In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise, the Princeton-bound Midwestern striver Amory Blaine says, “I don’t know why, but I think of all Harvard men as sissies, like I used to be, and all Yale men as wearing big blue sweaters and smoking pipes.”
Thinking this was a brilliant dis of the Cantabs, some young pipe-smoking freshmen decided to put part of that quote on their big-blue sweaters. Apparently they forget that at an elite American university such language must be cleared with the PC police:
The [Freshman Class Council] has decided to change the design of its shirts after the original design, which was submitted by students and voted on by the freshman class, sparked outcry from members within the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. But after the LGBT Cooperative and other students raised concerns about the design — which contained the word “sissies” — administrators asked the FCC to reconsider. FCC representatives decided Tuesday to scrap the old T-shirts, which had not yet been printed, and make a new design.
The original design, which won out over five other entries, displayed an F. Scott Fitzgerald quote in the front — “I think of all Harvard men as sissies” — in bold white letters. The back of the long-sleeved, navy blue T-shirt said “WE AGREE” in capital letters, with “The Game 2009” scrawled in script underneath it.
But the term ‘sissies’ is considered offensive and demeaning, and as well as a “thinly-veiled gay slur,” said Julio Perez-Torres ’12, a member of the LGBT Co-op.
The fact that the term is “considered offensive and demeaning” is sort of the point, isn’t it? And does Perez-Torres and and the LGBT Co-op really think that “sissies”—a term that means effeminate, timid, or cowardly—is used only as a gay slur? What word would they prefer to be used to describe effeminate, timid, cowardly men? Or do we now live in an age where all men are manly, bold, and brave? (I’m not saying that I approve of the wide and thoughtless use of the term—I just don’t think it should be verboten.)
The change in the shirt, however, is probably for the best if the wittiest retort the Yalies can come up with is adding “WE AGREE” to a quote by a Princeton grad (Class of 1917).
(Via: Pajamas Media)
December 29th, 2009 | 6:28 pm
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December 29th, 2009 | 6:56 pm
Oh my. In my first year at Columbia Theological Seminary, the Women Students of Columbia were in full swing, along with the feminist agenda, so in jesting response, we formed the John Calvin Men’s Club, printing up sweatshirts with a crest on the front, which included a profile of John Calvin and the group’s motto–”De asini umbra rixam esse” … “it is to contend over the shadow of an ass.”
(This was a reference to Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book III, Chapter IV, Section 2, wherein Calvin argued against Scholastic views on penance, saying, “Velim autem animadvertant lectores, non hic de asini umbra rixam esse, sed rem omnium maxime seriam tractari: nempe de peccatorum remissione;” … “But I would have my readers note that this is no contention over the shadow of an ass, but that the most serious matter of all is under discussion: namely, the forgiveness of sins.”)
All in all, the female students at Columbia took it in stride, not giving us the satisfaction of them being demonstrably offended. In some cases, they even asked if they, too, could become members, and again, not being seriously offended when we suggested that we would take it under consideration to make them “little sisters” instead.
Clearly, the women at Columbia twenty-three years ago were made of sterner stuff than our more enlightened Yale Divinity School counterparts of today would likely be.
December 29th, 2009 | 8:44 pm
I can’t help but wonder if the problem is that we no longer live in an era where “manly, bold, and brave” are considered virtues for the rougher sex. Watch TV (only time I’ll recommend this): your manly men are mostly idiots, slobs, or both.
I also can’t help but wonder if our society actually promotes “sissie” as virtue — I can’t think of another time in history where “metrosexual” would’ve been possible, after all.
December 29th, 2009 | 10:55 pm
“What word would they prefer to be used to describe effeminate, timid, cowardly men? Or do we now live in an age where all men are manly, bold, and brave?”
No, in the relativism-gone-mad culture of college campuses, to be an effeminate, timid, and cowardly man is a matter of personal choice, and all choices are equal….well, some are more equal that others, as effeminate, timid, and cowardly men are actually preferable, as they do not pose the threat of physical aggression or of, God forbid, “pushing their values on others”….
December 30th, 2009 | 10:16 am
[...] silliness. Almost 30 years ago, our dorm had t-shirts with the slogan “Where men are men and sheep are [...]
December 30th, 2009 | 10:19 am
[...] silliness. Almost 30 years ago, our dorm had t-shirts with the slogan “Where men are men and sheep are [...]
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