Danielle Layne, a philosophy professor at Gonzaga University in Washington state, hosted an event Thursday entitled “Is Moana about Rape?” reportedCampus Reform. You know, because in 2019, it’s really time to make sure that social justice infects every nook and cranny of culture, especially, especially those consumed by children.
The event flyer says Danielle “will advance a controversial thesis wherein she suggests the film is an extended rape metaphor.” She argues that “Western patriarchy/masculinity assaults 1) the feminine, 2) nature and the environment, and 3) indigenous cultures.”
The flyer also says that the professor “will ultimately also suggest that the film is Neocolonialist, i.e. it advances a new myth that scapegoats Maui, excusing Western culture from oppressing women, degrading the environment and erasing/murdering indigenous people.” She argues that Maui’s fish hook weapon is a phallic symbol and that the loss of it symbolizes male impotence.
Now, Gonzaga’s a small school, but this isn’t the first time we’ve reported on some crazy stuff out of there. After banning Ben Shapiro from campus, the school decided last month that Ben could come, as long as he respects its mission statement, which includes the values of social justice and diversity. So essentially, you can speak, but only if your message supports things you’ve spent your entire career denouncing.
Gonzaga University Queer Student Union President Jeffrey Goong suggested that, for instance, if you’re a guy thinking about wearing a skirt for Halloween, you should consider that some guys wear skirts when it’s NOT Halloween and commit suicide after people make fun of them, according to Campus Reform.
Jeffrey, Jeffrey — yes, kids have, very sadly, committed suicide after getting bullied…but that doesn’t suddenly make guys dressing as girls or vice versa not funny. You aren’t God with some kind of supernatural control over people’s basic impulses. Really — it’s downright mystifying that this faction that complains about dehumanizing rhetoric is the same one that is trying to undermine basic human nature. Anyway, Gonzaga wasn’t the only school to participate in October outrage fest.
Princeton’s student government emailed out a check list, reported Campus Reform, and a few points stood out to me. Take numbers 1 and 3: “Is my costume making fun of a group of people?” and “Does my costume reduce cultural differences to jokes and stereotypes?” You know, I’m starting to become skeptical of the premise that these guys are just super sensitive. I’m starting to think that, like cultural Marxists who want to dilute all of the quirky intricacies of various world cultures into one slushpile, these people just detest differences and can’t bear to see such a vibrant, and yes, somewhat hyperbolic expression of them.
Then there was this one: “Does my costume have the potential to create an unsafe or hostile environment?” The short answer to this, of course, is no. Articles of clothing cannot, of their own volition, get up and punch people in the face and if you’re referring to feelings: remember that offense is always taken, not given. Desensitizing yourself is very important for anyone to do if you want to be able to respond with reason instead of emotion when an actual crisis comes up.
The third school that really caught my eye this Halloween was the University of Utah, where diversity officer Kehaulani Folau said cultural appropriation is “the baby of racism and capitalism,” according to Campus Reform. That’s not true, but capitalism does allow people like Folau to preach their insanity, unlike some more authoritarian models of government under which you might find arguments like hers codified into law.
