The Death of Feminism

By Lee Markison

Nipple tassels, "smut" stories, and strippers. One would expect the mere mention of these things to cause hordes of feminists to storm the nearest fraternity house complete with burning brassieres and demands that the oppressive men inside respect women. But we are living in strange times, and at Bucknell nipple tassels, "smut," and strippers are apparently synonymous with feminism.
In mid-February the Bucknell University Conservatives Club was asked by the Bucknell Feminist Majority to help fund a show to bring sex workers (strippers, prostitutes, phone sex operators, etc.) to campus to celebrate their professions. "Of course we'll fund it, we like free speech," was the expected response. We respectfully declined, because while we hate the idea of censoring speech, we do not feel a need to support all speech.

However, while the BUCC refused to help cover the $1,920 cost of the Sex Worker's Art Show, other members of the campus community did. Groups like the Women's and Gender Studies Department, Center for the Study of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Samek Art Gallery, Office of Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Awareness, and others all cosponsored the event (feel free to ask them why they felt your tuition dollars and alumni contributions ought to be spent in this manner).

On March 8, at 8 p.m., a troupe of unrepentant prostitutes came to Bucknell- Uptown to be exact.
The Sex Worker's Art Show began innocently enough, with Annie Oakley, the director making a few political jabs and introducing the show. Next, a woman came onstage and read a story praising a sex worker full of language that would make a sailor blush. In a sad attempt to score a cheap laugh, she said the word p*ssy 10 times in about 5 seconds, along with a series of flowery (and some not so flowery) adjectives.

Next Cathy McPork paraded herself onstage, pretending to be one of the "right wing Christians with a death wish" as they were referred to by Annie Oakley. After mocking those who think sex work is dangerous, unhealthy, and a poor choice for women, Cathy McPork stripped down to her alter ego Scarlot Harlot, clad in a fire engine red bustier and slip dress.

Ms. Harlot proudly proclaimed that fat women can also have a future in the sex industry. Harlot sang a catchy little song complete with anorexia jokes and a hearty helping of sexual innuendo.

Apparently she missed the memo that there is a difference between encouraging self-acceptance and encouraging self-destructive behavior, but I guess that point was as lost to Ms. Harlot as any chance at seeing her feet.

The next "act" sauntered on stage in a see-through dress with a bra and panties and proceeded to gyrate onstage while stripping down to only the panties (fear not you right-wing Christians with a death wish, she was tastefully covered by nipple pasties, she�s not a whore after all, not tonight at least).

We were then treated to a woman who-- in a daring act of artistic brilliance-- came on stage wearing nothing but duct tape on her nipples and panties. She then ran through the audience as the Mission: Impossible theme blared in the background searching for clothes and brushing up against unsuspecting onlookers.

For the show's penultimate act we were treated to a large man dressed in nothing but lose-fitting overalls singing a song. He sang along side a projection that stated he was being censored by "Bucknell U's Reactionary Admin Policy." "What were we denied access to? Porn from the 1930s." The man then proceeded to sing a song entitled, "Requiem for a 'ho' ass nigger," in which he chanted that refrain while listing men and women like Harriet Tubman and Kirby Pucket. Just doing that, however, would not be true artistry, so the gentleman decided that while singing he would lube himself with baby oil for our viewing pleasure.

The night closed as the crowd was ushered into a hallway in Swartz adjoining Uptown. The crowd of proud feminists applauded as a woman contorted herself on a trapeze. The woman then thrust her chest out to the crowd and encouraged wild applause as she, of course, removed her bra to proudly display her sequin encrusted pasties.

If this leaves you scratching your head saying, "But, how does this promote a positive view of women?" fear not, you are not alone. I asked Annie Oakley, the leader of the troupe, that same question after the show. She replied by saying, "It promotes good body image, owning your sexuality" I interrupted her answer by asking, "Is it good to promote owning your sexuality if a man is paying you to provide him with friction?" With a smile she replied, "Sure, yes it is" and marched on.

For two months now, we've seen all that the "Feminist Majority" at Bucknell has to offer women. We've seen V-Day Bucknell proudly declare that they are "Bucknell Vaginas," and ask women, "What does your vagina smell like?" We saw them treat women as little more than a vagina, and all that implied.
Now a month after V-Day's antics ended Bucknell was presented with an even more overt display from the Feminist Majority. Rather than promoting causes like ending the international sex trade, where countless women's lives are ruined as they are sold into sexual slavery, Bucknell's "feminists" made a joke of prostitution. Actually, what they did was worse; they celebrated it.

The supposed message of this show was that sex workers are people, they could be your neighbor, your sister, your mother (read your, not my) and you should not look down on them. Unfortunately, this message was lost by a stunning display of nipple tassels, political jabs, stripping, lubing, and overall degradation. It was in fact nothing short of a carnival promoting sex work and the supposed empowerment that it offers.

The BUCC has always been a proud proponent of free speech. Our disgust for some types of speech should not be confused with a desire to censor. To the contrary, this event proved one of the BUCC's core arguments in favor of unfettered speech: when all are speaking, we are best able to determine which ideas and groups ought to be discarded as irrelevant, mindless, and unworthy of consideration.

We now all know what the Feminist Majority stands for, and now you have a question to ask yourself: "Do I stand for that too?"

Lee Markison is a freshman at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

This article appeared in The Counterweight, Bucknell's monthly conservative magazine.