Carrie_Rethlefsen ([info]sarah_jacobson) wrote,
@ 2005-04-21 17:34:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Wow
Today was very hectic. I have been up since 6 this morning due to radio interviews. They went fairly well. When I went to school, I was called into the principals office to discuss the publicity and to rediscuss the t-shirt issue along with the button issue. Essentially, I am still going ahead with the t-shirts at school and we will wear them within two weeks.

Page 1 of 2
<<[1] [2] >>

(Post a new comment)


[info]bettyxbrown
2005-04-22 01:32 am UTC (link)
rock on! i love my vagina, too :)

(Reply to this)


[info]dabeck
2005-04-22 01:45 am UTC (link)
Another stranger here in support of you - via BMEzine, so another high-traffic site has picked up this story.

I suppose I should be grateful that I never saw the Vagina Monologues until I was in uni, and furthermore that I'm a gender studies major, so words like vagina are among the least offensive (to the narrow-minded) things we say.

Best of luck.

Beck Wise, Sydney, Australia

(Reply to this) (Thread)
DailyKos
(Anonymous)
2005-04-22 01:56 am UTC (link)
I found my way here through the Daily Kos (your story is at the following link) http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/4/21/173318/158.
Congrats! I'm sure everyone at the Kos supports what you are doing!

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Another visiting Kossack - (Anonymous), 2005-04-22 03:41 pm UTC
Yet Another Kossack - (Anonymous), 2005-04-22 06:07 pm UTC
Would love to help with your cause!
[info]ayesha
2005-04-22 01:55 am UTC (link)
Hi Carrie,

A friend just sent me your link. I back you 100%! I am orginally from MN myself so I am familiar with issues much like what you are facing. MN tends to be moderately liberal for the most part, but there is a conservative underlining. It could be explained as such... in MN it is okay to have a vagina, just not to say vagina! Which I think is CRAP!

My partner and I operate a small online T-shirt and button business called Outspoken Clothing. We would love to support you by making some buttons for you free of charge (such as I love my vagina, I support vaginas, or any others you may need.) If that would be helpful to you, please contact us at outspoken@outspokenclothing.com to work out the details.

(Reply to this)


[info]britneyw
2005-04-22 02:16 am UTC (link)
i think what you are doing is great! why should we be ashamed to have vaginas?!
guys were stupid shirts depicting sexual acts on them to school all the time and ive never seen any action be taken against them.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]angely78
2005-04-22 11:19 am UTC (link)
precisely. People wear idiot t-shirts like that, and authority looks the other way. It's time to call them on that.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]molestahlestah
2005-04-22 03:27 am UTC (link)
Got here through Metafilter.
http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/41403

Rock on. You've got support all over the country, even here in Bushland, Texas. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help out!

(Reply to this)

(Reply from suspended user)

[info]feckalyn
2005-04-22 07:02 am UTC (link)
Hey, we over at [info]vaginapagina started a petition in support of what you're doing after seeing the article in the Star Tribune.

If you approve, feel free to spread it around!

http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/6292.html
http://www.livejournal.com/community/vaginapagina/5056496.html

Viva la vulva!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]lonestaryella03
2005-04-22 05:14 pm UTC (link)
i am a vaginapagina member...just wanted to show my support as a member of VP

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]mr_mccranky
2005-04-22 07:54 am UTC (link)
*puts on my new button*

"My Penis <3's Vaginas"

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]lonestaryella03
2005-04-22 05:14 pm UTC (link)
lmaooo...love that button

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
(no subject) - [info]mr_mccranky, 2005-04-23 02:12 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]lonestaryella03, 2005-04-23 12:50 pm UTC

[info]blackbyrus
2005-04-22 09:42 am UTC (link)
You are too cool, I never would have thought to fight for better body part representation in high school. I guess I took it for granted along with everyone else that 'dick' is an okay word to say, but vagina = gross. Yay for genitals!

(Reply to this)


[info]angely78
2005-04-22 11:20 am UTC (link)
Beat 'em, Carrie, you're fighting the good fight here.

