The Gadfly “To persuade and reproach” - Socrates, The Apology
Vol. XII, Iss. IV March 11, 2010
The Sexism that Dares Not Speak Its Name In this article I want to address a topic which has bothered many people (including myself) for some time. This topic is sexism. No, I'm not talking about the old fashioned 'Women should be seen and not heard' or 'Her place is barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen' type sexism. I'm talking about the sexism that has slowly risen against men, a sexism that, I would say, is in many ways just as damaging. Ladies, think about the last women's talk you went to. Now I being a man have never
been to one, but I have overheard both some talks and what women have said about them. What I understand is that it’s basically an hour-long self esteem talk about women being the pinnacle of God's creation, the beauty that walks the earth and graces us with her presence; femininity is the ultimate beauty, and you should let your inner princess shine forth for the world to see. Now let me clue the ladies in on what 90% of the manhood talks are like. You are a worthless sinner, you
don't deserve her, you are a piece of crap that needs to crawl on his knees begging for mercy because you just keep screwing it all up and most of the world's problems are caused by you. Granted, there may be a few talks that actually approach the truth of masculinity; but by and large that is what you will hear at a youth talk for men. When I used to work summer conferences here at the University, it was striking how different the talks were when I walked past the girl's talks. Continued on page 4
Holy Raves! A couple of weekends ago, I left the bubble. Without a haz-mat suit. Out there in the real world, things are not all bad. I promise. But I noticed something while out in the big bad somewhere that could be quite helpful for households or organizations hoping to fundraise with a dance. My suggestion relates
to the type of music that's played at dances here on campus. Yes, I went to a rave. Yes, I danced until 4:30 in the morning with a group of guys and girls. Guess what? Good, clean fun permeated the event. It's true. It permeated my group of friends, and even some other people who never heard of Franciscan University. Why?
What was their secret? A good, clean, fun dance where no babies were conceived!? What? The solution, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, is the kind of music played. There were no slow songs. There were no awkward songs that you can't really dance to, such as "Sweet Home Alabama." But the big Continued on page 5
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St. Clare, pray for us!
Staff: Michael J. Ruszala (M.J.R.) Amanda LaMuro (A.L.) Tony Leccece (T.L.) Emilyn Haremza (E.H.) Daniel Romeyn Davis (D.R.D.) Maria Cecilia Rocha (M.C.R.) Charles Pobee-Mensah (C.P.M.) Olivia Dvorjak (O.D.) Copy Editor Caitlin Garrett (C.G.) Layout Editor: Rosalie Doudna (R.D.) Business Manager: Anna Tang (A.T.) Editor in Chief: Gillian LaMuro (G.L.)
** Please note that the views held in the individual articles do not necessarily express the views of the whole staff. ** Interested in joining our staff? Email us at notestothegadfly@gmail.com
~Mission Statement~ The Gadfly is an attempt to “bite the sleeping horse” in the spirit of Socrates. It is a student publication whose purpose is to facilitate discussion concerning campus and cultural issues as they pertain to students of Franciscan University. It aims to be a forum for open, well-thought out, and honest discussion towards the end of knowing and loving truth in its most robust sense.
From the Editor’s Desk I am going to say this one more time. We do not accept articles anonymously or under pseudonyms. Really, what is there to be afraid of? Yes, now and then we receive a few of colorful letters from intelligent, passionate people who don’t really like us, but usually their main complaint is that we are boring. One believed that we were witches from Mars, but I think student services dealt with that problem. Anyway, my real point is that if you have written an article that you want people to read, you are going to have to face their opinions, good or bad. However, if you hide behind your pseudonym like a little wimp, you’ll receive even less respect. So be men and submit your name when you submit articles.
Letters to the Editor With all due respect to Anna Tang, someone needs to tell her that Green Day blows like a windy March day. God Bless, Zach Yonk
In response to Maria Rocha’s article “Let’s Just Be,” I just wanted to note that a woman’s lot is not quite the bed of roses she makes it out to be. While women may not have to live with the certainty that their body will never be considered the “right shape,” neither do they enjoy the security of knowing that once they fit the archetype they will not suddenly be considered unattractive in five or ten years. R.D.
Enjoy!
