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Secondary education

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Original poster

would you be happy for you 16 yr old dc to study and perform the vagina monalogues?

51 replies

beautifuldays · 28/11/2007 17:48

because my dh is a teacher and walked in today to find that his HOD has organised for some yr 12 pupils to study and perform this at a local theatre.......

great experience but he's worried that parents are going to complain and tbh in his (and my) opinion the language and imagery are not really appropriate for a bunch of 16 year olds. are we just prudes or should he say something to the head teacher about this?

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snowleopard · 28/11/2007 17:51

Well, I don't have a DC that old, but yes. At 16 they can legally have sex, so surely mentioning vaginas is fine? Also I've seen it and thought it was very funny and excellent sex education too, for girls or boys.

If anyone complains I think the fact that they ae of the age of consebt is the best comeback. If there is anything in there that they have not encountered before I'd be very surprised...

LittleBella · 28/11/2007 17:53

Yes, I would.

zippitippitoes · 28/11/2007 17:54

..i don't know but when performed is it considered suitable for over 18s doesn't the local authority have the final word re the entertainments license or something ie if it is normally performed to under 18s then it would be fine

Original poster
beautifuldays · 28/11/2007 17:55

i see what you mean about the age of consent, i just wasn't sure language such as c*nt and photographs of people masturbating is great material for school kids. also i doubt at 16 they are able to handle it maturely enough...

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Original poster
beautifuldays · 28/11/2007 17:58

there aren't any age restrictions on plays, but i think you do have to put a warning on the ads or something

clearly i am a prude!

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mummymagic · 28/11/2007 18:01

Personally, as a Drama teacher myself I would avoid. Why would you want 16 year olds to perform this anyway?

Children give the impression they are oh-so-knowledgeable about it all, but they are still children (at 16 only just beginning sexual adulthood) and IMO woefully and embarrassingly lacking in real knowledge about sex. So not mature enough, no. (And I teach in Hackney so apparently they are all v streetwise - nuh-uh, tis mostly talk - and/or abuse )

In school, they are still children til they are 18 and teachers need to think about the implications of the plays they choose. Does your HoD really want to see a sixth former going on about reclaiming the word cunt? [ew emoticon]

LittleBella · 28/11/2007 18:03

But your DH is right, inevitably you'll get complaints. Some people just don't like the idea of vaginas.

As to the language and imagery used by 16 year olds, if some of the casual mysogyny that is the currency, can be tempered by the language of this play, that's all to the good imo.

mummymagic · 28/11/2007 18:05

Actually, yes.
I can definitely see that. I guess if the HoD is selective about which monologues are used?

Original poster
beautifuldays · 28/11/2007 18:08

thanks mummymagic - this has all been organised without dh's knowledge he was told today the theatre has been booked and he is expected to teach it as part of their unit 2 assesments. he is not alltogether very happy about this...

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Original poster
beautifuldays · 28/11/2007 18:10

oh and she has helpfully chosen the most graffic monalogues, orgasms, rape, masturbation etc

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Original poster
beautifuldays · 28/11/2007 18:10

graphic the pendants'll be after me.....

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zippitippitoes · 28/11/2007 18:12

interesting to know why she has chosen this...presumably she feels it is a good group to work with this material rather than relishing an argument over it

Wordsmith · 28/11/2007 18:13

Well I don't really think I'm a prude, and I don't have a 16 yr old child, but...NO!! I wouldn't. And I doubt if many 16 yr olds would be either.

LittleBella · 28/11/2007 18:15

ROFL about all the pendants chasing after you...

Original poster
beautifuldays · 28/11/2007 18:16

it is a group of 8 girls and 1 lad and the teacher is always picking 'contravertial' (sp) texts etc, i can see that it is a great opportunity for the kids to perform in a real theare etc but i think inappropriate.

apparently the HoD was approached by a womens rape charity and asked to do it, i just think A LOT of parents are gonna kick up a stink.

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brimfull · 28/11/2007 18:17

Bad choice by the teacher I think.

binkleandflip · 28/11/2007 18:19

NO I wouldnt be happy at all. Been to the vagina monologues and I dont care if I'm thought of as a prude - it was vulgar, base level crap. Couldnt believe that everyone was wetting themselves with mirth over the word cunt being shouted repeatedly.

Wasted two hours of my life on that night!!

Actually, it's probably perfectly pitched at teenagers such is the humour oh and Ann Summers Party devotees

turquoise · 28/11/2007 18:22

Not particularly.
Because then I'd be forced to come and watch it and it's so bloody tedious.

LittleBella · 28/11/2007 18:25

But the kids are 16. The average child in the UK loses their virginity at 14 apparantly. We have the most over-sexualised teenagers in Europe.

It very much depends on the group of children, but chances are that they have all heard/ seen much more disgusting/ disturbing imagery and/ or language than in that play.

I'd be delighted if my DD at a vulnerable age, was encouraged to examine and recognise mysogyny, pressure to have sex, attitudes to rape, etc. in society. A friend of mine was stranger-raped at 14. Someone in that group might well have been. Sex is all around these kids, look at some of those perfectly dreadful teenage magazines they read. I can only think that compared to some of the other crap they are probably exposed to, this play would be a useful counterbalance, tbh.

But yes, your DH is going to have to take a lot of shit from parents about this I bet. I don't blame him being a bit anxious about it. If he really doesn't want to do it, then I guess he could surreptitiously let a few parents know and they can come to the school with pitchforks and talk the HoD out of it...

LittleBella · 28/11/2007 18:27

Actually I don't remember all the funny bits (though it was very funny).

The bit of the play that struck me most was the intensely moving monologue about being raped.

There was only one scene where cunt cunt cunt was shouted out repeatedly, and then only one bit of the scene.

But AFAIK the script gets changed regularly, doesn't it?

binkleandflip · 28/11/2007 18:34

You see I thought it was about women in general and didnt realise the title was literal - I honestly hate how it's treated as some kind of high-brow piece because it's done the rounds in London and New York etc when it's anything but.

It's about on a par with Puppetry of the Penis but I doubt they'll want the kids to do that

southeastastra · 28/11/2007 18:34

no because it's pants

snowleopard · 28/11/2007 18:40

Oh no, I've got to defend it. The cunt stuff is about reclaiming the word and conquering feelings of shame about the vagina - it is not about cheap laughs. The VM has funny sections and very sad and moving sections and it is not about vaginas in the context of silly toilet humour - not at all. It's about women and their vaginas and all the things they can mean - it is definitely a serious and feminist play. I'd go so far as to suggest if anyone really thought it was crude and base humour, it went over their heads.

binkleandflip · 28/11/2007 18:46

It's c-r-a-p.

Reclaiming the word? Oh lordy....and as for feminist - do you really think whipping an audience up into screeching cunt at the top of their voices commands respect for women?

My thought was more 'get over it ladies, we've all got one!!'

Like I say, making it out to be high-brow is terribly pretentious imho

But then, what do I know? I am of the opinion that lots of folk who went to see Equus weren't really that into horses......

southeastastra · 28/11/2007 18:47

i don't want to reclaim the c word thanks.
(mother would be turning in her grave)

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