School authorities = Stupid hypocrites :-P

(Reply to this)


[info]ginnyseta
2005-04-22 02:10 pm UTC (link)
Found my way here from [info]vaginapagine You're probably getting this a lot, but I just wanted to say that me personally? I'm proud of you. I've read and performed a section of the Vagina Monologues, and they're not about sex, they're about supporting women, and promoting gender-love despite the obstacles. If they want you to take off that button, it's pretty much the same as telling someone to take off their yellow cancer awareness bracelets.

In any case, best of luck to you! We're rooting for you, and we're right behind you.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]ginnyseta
2005-04-22 05:40 pm UTC (link)
Er, that would be [info]vaginapagina Woops!

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]quixotic
2005-04-22 03:42 pm UTC (link)
haven't these school officials ever heard of tinker v. des moines? ridiculous.

keep fighting the good fight!

-amanda

(Reply to this)


[info]rufustfyrfly
2005-04-22 03:47 pm UTC (link)
gotta love petty school officials abusing their power. i bet it makes them feel really good about themselves to push students around like this.

i'm gonna friend this journal to stay updated.

keep fighting the good fight!

(Reply to this)

Fight it.
(Anonymous)
2005-04-22 03:49 pm UTC (link)
Every step of the way. It would be political suicide for the school to expel you, and they have to realize that. If it looks like it'll happen, make sure you have the local TV news crew following you around on the day you wear the shirts.

(Reply to this)

Whatever Happened to the Teachable Moment???
[info]guddoeh
2005-04-22 03:58 pm UTC (link)
I'm here by way of Daily Kos, but wanted to voice my support!! As a teacher myself, I cannot belive these administrators would take this stance, well, of course I can believe it, but what I mean is, they are turning it into a power struggle when with just a different reaction, they could have taught everyone something. It sounds like you have articulated your position again and again, why not let you and your classmates have discussions about this issue? Open up pathways for understanding and discourse, instead of the cowardly "this is going to cause a disruption" reaction.

Don't let the threat of expulsion bother you -- you can go a LONG way with a GED, and your academic record!! Give lots of warm fuzzies to your parents for me -- they have done a great job in raising an AWARE human being (and her vagina! *grin*)

If you need anything, give me a holler at caiteclare@yahoo.com
Hugs,
CC in Austin, Texas

(Reply to this)


[info]lonestaryella03
2005-04-22 05:13 pm UTC (link)
i signed that petition AND forwarded it to every woman i know. i'd love to get a button. i'd love to get in a shirt. i DARE someone to try to say somethin to me about it!!

(Reply to this) (Thread)
I'll say something
(Anonymous)
2005-04-22 06:25 pm UTC (link)
Holy crap, have any of you read any of the supreme court rulings that uphold high school administrators right to limit certain clothing items? This is albeit a pretty small issue, but the principal probably was just going along with a blanket ban on slightly offensive statements. The whole point of free speech is to be allowed to say what you want, as long as you aren't infringing on others right to a nonoffensive learning environment. Have you been to high school? It is not proper to talk about sexual functions! How about "I (heart) my Penis" Free speech? How about "I (heart) war". The point is, the administration was drawing a line, one that has already been fought over many many times before, why do she feel the need to do it again? There are other perfectly valid forms of 'supporting' ones vagina. Try acting in the play itself. Or volunteering. Don't just rabblerouse.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re: I'll say something - [info]lonestaryella03, 2005-04-22 06:27 pm UTC

[info]another1stkiss
2005-04-22 05:14 pm UTC (link)
Hi, I got here via Boing Boing. I just wanted to say that I support your vagina.

Have you considered posting the mailing addresses, fax numbers, or phone numbers of your school's higher-ups as well as those of your school district? There's a risk of them getting harrassed, but there are a lot of people who would probably like to write letters or make calls on behalf of your cause.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(Anonymous)
2005-04-22 05:30 pm UTC (link)
Principal Nancy Wondrasch
Winona Senior High School
901 Gilmore Avenue, Winona, MN 55987
Telephone: 507-494-1504 Fax: 507-494-1509


(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]heebee
2005-04-22 05:15 pm UTC (link)
You're fighting the good fight. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the word "vagina." Your pins and tee-shirts are inoffensive, and I'm glad that you are confronting societal taboos about gender and opening up a dialogue about this issue.

