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In
1997, that most enduring of excellent television
shows, “The Simpsons,” aired an episode where
Bart took a job in the town’s burlesque house,
the aptly named “Maison Derriere.” When
Marge found out, she went on a crusade to get rid
of the place, but her plan was foiled when
Springfield residents burst out in song and
decided they wanted to keep the place that put the
“spring” in Springfield.
It
was just a television show – a good one, to be
sure and the song won an Emmy. But flash forward
to a couple of weeks ago, when William & Mary
played host, for the second year, to the Sex
Workers Art Show. There wasn’t any
spontaneous outburst of song in support of the
show, but other elements of that long-ago Simpsons
show found their way into the public discourse.
Some
opposed the show on moral grounds – the
glorification of promiscuity has no place in a
state-funded college. Some argued it was the state
funding that made it a bad thing…why devote
scarce taxpayer money on a gaggle of weirdos and
fetishists?
Why,
indeed. The matter found its way into the press,
naturally, and eventually even into the General
Assembly, where the worthies took a break from the
important business of the day to question the four
nominees for William & Mary’s governing
board about certain… matters… relating to the
school’s reputation.
No
one on the House Privileges and Elections
committee spoke directly about the sex workers
show, which had to take some effort. However, one
Delegate who did not sit on the committee, Bob
Marshall, nonetheless managed to give his best
Marge Simpson imitation in a letter he penned to
his fellow Delegates. As Hugh Lessig reported:
[Marshall]
also asked whether "turning the public
property of the College into a bawdy house venue
for pimps, prostitutes and dominatrix (is) part of
(Nichol's) employment contract?"
Are
these legitimate questions? Perhaps. Bob Marshall
has an underdog Senate campaign to run, and any
opportunity to make even the smallest wave is
worth it. Or so it would seem. And, as he greatly
dislikes W&M President Gene Nichol, any
opportunity to slap him around is worth seizing.
But
the show went on, and, as of this writing, no one
at William & Mary seems inclined to become a
pimp or prostitute. However, the incident is just
the latest chapter in what seems to be an outbreak
of prudishness in Virginia, something one might
not necessarily expect in a state whose tourism
motto is “Virginia is for Lovers.”
Consider…
Delegate
Lionell Spruill Sr., a Chesapeake Democrat,
introduced a bill that would ban the display of
bumper hitch ornaments that resemble human
genitalia on automobiles. Anyone who did so would
be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of
up to $250. The bill generated its share of
media coverage, not all of it friendly to either
Spruill or Virginia.
In
Virginia Beach, police officers charged the
manager of the Abercrombie & Fitch outlet in
the Lynnhaven Mall with a misdemeanor obscenity
charge because the store displayed two photos of
three shirtless men, one who managed to expose a
portion of his rump and a woman, with a partially
exposed breast. They
seized the offending pictures after “some”
customers complained. But cooler heads prevailed
and the city attorney decided the matter
wasn’t worth prosecuting.
In
a similar vein, Del. Algie Howell introduced the
infamous “droopy drawers” bill that was aimed
at getting the state’s youth to hike up their
britches and spare the world a view of their
underwear. These are just a small
handful of examples, to be sure. And, to a degree,
all these incidents reflect nothing more than the
ancient tension over how public our displays of
the private behavior ought to be.
But
I wonder it they aren’t terribly misguided. What
makes me question how riled up we should be over
the seeming sexualization of the culture is a
remark Annie Oakley, the creator of the Sex
Workers Art Show, made to William & Mary’s
student newspaper, The Flat Hat:
Although
Oakley said she sees protest almost everywhere she
goes, one night last year stood out in her mind.
The
scene was Virginia Commonwealth University. That
night, the film “Monster” was shown on campus.
Across campus that same night, Oakley and her Sex
Workers’ Art Show performed to a sold out crowd.
There
is a scene in “Monster” in which the main
character, a prostitute, is brutally raped with a
pole while tied up in the back seat of a car. It
is, without a doubt, a graphic depiction of sexual
violence.
Yet,
in the days following, the school received many
complaints protesting only the art show.
Charlize
Theron won an Oscar for her performance in
“Monster.” Annie Oakley gets berated by
Bob Marshall.
Is
Virginia really for lovers? Only, it seems, if
they keep that love behind closed doors… with
their shirts on and their pants hiked up tight.
--
February 11, 2008
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