Georgia State Rep. Charlice Byrd has identified an outrage in this current economic climate: Universities are teaching students more than Advanced Chemistry and Intro to Anthropology! Indeed, professors are schooling students on “male prostitution,” “queer theory,” and “oral sex,” as Rep. Byrd informs us in an “OMG THE AUDACITY!” video message to constituents. She’s tired of government money going to these schools and funding such ridiculous teachings. Your tax payer dollars are being used to teach students these “offensive classes” — demand your legislators pull funding from schools who dare veer off from a traditional curriculum! Did we mention Rep. Byrd and her supporters say they want to team up with the Christian Coalition to put pressure on college boards to eliminate these classes and professors?
Georgia Tax Payers are Funding Gay Studies at College. Stop the Madness!!!
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Sebbe
This is the worst shot political video ever. If this lady wasn’t such a wack job I would suggest Japh to direct her next video.
Now there attacking academia?
Do we know if and where Charlice matriculated from?
Adam
What a great thought – eliminate jobs during a time of recession.
Sebbe
@adam – even better lets eliminate thought and academic pursuit all together. I mean really, isn’t it just a waste of money. Isn’t everything that isn’t “creating wealth” a waste of money. OMG, it’s not even noon and I really want a drink.
Jersey
These fuckin crazies are seeping out of the wordwork like mad lately. I hope its a last gasp thing by right-wing republicans and christian extremists before they fade into oblivion. Personally I’d like to help them along a little.
Charles J. Mueller
@Sebbe:
Not to worry.
The video is no longer available.
Of course she wants to eliminate these classes and professors….
to clear up space for Creationism and new Xtain professors to teach it.
There’s method to her madness.
Michael vdB
I think it is kind of odd that people go off and spout about things and never back up their claims. If this was really going on, in the context that she speaks of, then make those classes and universities public so people can investigate for themselves. Is there actually a class on oral sex or is it apart of a broader course that looks at many different issues and topics? A section in a course or a textbook does not constitute the whole class.
My other thought on the issue…the way she speaks, people going to college in Georgia are getting a free education funded by the taxpayer. I am assuming that the universities and colleges are independent to some extent as they are up here in Canada so even if they are receiving some govt funds, the govt’s control is still limited. Am I wrong?
Smokey Martini
This is news?! The first time I heard of it was about a week ago. In any case, you’re missing out a large part of the story.
Charlice Byrd started the campaign because Georgie grapples with a $2.2 billion shortfall, but this seems more like an excuse for their bigotry rather than a legitimate concern. In any case: their point is that if legislators are going to support state universities through taxes, then legislators should at least have a say in what goes on inside these institutions.
They also want to emphasizing the education of ‘our people’ in the sciences, business, and math to better the economy, absolutely forgetting that courses in ‘male prostitution,’ ‘oral sex,’ and ‘queer theory’ are indispensable when it comes to policy-making and outreach programming (among other things).
More here: http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/020709/gen_385535247.shtml
kevin (not that one)
The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians:
“Any man who prays or prophesies with something on his head disgraces his head, but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled disgraces her head—it is one and the same thing as having her head shaved. For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or to be shaved, she should wear a veil….. For this reason a woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels… Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head unveiled? Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair, it is degrading to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.”
There’s a lot of background here as to why Paul would write such a thing, but if you read the bible literally like the CC does, then Ms. Byrd is as much of an “abomination” as we supposedly are. 1 Corinthians also contains a clobber passage on homosexuality.
Let’s look at what an anonymous early church author writing in the name of Paul says about pearls:
“I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands , without wrath and doubting. In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works” (I Timothy 2:8-10)
Ms. Byrd apparently, like many anti-gay literalist Christians, seems very selective about her moral outrage, doesn’t she?
Smokey Martini
@kevin (not that one):
Good point, but i wouldn’t use the Bible as a measure of actions. First of all, it’s old. Secondly, it’s full of prohibitions. Rather than enable sound reasoning and a fuller understanding of what is being outlawed and why, prohibitions work around a set of taboos that, for the most part, keep us in the dark and bound to judgments based on sensation and reaction. Evidently, this leads to sensational and reactionary viewpoints like Byrd’s, that are misinformed and ignorant to the max.
But more to the point: the Bible doesn’t factor into the most critical aspect of the Byrd case. That is, the productivity – and necessity – of critical courses in ‘queer theory,’ ‘oral sex,’ and ‘prostitution’ towards the understanding of the benefits, issues, and risks pertinent to each. And, equally as important: how public policy can affect – and be affected, for the better – by individuals who are attuned to the humanity (rather than the supposed ‘offensiveness’) of it all.
Jaroslaw
I’m personally outraged about all the people who don’t have medical insurance, who pay 29 & 32 percent interest on credit cards, about people who work for 33 years and then their GM job gets sold to a subsidiary who goes out of business and they lose everything – pensions, life insurance, medical coverage etc.
There are lots of things to be outraged about. I sincerely doubt there is a whole course teaching nothing but Queer theory, oral sex and homosexual prostitution. It couldn’t take a whole semester to teach about the last two for sure. But even if there is, so what. A large part of college is broadening your mind beyond what you already know or think you know. Even if you disagree with it, it never hurts to move beyond your comfort zone and just might be helpful.
