Winona teen tests the limits of free speech at school
James Walsh, Star Tribune, May 4, 2005

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WINONA, Minn. -- After all the radio interviews, after all the newspaper stories and television stories and hundreds and hundreds of e-mails, Carrie Rethlefsen ended her lesson in free speech and democracy today by doing a simple thing:

She walked into school with her "I [heart] My Vagina" T-shirt's message in plain sight. About 40 classmates had walked in just seconds before after turning their T-shirts inside out.

And, minutes later, she emerged with another lesson learned. The administrators at Winona Senior High School mean what they say. They sent her home for the day.

"I'm happy," said Rethlefsen, 18. "I got my message out there."

What began as a simple act of defiance -- she wore a "I [heart] My Vagina" button to school to raise awareness about violence against women, even after officials told her not to -- evolved into a platform to talk about women's rights, the fight against violence and freedom of speech that she couldn't have imagined two weeks ago.

She's been a guest on nearly 30 radio shows. She's been interviewed by two different television news shows. Her story has been carried in newspapers all over the world. Even Fox News' Bill O'Reilly called to have her on his show -- a request she politely declined.

"I pretty much talked for three straight days," she said of her 15 minutes of fame.

It all started after Rethlefsen attended a production of "The Vagina Monologues" at Winona State University back in February. She started wearing the button to school to highlight the issues discussed in the play, such as violence against women.

School officials told her the button was offensive, but Rethlefsen refused to take it off.

She continued to wear the button despite threats of suspension and possibly expulsion.

Other students came up with the idea to wear T-shirts in support of her message. The rally appears to be a middle ground for Rethlefsen and school officials.

Freedom vs. offensePrincipal Nancy Wondrasch thought she had a compromise worked out with Rethlefsen for today. Students would be allowed to wear T-shirts and rally around the flagpole at the front of the school before classes started.

In addition, she said, the school was taking steps to ensure that the issue of violence against women and women's rights will continue to be heard in the school, by encouraging the creation of a women's studies group and inviting the Women's Resource Center of Winona to bring in speakers .

"We hope this isn't just a one day thing," she said.

But wearing the shirts inside the school is not appropriate, she said. In a school of 1,300 students, the word vagina is too disruptive, she said. And teachers and other staff members stood at the doors to make sure students either covered the shirts or turned them inside out before coming inside.

By the time students began arriving at the flagpole at about 8 a.m. today, teachers were out in force, positioned in front of the school and at other entrances. A couple police officers also stopped by. A few minutes before classes were scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., Assistant Principal Ben Johnson stood near the doors with a bullhorn. "The drama" would begin at 9, he predicted.

A 37-year veteran of the Winona schools who is set to retire in a couple months, Johnson said of Rethlefsen and the other students gathered nearby: "They are good kids. They just have a different view of what's appropriate. We just feel differently about a particular word being used in school."

Freedom of speech is one thing, he said. Disrupting school with a word many people find offensive is another.

"It has to do with where you draw the line," he said. "We consider public education to be the backbone of America. And we have to draw the line. If you let this in, what's next?"

But Dwayne Voegeli, a social studies teacher at the school, said he admires the stand Rethlefsen and the other students have taken.

"I'm very proud of them and I'm also inspired by them," he said. "She's been really mature and very respectful, both of the school and of the principal. And she hasn't lost sight of the reason for doing this in the first place."

Taking a stand

Mary Thorp, a Winona resident, stood at the flagpole holding a sign. On one side, it read: "Every three minutes, someone is raped." On the other, was the word "Offensive?"

"I think that these young women have taken a stand," she said. Against sexual abuse. Against violence. And against censorship.

Nearby, Jon Heer, 18, a Winona High senior, wore a T-shirt saying, "I support your Vagina." His sister is a student at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, he said. He's been raised "with the belief that people are equal."

As the minutes ticked away, students held signs and handed out fliers, explaining Rethlefsen's stand. Then, just before 9 a.m., the group moved to the door. Almost in unison, they took off their shirts, turned them inside out, and put them back on again. Then they walked past the teachers and into school.

Rethlefsen, however, strode inside without changing her shirt. She was immediately escorted to the office. A few minutes later, she was joined by another student. Katelyn Delvaux, who wouldn't change her shirt either. She joked that her mother was expecting the call from the principal's office.

Outside, the young women said they probably won't wear the shirts Wednesday. There are only a few weeks left to school and both are looking forward to graduating.

Still, Rethlefsen, who plans to study women's studies and journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison next year, said she believes her efforts will have a lasting effect.

"Even if people disagreed with me," she said. "At least they were talking about the issues."

James Walsh is at jwalsh@startribune.com.

The spectacles of feminism
Rudy Takala, Renew America, April 28, 2005

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Violence against women is plaguing the United States today. According to liberals, pornography and public vulgarity appear to be the answer. I will forewarn readers that the following is a discussion of feminists and liberals, some of whom are adolescents attending public high schools. As such, parts of the discussion are, to use a liberal buzzword, "inappropriate."

