| By OHliz - May 13th, 2009 at 9:55 am EDT |
| Also listed in: Female political bloggers |
Categories: Higher Education, Ranting and Venting, Arts and Culture, Women's Issues, Front Page
After reading about the bummer of thoughtless drunken rioting at Ohio University, I was gratified to learn that over 50 protestors were on hand to make noise at the OSU-sponsored appearance of sexual assault advocate/humorist Tucker Max.
Way to go, protestors! You got your message across effectively. As evidenced by the comments to an article in The Lantern (91 at last count), many young people still believe rape is a laughable matter.
With four women dying every day in the U.S. from the rudely euphemistic domestic violence, the Tucker Max performance was something worth protesting. He is a symbol of oppression. He's put himself out there as a profiteer. I can boycott him by not buying his book, but he was foisted on OSU students.
It warmed my heart to see women, men and a few big loud guys with whistles and Buckeye jerseys disrupting the Tucker Max show. Real social activism! We haven't seen this from young people in years!
I'm glad the students were unsuccessful in canceling the show (which is a legitimate request, since it was paid for with student funds). It was much better to make his fans feel uncomfortable. Free speech for everyone!
What a refreshing contrast to riotous Palmer Fest in Athens, where my student son reports a police horse was hit squarely between the eyes with a beer bottle. Nice going, jerks. You take Man vs. Beast to a whole new level. (Btw, nothing like that happened -- not even on Halloween -- when I went to OU in the '70s and 3.2 beer was legal for 18 year olds.)
Love and kisses to Ohio State Tucker Max protestors. Keep it up!
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Apparently some faculty adviser only skimmed the OUAB's marketing for the author's appearance--unless, of course, the university has suddenly and surprisingly begun to encourage the kind of drunken debauchery that Max makes his living portraying.
The sold-out lecture was interrupted several times by chanting and whistle-blowing protesters organized by the student feminist organization WARR (Womyn and Allies Rising in Resistance). University police kept the peace between protesters and Max's fans, a predominantly young, white male crowd that responded to the protests with jeers and name-calling.
Chants of "Shut it down--no rapists in our town!" were met with insults ranging from "faggot" to "virgin" from the crowd. (Protesters applied the term "rape" to describe a section from Max's book, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, in which he wrote of filming sex with a woman without her consent.) For his part, Max seemed amused, as he continued his lecture onstage. He later called the protesters "ugly" on Twitter and bragged on his website that the protests cemented his "rock star" status.
The spat between coed activists and the Internet's biggest self-proclaimed asshole was slightly absurd and perhaps a bit extreme--save for one thing: The $1.2 million in activity fees that OSU students are forced to pay as part of their tuition that funds the OUAB's activities. And to fully understand Monday's Tucker Max Situation at OSU needs some insight into the recent history of Ohio Student Union Activities Board funding, the university's policy on the disclosure of speakers' fees and student concerns over proposed fee increases.
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