For years, I’ve argued that those who believe in the First Amendment should avoid the company of women with hyphenated names. The hyphenated name is a sure sign of feminism and, of course, feminism is a sure sign of ignorance (real or feigned) of the First Amendment.
Dr. Patricia Telles-Irvin, Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of Florida (UF), recently sent an “Official Response to a recent advertisement for the movie ‘Obsession’” to students at UF. The email, which ostensibly sought to attenuate stereotypes of Muslims, instead exacerbated stereotypes of academic feminists.
The email is reproduced in its entirety with my comments interspersed where necessary:
Throughout our country, we have witnessed a rise in offensive behavior and actions taken against others, which has created greater divisiveness and misunderstandings among the various ethnic groups residing in our communities. One of these events occurred on our campus recently with the promotion of an event.
At first, I assumed Patricia was talking about The Vagina Monologues, affirmative action, the conversion of February to “Black History Month,” or, perhaps, the conversion of March to “Womyn’s Herstory Month.” But, alas, I was wrong. She meant something else.
Advertisements for the movie "Obsession" sponsored by several student organizations appeared during the past several weeks on campus bulletin boards and they illustrate the importance of balancing freedom of speech with responsibility.
Generally, when a feminist speaks of balancing “freedom of speech with responsibility,” she provides examples. Since Patricia failed to do so in her email I have supplied an example of each: According to feminists, “vagina” = responsible and, therefore, protected speech. “Partial birth abortion” = irresponsible (read: inflammatory) and, therefore, unprotected speech.
The ads, which promoted a showing of the movie on Nov. 13 and a panel discussion afterward, entitled "Radical Islam Wants You Dead," offended many Muslim students on campus. Regardless of its original intent, the language reinforced a negative stereotype, created unnecessary divisiveness and contributed to a generalization that only furthers the misunderstanding of the religion of Islam.
Feminists often chastise young women for pretending to be stupid in order to get things they want – especially from men who are threatened by assertive women. Here is an example of feminist hypocrisy on the issue. A panel discussion called “Islam Wants You Dead” would be an over-generalization, which might reinforce negative stereotypes. But, by inserting the term “radical,” the students sought to, and did, avoid over-generalizing. In other words, they intentionally let everyone know they were only talking about extremist Muslims.
By feigning illiteracy Patricia is simply trying to act as if she is stupid in order to win a debate by making sure it never occurs. No feminist is unfamiliar with the tern “radical.” Most use it to describe themselves – especially to those they seek to intimidate.
We cannot speak of rights without also addressing the responsibility associated with our actions or statements, including understanding the potential consequences. One of our roles as a learning institution is to teach our students to express themselves freely, and also in a fair and conscientious manner. In an academic setting, differences of opinions are strongly encouraged, yet such opinions must be based on accurate information when describing other members of the community.
Read the rest of Patricia’s email and be on the lookout for any evidence that the sponsors of Obsession proffered any opinions based on information that was not accurate. If she does not, then she herself has expressed an opinion not based on accurate information. Strike two on the issue of hypocrisy. Continued... |