KKKaren Gordon upset over "No More Veggie Sex Ed for young girls"

From: Why do ...sociklaist..... get.. stupid <stupid.._at_it.is...their.right.doc.kca>
Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2003 01:40:12 GMT

Winnipeg Parents Angered Over Veggie Sex Ed

University Course Encouraged Lesbian Love, Says Superintendent

WINNIPEG, 10:22 a.m. EDT June 6, 2001 -- Parents and school officials have reacted with anger and dismay after high school girls studying women in the arts at the University of Winnipeg saw material they felt encouraged lesbian sex or masturbation with fruit and vegetables.

"River East School Division considers that a trust has been broken and we
will be reviewing our future participation in the mini-university program," superintendent John Carlyle wrote university president Constance Rooke. While Rooke has apologized for the showing of inappropriate material to the students -- and has had words with those involved to ensure it won't happen again -- she says the course wasn't mislabelled. "This was a week-long course on women and art," she said in an interview Tuesday. "The videos that caused concern and contained lesbian content occupied 40 minutes of one day."

Carlyle wrote to Rooke after discussing the issue with the River East School Board and fielding calls from angry parents, who had been told of the material by their children. "They went there expecting the content to be discussions of art, art history, the portrayal of women in art throughout the ages," he said. "This to us was a betrayal of trust because the content was not at all what we were led to believe."

He said the course upset the girls and their parents.

"People were shown fondling objects such as carrots and-or cucumbers and
saying you could use this, you don't need a man," Carlyle said earlier. Students from many divisions attended the course. There were four from River East, a suburban division in northeast Winnipeg. Carlyle said that he has yet to meet personally with Rooke but he has been assured the university is taking the matter seriously. Rooke agrees the material was not appropriate for the 14- and 15-year-old girls involved, although she denies that it included explicit references to using vegetables or fruits for sexual satisfaction.

She concedes one scene in one of the videos may have left that subtle impression. One of the videos in question is the short performance piece, We're Talking Vulva, by Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan of the Winnipeg Film Group. Rooke said it has been shown in high schools in other provinces. Carlyle said he still wants to sit down with Rooke personally to discuss the issue but he accepts her response.

"What they're doing is up to them, but I believe them, that they've said
this is something that they regret, that they understand that this was inappropriate and they intend to see that it won't happen again." Rooke says besides ensuring material not suitable for young teenagers is kept out of such courses, the university will require all course descriptions to provide parents with proper information about content so they can make informed decisions.

She said the course is designed to give high school students more than they would get at the high school level. "At the same time we do clearly have a responsibility over what is and what is not age appropriate."

The Winnipeg Sun -Tuesday, June 5, 2001

Pique of the market
Parents 'livid' after students taught to masturbate with fruits, vegetables By Tom Brodbeck, CITY COLUMNIST

River East School Division students got the shock of their lives when they signed up for a mini-university course at the University of Winnipeg in April. The teenage girls thought they were going to get a lesson in art history from a one-week "Women in Art" course designed for high school students.

What they got instead was an orientation on lesbian lifestyle and how women can satisfy themselves sexually without men using a variety of fruits and vegetables. "People were shown fondling objects such as carrots and/or cucumbers and saying you could use this, you don't need a man," said John Carlyle, superintendent of River East School Division. "The message was not one of art, it was a message of 'girls don't need men, you can get along without them quite nicely -- use the following kinds of paraphernalia and you'll be OK.' "

Good grief. Is this where our tax dollars are going these days?

You gotta ask yourself what a publicly-funded institution is doing giving teen-age girls tips on how lesbians can get off without men. It's not my idea of a higher education. And it wasn't for the parents who sent their 15-year-old daughters to what they thought was a bona fide educational experience. When they heard about the content of this "course," they hit the roof. "By the end of the first day, the phone calls from parents were just deafening -- they were livid with what occurred," said Carlyle. What they were expecting was a course on women in art, some historical insight into women artists, perhaps -- maybe a discussion on how women are depicted in art.

WHO NEEDS MEN? They didn't think their kids would be attending a seminar on the finer points of fruit and vegetable masturbation and how it can eliminate the need for male co-habitation. Carlyle says there was no nudity in the videos shown to the students. Rather, it was images of women demonstrating how fruits and vegetables -- including bananas -- can provide females with sexual satisfaction. "It appeared to be an opportunity for young ladies to go and hear about women in art," said Carlyle. "Instead (it was) 'guess what mom, we were shown films that were basically advocating lesbianism and alternative ways for girls to satisfy themselves sexually that didn't need men in their life.' " Needless to say, the students got a full refund. And red-faced university executives have met with parents to try to patch things up.

Amazingly, there wasn't a single person at the U of W to comment on this yesterday. Instead, I was sent a written statement by university president Constance Rooke, who apparently had time to write a letter, but couldn't find time for a five-minute telephone interview. She agrees the material wasn't "age appropriate" and that greater care will be taken in the future to ensure this doesn't happen again. "I would not regard some of the videos used in this course as 'step one' in helping students to think effectively about these issues," she writes.

An understatement to be sure. Received on Sat Nov 01 2003 - 17:40:12 PST