Carrie Rethlefsen attends Winona High School in Minnesota. She recently watched the play, "The Vagina Monologues." Its proponents allege that the play raises awareness to violence against women. After watching the play, Carrie Rethlefsen and a friend wore "I [heart] My Vagina" buttons to school. School administrators have called the pins "inappropriate" and threatened expulsion.

Unfortunately, Carrie Rethlefsen "can't really find out what is inappropriate about it." She doesn't "think banning things like this is appropriate." She said the buttons raise awareness to women's issues, whatever those may be.

That Rethlefsen can't see anything "inappropriate" about it isn't particularly surprising to me. In that she's referencing genitalia with something other than slang when most residents of the public schools don't know anything but slang, she is an anomaly. Relative to her peers, she's being conservative.

The Minnesota American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) recently became involved and called the buttons political speech. If they are taken as political speech, rather than as simply obscene speech, Supreme Court precedent seems to suggest that they can't be prohibited.

In a show of support, more than 100 students have ordered T-shirts displaying "I (heart) My Vagina" for girls and "I Support Your Vagina" for boys. Many things could be said of this fascinating exhibition, but it will suffice to let readers find their own humor in the matter.

As traditionally liberal issues evaporate and the case for government action in certain areas begins to dwindle, liberals contrive new ways to incite controversy, associate the controversies with older issues, and claim that they're the same thing. Feminism, for example, began as a women's rights movement. As time went on, socialists saw an opportunity to hijack the movement and took it. By the 1970s, feminism was no longer about equal rights. It was about passing socialist legislation and requiring employers to consider non-economic factors in operating their businesses.

Socialism today has made considerable economic advances, disproportionate to its social agenda. Its adherents have realized this, and liberal feminists are acting accordingly. Feminism is now being utilized as a means to promoting pornography and cultural debasement. It has nothing to do with equal rights, of course, and the freedom to partake in such debasement generally isn't disputed. Nonetheless, they claim that not just poor taste, but flamboyant, public vulgarity is necessary to the advancement of "women's rights."

That the ACLU would call the buttons political speech is indicative of the fact that the real issue isn't about women's rights or violence against women. No one publicly advocates for violence against women. It isn't a political issue. If The Vagina Monologues were truly about violence against women, it wouldn't be a political issue, either. It's a political issue because it advocates public obscenity and nothing else.

Perhaps Carrie Rethlefsen doesn't perceive this and is simply an unwitting pawn in the agenda of "feminism." Or perhaps she does perceive it, and understands her unique position to aid in their degenerate cause.

On a point that I find amusing, I must speak to the situation as it exists within the context of a public school. The buttons in question are undoubtedly among the least offensive of things available for viewing in the Winona High School during the course of an average school day. Such is the nature of public schools. It is extremely improbable that any of the students are witnessing anything they haven't been witnessing since the sixth grade. If they were truly offended by such things, they wouldn't be in attendance at a government high school.

But the most compelling question at hand in this, and all other controversies of the sort, is to what degree the citizens of a nation may be coerced into attending government institutions and forced to coexist with their fellow attendees. To what extent must their coexistence be compelled? To what extent can it be? When one party views a second as the licentious manifestation of spiritual darkness, and the second party views the first as primitive, stupid and superstitious, reconciliation is a not a realistic objective.

Two observations should be made of this debacle. The first is of the public schools. As segments of American culture become more contrasted, the continuation of forced congregation will be made more difficult. Individuals must possess the freedom to act as they wish, or certain factions will inevitably come to express hegemony over the others. Individual autonomy was disposed of long ago, and we are currently experiencing the consequences of that action.

The second observation must be made of feminism. Feminists don't advocate for rights. The contemplation of violence against women plays no role in their considerations; if it did, they would display their love for genitals in the nations of the Middle East and Africa, where human rights violations tend to be more egregious than in the United States. But rights aren't what they're concerned with. All they're concerned with is transforming American culture to better match their values; to do this, they must redefine their gender as one characterized by depraved perverts.

It will be interesting to view the outcome of these matters. They are the evolving face of our culture, and they may be an interesting portrayal of things to come.

Rudy Takala is 16 years old and lives in Pine City, Minnesota. He was homeschooled for nine years, but is attending the state's education facilities for the 2004-5 period.

He enjoys freelance writing as a hobby. His columns have appeared on numerous websites, including TheRant.us, OpinionEditorials.com, MichNews.com, TheRightReport.com, RadiofreeWestHartford.com, YConservatives.com, ValleySoapbox.com, and the Starr Journal.

Rudy's mentality has been compared to that of Jim Crow era racists by MTV subsidiary organization Rock the Vote, for Rudy's suggestion that rappers are "ignorant denizens." He hopes for a career in which he is able to antagonize the State and continue antagonizing MTV.

Rudy can be contacted at RudyTakala@yahoo.com.