Tuks says no to vagina
What on earth are you smoking University of Pretoria? Or Tshwane, I guess. And whatever it is, stop it please.
Look, don’t get me wrong – I studied at Tuks and I had 4 very happy, very culturally integrated, very drunk years there. And with the passing of the last decade I’ve forgiven Tuks for a lot of the bad things. I’ve forgiven the University for encouraging students to wear “Yea Tuks!” Dry Macs. I’ve forgiven them for having the admin building on the furthest possible edge of campus. I’ve forgiven them for ensuring Dropzone has had a steady clientele stream for 12 years… Hell, I’ve even forgiven them for that stint where the Freedom Front was heading of the Student Body (because we all know only LOSERS are interested in campus politics and the majority of students just didn’t vote.)
But I don’t know if I’ll get over the recent banning of The Vagina Monologues.
For those of you who don’t read Afrikaans, the article basically states that the recently translated Vagina Monologues would not be performed at Tuks because the word vagina “doesn’t belong on campus.” Ha. Ha. I can just see the red-faced medical student who has to tell a patient “I’m sorry ma’am, it seems you’ve an infection in your whoo-hoo.”
Where does it belong then? At the Voortrekker Monument apparently. Yup, you heard me. Five shows of “Die Vagina Monoloe” will be performed at the Voortrekker Monument. Of all places.
While I’m cheered that something cool will be happening at the Voortrekker Monument (which is a surprisingly quirky building) I can’t help to be shocked at the blatant hypocrisy displayed by Tuks. Maybe it was because I studied Drama, but on my side of campus there was never an issue with the word vagina. To be fair, most people said “poes” instead of “vagina” but that’s students for you. Word economy and so on. In fact, even the campus radio station (shout out to Radio Tuks!) used the slogan “Jou ma!” for years. Hell, as far as I know they might still be using it.
But what bothers me most is that an institution that facilitates tertiary learning for adults (because, technically, although not obviously, students are actually adults) has banned one of the most famous plays ever to celebrate women, femaleness and feminism. It’s an outrage and they should be ashamed of themselves.
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