Excuse me, I'm offended.
“It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it.”
This quote is of no risk to me as I openly acknowledge that I am a fool, at least a large portion of the time. Despite this, I do not fool myself to think I can change the opinion of anyone through a blog, e-mail, Facebook status, or any such means. I do not aim to change the opinions of others, to begin with. My motivation in this blog – and in this e-mail below – is social responsibility and moral integrity.
I'm only 24, but I know what it's like to regret not doing something you ought to have done. You can apologize for doing or saying something you shouldn't have, but there's no way to correct something that never occurred in the first place.
Edmund Burke famously said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
In this case, a woman. A good woman? I don't know whether a truly good woman would call her self such. Not that declining the self-acclaimed title merits me such an adjective. Who can say what is good? I believe my motives are true, if that can suffice.
I digress... Below is an e-mail I wrote to send to the Dean of my school regarding hate speech expressed by my professor towards the LGBTQ+. After careful consideration and much resistance, instead I met with my professor in person and took the matter directly to him. The meeting went well in that my concerns were heard and considered. I subsequently met with the Dean regarding boundaries that are in place regarding discrimination in the class room, for the benefit of my own awareness. The second meeting was splendid.
Though the e-mail was incredibly useful to use in my first meeting, I thought it could still be of some benefit to others who may seek to be intrigued, inspired, or offended.
Whatever your motivation, I'm yours to criticize.
To whom this may concern,
After attending a lecture of ENGL ****, Shakespeare, I have had to ask myself how I will respond to multiple remarks made by the professor, Dr. ****, that I feel were inappropriate for the class. I wish to continue this class and learn about the revolutionary figure, Sir William Shakespeare, with passion, eagerness and integrity. However, there have been things said that I cannot stay silent about and that will distract me from the ultimate aim of this course: to learn about Shakespeare.
I am not searching for an apology and I do not think the Professor had malicious intent. I respect the opinions of my Professor and do not wish to necessarily change or silence them. I believe in the freedom and power of differing opinions. From where I sat, however, these opinions were expressed in a way that discriminated against an entire community and significant portion of humanity. The people referred to are not only a population in themselves, but also a group that has seen intense and horrific discrimination by the rich, white, powerful, and religious; the LGBTQ+.
First off, I will be clear about what exactly was said in class that compelled me to leave before lecture was over. The first comment was in reference to how medical doctor’s today “harm” people who “simply will” to have a surgical operation to change their gender. The second comment went something like “Now it’s same-sex marriage, next it will be pedophilia. That’s what’s going to happen.”
As someone who has grown up in a church and family and who has heard these exact things said, I am no stranger to this language. Though this language is common, I do not think it is appropriate. Like I said, voicing your opinion that homosexuality is a sin or doctor’s should not be legally forced to perform sex change operations can be appropriate if applied to the course material and articulated as opinions. However, what was specifically said with the language and tone used, I would classify as hate speech which perpetuates homophobia and transphobia. His wording trivialized the recognized psychological stress transgendered individuals undergo and exaggerated a correlation between same sex couples and pedophiles. If the professor was teaching about how the original audiences of Shakespeare considered sexual immorality, that would have been different. In this case, however, he was simply going on a rant about his own issues regarding LGBTQ+ rights.
It is shown in any statistic, study, or first/second-hand experience with LGBTQ+ members that there is consistent, psychologically lethal consequences humans face when denied their basic human right to identify as female, male, gay or straight. And even when granted this right, the remaining stigma still has deadly consequences, especially in the Christian community. In the understanding that mental health is recognized to be as equally legitimate as any other medical condition, the first statement of my professor can be paralleled to saying that doctor’s “harm” people with chemotherapy and cancer is "simply" a choice. Also, in the understanding that homosexuality and pedophilia are completely different, and the fact that one does not lead to the other, the second example can be paralleled to the comparison of loving Christians to Nazi’s, or peaceful Muslim’s to terrorists. Remarks which were made implying one will surely lead to the other is inappropriate for all these people groups. In summary, such choice of words and comparisons are extremely harmful, nor are they relevant to the course material– except to articulate the discriminating prejudice Shakespeare actively opposed in his life’s works.
I do not pretend to know or even understand Shakespeare more than Dr. ****, but from the little I do understand in why Shakespeare has remained to this day an extraordinary figure around the world, it is for his ability to communicate to all races, genders, social status’s, and sexualities. In the Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare painted the beautiful and raw picture of Shylock who represents the degenerated, dehumanized Jew: marked as an outsider for his identity. Shakespeare gave him a voice in the theatre when everywhere else in society he had none. Shakespeare constantly gave voices to those who were discriminated and gave faces to those whose emotions were trivialized because of their identity. Othello is another great example of this.
I have also done brief study into Twelfth Night, which is a clear demonstration of the resilient and limitless capacity of love, despite all it’s complexities.
My simple request is that the lecture topics be limited to Shakespeare, and if controversial opinions are expressed, that they be related to the course topic and addressed in a respectful manner.
My sincerest regards,
Bryanna Bone
Disclaimer: I do not advocate discrimination or adversity towards those who believe homosexuality is a sin for religious reasons. I advocate co-existence between those who differ on the subject, which can only be found in mutual respect. Oppressive and divisive language is found on both sides and we can change that, one conversation and relationship at a time.