pogo, you have to include the word "conversation" in your statement.

edutcher said...

Robert Cook said...

Never apologize. It's a sign of weakness

And "Never apologizing" may be a sign of psychopathy.


Yeah, the Lefties love making people do the Full Alinsky Grovel, backing them into a corner (rhetorical. psychological, or otherwise), and makingb them look as if they've already lost the argument. They count on the other side acting like good little boys and girls. If we hadn't, they wouldn't have gotten away with one tenth of what they have in the past 50 years.

In case Cook never heard, an apology usually entails an, "I'm sorry", which is often taken that the apologizer admits his sentiments are unacceptable.

Saying you went over the line in expressing yourself is one thing (if, in fact, you did - you may not have done so*, you may have just called a spade a spade); saying the motivation behind the expression is unacceptable is something else.

In battle with the Lefties, never apologize. In case Cook hasn't noticed, they never do.

* some of the things people say to Althouse are pretty extreme, but accepted in the flow of give and take - or are they?

Achilles said...

Apologies for the redundancy in the above post. But just remember all socialists are totalitarians, but not all totalitarians are socialists!

KCFleming said...

Lefties hate it when their church service is interrupted.

Geoff Matthews said...

A man who was obsessed with his penis as much as Eve is with her (and other's) vagina would be evidence of no class.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

edutcher said...

Of course, had it been done by a man, it would have been called rape, and, yes, we do mean rape-rape.

Roman Polanski was out of the country and was unable to be reached for comment.

Nomennovum said...

The only person the sorority sister who lifted her skirt should apologize to is her father ... but probably not even then either. He's likely out of the picture but for the child support and tuition payments.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Jeez, if you can't make a "lewd gesture" during a performance of The Vagina Monologues, when can you?

furious_a said...
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Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Robert Cook,

And "Never apologizing" may be a sign of psychopathy.

Well, I haven't seen you apologize yet, but I still don't think you're a psychopath.

furious_a said...

Fun with Dowdification:

...pounded on...The Vagina...women were putting...out...in the basement...other young men...joined...pounding...up her skirt, she said.

Reminds me of one of the sorority formals I attended back when. Good times, good times...

Nomennovum said...

Surely someone took a pic of the Lewd Gesture. And, just as surely, it's been posted somewhere. Is anyone here not at work who can Google this important piece of evidence???

Sam L. said...

The War On Women By Women--They have met the enemy, and they are them.

Strelnikov said...

The question is, who wouldn't do this given the chance? The sanctity of the Left's supposed right never to be offended, especially during something as vital as a performance of TVM, needs to be punctured regularly. For their own good.

Rob said...

Is it too much to hope that the lewd gesture was the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" gesture for a big vagina?

Steve M. Galbraith said...

Geezus, there are literally millions of young men and women around the world who dream of coming to America and attending our colleges. Their parents sacrifice like hell to try and make it happen.

But we have spoiled knuckleheads like this instead.

Power to the friggin vaginas.

Spoiled girls and boys.

Swell, just swell.

Seeing Red said...

Well, 25 is the new 15.

ed said...

I have to fully admit that I really do not give a shit. I do not give a shit about the vagina monologues. I do not give a shit about these people. I do not give a shit that they were interrupted. I do not give a shit about the audience who sit through this nonsensical crap.

I pretty much do not give a shit about any of it. If someone were to ask me my opinion on the matter I'd have to respond with a: "meh".

And frankly I think I have quite a bit of company on this.

Anonymous said...

He's not a psychopath, just a socialist.

It takes commitment

J said...

Tough crowd.

J said...

Maybe thr priestesses of the New Feminist Church shouldn't hold their services in a State-sponsored forum.Separation of Church and State you know.

J said...

And how can it be that I'm the first to notice that the little cats were offended by the KATs?

LordSomber said...

It sounds like some people got sand in their... never mind.

ndspinelli said...

Tits, ass, legs, necks, lips, eyes; and for the fetish folks feet, toes, fingers, warts,are all enjoyable to see, touch, lick, etc. The pussy is just good for fucking. And that's what women want to talk about. Geez!

G Joubert said...

A man who was obsessed with his penis as much as Eve is with her (and other's) vagina would be evidence of no class.

I'm thinking if and when they get around to doing the spinoffl, The Penis Dialogues, it'll be more interesting, more evocative, and overall more fun. Kinda like how the NBA outdraws the WNBA. Hey, maybe the could cast that Collins dude. I bet we could find a spot for Dzhokhar too, if he's still available.