Pop Culture Seminar Quote: “He chose poorly.”
Advisor: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Dr. John White Advisor Extraordinaire
St. Martha, pray for us!
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Art or Artist? Watching the movie Nine, I was not very impressed with the sheer amount of scantily clad women and the behavior that followed. I was even more appalled that every woman within the film took the form of an archetypal woman. The seductress, the lady fair, and the mistress all appeared. However, as the movie progressed, and the complaints of my movie partner increased, I began to see the movie as a journey of the writer. To anyone but a writer, the movie is “weird” and “boring” and “trashy.” The end product, which was the movie, could not have come to existence had the
The fact that the man in the movie writes and directs beautiful films does not make him any less of a womanizer. However, his work is for sale, not his personal life. In light of all of this, all the art that is for sale everywhere comes from a person, known or unknown. Is the art less beautiful if it comes from an individual
who is openly promiscuous, damaged, addicted, etc? Would the fact that something worth reveling in came from a less than perfect person make it more valuable? Does a flaw in the artist in turn flaw the art? But who isn’t flawed? We are all messed up; some of us just hide it
So where is the value and integrity of the art? Within the creator or the finished product? I value Bob Marley, John Mayer, Andy Warhol, and Billie Holiday’s art. Their openly questionable lifestyles do not make their abilities any less wonderful, and the art that came from these people touches a place within people around the
Art: Love. Passion. Pain. Sex.
Epiphany. Darkness. Revolution. Life embodied.
~Maria Rocha
Tell us what you think!
Email notestothegadfly @gmail.com
Professor Quotes of the Week:
You have to be small in stature to be a true Machiavellian.
~Dr. Benjamin Alexander
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Herein lies the sexism. Men are dirt, women are gold. When in a relationship; he is wrong, she is right. Think about your favorite TV shows: Everybody Loves Raymond, The King of Queens, According to Jim, Home Improvement. The husband is always a bumbling fool trying to make it through, while the wise wife is always the voice of reason. Women are told they are the crown of creation, while men are told they are the leprosy-ridden servants who can only hope to one day be worthy enough for a woman. Don't get me wrong: I'm not bashing femininity; I don't have a problem with women getting together to build themselves up. What I do have a problem with is the hypocrisy. They walk around with crowns on their heads proclaiming their beauty while we are supposed to treat them as queens. Yet if men came back from a manhood retreat with swords we would be seen as foolish little kids. It is common knowledge that men are simple creatures. Yet in spite of, or maybe because of our simplicity, women actually have little to no idea what masculinity is. They write off certain male behavior as hormones or just stupidity because they don't understand it. Take our approach to solving problems. Men will either physically or verbally fight if we have a personal is-
St. Etheldreda, pray for us!
sue with a friend. We will have it out, then shake hands, and continue as friends.
thought you were better than men, you would say no; but your actions scream yes. Be honest with yourself and stop assuming If you ever get the you are always in the right. That chance, watch the movie "The the guy is the one in the wrong, Quiet Man." It’s an old John and that the way for him to fulWayne film, in which he has a fill his manhood is by serving fight with his wife's older your every need. brother. After a fight which I once walked through takes them through the town, the caf, and a woman dropped they rise, battered and bruised, her napkin as she passed by me. but laughing. They go from mor- Before I could act; she looked at tal enemies to good friends, and me, looked at the fallen napkin, you know what? That's not just then again at me, obviously exfiction—that is how men solve pecting me to pick it up. She issues sometimes. We are built never would have done that to a to function like that. I'm not say- woman. Though my initial reacing every argument ends up in tion was to help (as her hands trading blows, but we have it out were full), I looked at the napkin and it’s over. then in her eyes, and walked by. Women, on the other She just assumed that because I hand, will harbor grudges. They had an X chromosome I was will work behind each other's supposed to pick it up for her; backs and undermine their lives. that it was my role to serve her. They can go from great friends, When men act chivalto loathing one another behind rously, we do so out of kindness, closed doors. Now, just like my not obligation or duty. Stop asexample for men, this isn't every suming you are owed that, and fight; but it is the feminine way start thanking God some of us to hide and internalize their frus- still do it. trations. We are all made to be You tell me, which is more fool- servants, but to God, and ish? through one another. Service, Women today don't seek equalsubmission, and humility are ity. They claim superiority. things we all must do. Stop deWhat I want to say is this: manding it of men, and start doWomen: You are beauti- ing it yourself. Otherwise the ful. There is nothing in all of chivalry you so expect, will be creation like you, and you dedead forever. serve every bit of respect due to a wondrous creature of God. Yet you often forget we men are also ~ Anthony Cerrato great creations of God. We both are part of the same masterpiece. If I asked you whether you
St. John, pray for us!