Smokey Martini
@Jaroslaw:
Hold on to your doubts, Jaroslaw. Queer Theory is quickly becoming integrated into Cultural Studies curricula to be placed alongside approaches like Marxism, feminism, and critical race relations. And, yes, there are full-year Queer Theory courses offered at a number of universities. Heck, there’s even a graduate program in ‘Gender, Sexuality, and Queer Theory’ at the University of Leeds in the UK! But, to borrow Colin Powell’s, the real question is: so what?
Queer Theory is not JUST about (homo)sexuality, which is what most people assume. It goes way beyond that and looks critically at a number of issues that span more than just sexuality: including the maintenance and negotiation of power (with a focus on strategies of resistance); the politics of representation (with a focus on minority self-representation); inter-group conflict (and, with that, a questioning of ‘communities’); and the construction and naturalization of that which is typically deemed ‘normal’ and/or ‘natural’ (among other things).
It is definitely a complex field of inquiry that cannot be captured or understood in a single semester, and I personally would like for it to be offered in a more wide and varied manner in all universities. After all, it is meant to ask questions of a number of things we take for granted – not to provide answers, necessarily – providing insight into the uncertain and unknowable aspects of humanity.
Sebbe
I know yale and cornell allow minors in queer studies. I also had read that Duke University offers (offered?) a class on queer advertising.
Publicly funded universities while receiving funds appropriated by state legislators must remain independent in what that teach.
Jersey
I saw a piece on CNN about this and the homosexual prostitution and oral sex is a small part of a chapter in a broad spectrum gender/human sexuality class. Queer theory is, as in many schools who offer it, a class in itself.
Jaroslaw
Smokey – ha! 🙂 You know I know better! My mistake – I meant I doubt if there is a full semester on that in GEORGIA. But I said “so what” also! 😉
Sebbe
@Jaroslaw – TRUE, Georgia?
Smokey Martini
@Jaroslaw:
I figured there was something off with your comment, which is why I was so compelled to respond. But now that everything has been cleared up, we can go on with our lives.
And yes, you did say ‘so what’ also.
But Colin Powell said it first. And he’s got power.
Alex
Yes, I do know that Human Sexuality is an elective course offered in college. I was lucky to get in. I was a business major and I was told it was for Health and Kinesiology majors so I was given low priority. It was more interesting than Global Business Management. As far as effective education, I don’t use a lot of what I learned in college. As far as tax payer funds, if you make a big deal about it more students will think there is something interesting in the curriculum and want to take it. All I know is that I’d hate to go through college to become a state senator. No thank you. I probably make just as much money starting out as Byrd currently does.
Sebbe
@Alex – business school is geared towards that and that thinking. I was a business undergrad myself by the way. But, for those that major in the humanities and other disciplines it is often less about what you will use at your job and more about the pursuit of academic knowledge.
Sebbe
Oh I agree though about the Georgia state senator part as well.
alan brickman
Instead of calling the morning goods guys douchbags maybe you should call this person one…
alex
@Smokey Martini:
Nice 1-minute summary of Queer Theory, Smokey! I’m currently working on my dissertation in Conflict Resolution. All of my academic work employs queer theory. When I have to explain it to those outside of the social sciences, I say that it is a perspective that challenges heteronormality…which is the idea that heterosexuality is the only “normal” human orientation.
Smokey Martini
@alex:
Thank ye, thank ye, Alex. And trust me, it wasn’t easy!
I love QT too, but I use it more in the critique of science, the production of knowledge, and the limits of language. I haven’t published anything yet, since my look into science/knowledge/language is just a ‘hobby’ right now, but I have used it extensively in my graduate work on police enforcement, cruising practices, and legal photography. It’s great, and certainly an eye-opening tool that leads to some pretty messy and confusing findings. And that’s the best part!
I’d love to get a hold of some of your work, if you’re willing to share. It’d be interested to see how you use it in dealing with conflict resolution, since ‘resolution’ is hardly something I would associate QT with.
HYHYBT
Now I know why I hated college so much…. I signed up for all the wrong classes! Oral Sex would have been so much more fun than Assembly Language or Calculus!
“My other thought on the issue…the way she speaks, people going to college in Georgia are getting a free education funded by the taxpayer.” The lottery, actually.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_scholarship
Charles J. Mueller
@HYHYBT:
She’s a Georgia cracker. (read redneck)
She’s a Christian. (read homophobe)
She’s a politician. (read liar)
Three strikes…and you’re out.
Rules of the game.
HYHYBT
Not sure why post #24 is “@HYHYBT”…
Charles J. Mueller
@HYHYBT:
Oh. Sorry about that.
Actually, I was supporting what you said about the college actually being supported by the lottery as opposed to being taxpayer supported and listing reasons why the clueless Georgia State Rep. Charlice Byrd made her ignorant and uninformed statement.
Just another homophobe with not a very good camouflage to hide it.
getreal
@Adam: LOL. I think homophobia would be cured if homophobes were forced to read this site.It would have to be harder to hate gays if they saw how funny they are.