The administration opened up this whole 'cause a disruption' can of worms on themselves by causing a big stink about this, rather than letting you wear a simple button with the word vagina on it. Their reactionary stance gave them this "issue" to deal with, when it never really was an issue at all. Vagina love isn't going to cause a riot, but suppression of innocuous free speech will.

Good luck on your academic and burgeoning activist career.

-- also loves her vagina.

(Reply to this)

The Kids're Alright
(Anonymous)
2005-04-22 05:19 pm UTC (link)
Don't let those uptight, fearful oppressors drag on your spirit. Rock on with your bad self! -- Colleen, NYC, born in St. Paul, and your fellow proud vagina owner

(Reply to this)


[info]kaldari
2005-04-22 05:28 pm UTC (link)
Keep up the fight. I want a t-shirt!

(Reply to this)


(Anonymous)
2005-04-22 05:49 pm UTC (link)
I guess this is your 6 minutes of fame, supporting the vagina. Surely your cirle of freinds are very impressed that you've chosen to change the world with a button.

What courage. How profound.

This is immensely important and I want to encourage you to continue the good fight. Perhaps your next button could be about dingleberries, you know, those things that hang on butthole hairs.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]leave_it_be
2005-04-22 05:53 pm UTC (link)
you're a bit of a shit aren't you? and how dare you compare something as fantastic as a vagina to pieces of crap trapped near your ass.

be nice to vaginas, you came from one.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
(no subject) - [info]hexar_le_saipe, 2005-04-23 07:45 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]hexar_le_saipe, 2005-04-23 07:45 pm UTC

[info]leave_it_be
2005-04-22 05:51 pm UTC (link)
i would love to send you a "be nice to vaginas- you came from one" pin!

keep on fighting, i'm really proud of you taking a stand and i know a lot of people are behind you on this. i've taken the liberty of emailing your principal :)

(Reply to this)


[info]scurly80
2005-04-22 06:05 pm UTC (link)
i heard about this story through vaginapagina and I am throughly impressed that you are standing your ground.....do your administrators even know what Vagina Monologues is about?....seriously what is it with public schools teaching sex ed but then putting up and uproar when you are proud of your genitals I could see if you attended a religious school but even then I would say screw them...keep up the fight....and I signed the petition that vaginapagina started to support you

(Reply to this)


[info]dublos
2005-04-22 06:06 pm UTC (link)
Another user brought through by the listing on BoingBoing.

I do begin to wonder how long it takes high school administrators who enforce this sort of stupidity to realize later how much attention and derision they could have avoided by just allowing you to wear your button.

The general awareness of sexual awareness, gender equality, women's rights and freedom of speech all get a nice public boost because one Principle decided to step over the line and into your civil liberties. If she'd just told those who were "offended" by your button that they perhaps ought to educate themselves about it's meaning there would be 100 less awesome t-shirts being made and perhaps 98 less students making a statement.

I hope you're bearing up under what has to be a pretty enormous strain. You didn't ask for this particular 15 minutes of fame but from what I've seen in the media and read in your journal you're handing it amazingly well.

(And I know it shouldn't surprise me because of course gender/sexual equality runs in all directions, none the less it struck me in reading the Principles address... "Hey, she's got a vagina why isn't she being a lot more supportive!") Principle first other aspects of her being a real person second.

(Reply to this)

I support you 100%
[info]nil_rocker
2005-04-22 06:09 pm UTC (link)
Hey I found you through yahoo News and think what your doing is great keep it up and dont give up! keep up the good fight!
fight for what is right!

I support you 100%


peace


Nicole

(Reply to this)

Page 1 of 2
<<[1] [2] >>

Create an Account
Forgot your login or password?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…