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gest factor in this cleanliness was the absence of hip-hop. I kid you not. Music dictates how it wants to be danced to. Techno wants you to jump around, enjoy community and be a goof. Rock wants you to pump your fists, bang your head and rock out. (Duh.) Hip-hop wants you to grind against your neighbor, sway your hips provocatively and adopt an entirely secular attitude about yourself and the people around you. With that, I have to ask, "Why is hip-hop the prevalent genre of music played at our dances?" Wouldn't it be better to branch out and choose from
a vast variety of other good music? Or, if we must have this music, couldn't we pick 4 or 5 songs to spread out over the course of the night? And those 4 or 5 songs could be exemplary selections of the genre that don't have to be bleeped out at all, that don't have too suggestive of a beat, and that are somewhat known by a lot of the students. Let me clarify: I do not think hip-hop as a genre is inherently evil. There is a time and place for everything, if it's good. Listening to that style of music on your iPod does not make you the spawn of Satan. However, if our aim here is to grow as brothers and sis-
ters in Christ, it should make sense that putting each other through music that begs us to dance suggestively is not an ideal situation. So, when you household DJs plan out your playlists, please consider this. Finding techno remixes of all sorts of songs is not hard. Limiting the amount of hiphop at dances will help your friends to have a good time and not worry about leading each other to temptation.
~ Elizabeth Michalski
The Classics?! “Supposing that Truth is a woman—what then? Is there not ground for suspecting that all philosophers, in so far as they have been dogmatists, have failed to understand women—that the terrible seriousness and clumsy importunity with which they have usually paid their addresses to Truth, have been unskilled and unseemly methods for winning a woman?” Beyond Good and Evil, Friedrich Nietzsche
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St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us!
St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us!
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Role Model? With a week of February left on the Calendars, Black History Month made an appearance in our very own dining hall. Maybe you saw the pictures of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Harriet Tubman posted around various stations. But did you see the one of Nelson Mandela by the bagels? Now, don’t get me wrong: I applaud the many African American individuals who have worked for things like civil rights around the country and the world. I firmly believe, however, that Nelson Mandela should not be among them. While he has been idolized for uniting South Africa, his communist philosophy cannot be condoned. In a trip to Cuba in 1991, Mandela stated “Long live the Cuban Revolution. Long live comrade Fidel Castro... The Cuban revolution has been a source of inspiration to all freedom-loving people." Really? Fidel Castro is the man who brought communism to Cuba, sided with the Soviets in the Cold War, closed and nationalized Cuban Catholic schools, and broke diplomatic relations with the Vatican. Excuse me, Mr. Mandela, but I don’t find those things inspiring. Mandela has also hailed Mohammar Quadaffi, the Libyan socialist leader, for his “Commitment to the fight for peace and human rights in the
world.” Was it not Quadaffi who was involved with the Palestinian militant group Black September, the Munich massacre at the ’72 Olympics, And the Berlin Discotheque bombing in ’86? Is that what we call peace? I’m just a little confused. If this is what Nelson Mandela stands for, why are we calling him a hero? If that’s not enough, when asked about Puerto Rican terrorists who tried to assassinate five U.S. Congressmen in 1954, Mandela replied “We support the cause of anyone who is fighting for selfdetermination… I would be honored to sit on the platform with the four comrades you refer to.” So, in Mandela’s book, it’s okay to assassinate someone as long as it’s for the sake of self-determination. Another very civil-rights oriented idea, if you ask me. Perhaps you can understand my perplexity over the issue. At a “Passionately Catholic” school, I see no reason for honoring a man who has spoken in favor of religious oppression and acts of terror other than ignorance. If it’s all right with you, I’d also rather not have to think about him over my toast. ~Mary Kineke