To “reclaim” a derogatory term for female genitalia, feminists have held festivals on two campuses, founded a club at one university, and bandied about the infamous four-letter word they want everyone to hear.
The students say they were inspired by works like Cunt: A Declaration of Independence, by Inga Muscio (Seal Press, 1998), and The Vagina Monologues, a play by Eve Ensler.
At Pennsylvania State University at University Park, two feminist groups sponsored a festival in November named after the book by Ms. Muscio, the keynote speaker.
“Part of the event was to create awareness -- to say, ‘There’s nothing bad about this word, don’t let people use it to hurt you,’” says Erica Smith, a senior who organized the event. The festival, financed with $9,500 in student-activity fees and attended by 200, also featured feminist performance artists and self-defense workshops.
But the event drew immediate fire from state and campus conservatives.
State Rep. John A. Lawless called the festival a “classless act of debauchery” in a letter to Gov. Tom Ridge, a fellow Republican, and threatened to question Graham B. Spanier, the university’s president, about it during budget hearings.
“The president is willing to discuss this and anything else the legislature wants to discuss,” says Steve MacCarthy, a Penn State spokesman. “The title was unfortunate, and we’ve apologized to those who are offended by it, but at the same time, the program still had value for students who attended it.”
In stark contrast, a similarly named event in November at Wesleyan University drew few critics, even though it featured the word in messages chalked across the campus.
“It would be wonderful if people could realize that words don’t have natural meanings -- they have the meanings that we give them,” says Cara Herbitter, a sophomore at the Connecticut college. Ms. Herbitter organized the event and founded a club after directing a student production of The Vagina Monologues in February.
The group strives to enlighten its membership -- which includes a handful of male students -- about female sexuality through movies and discussion groups. Ms. Herbitter says, “It’s not a question of anatomy, but a question of education.”
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