CHARISMATIC MEGAFAUNA

By Quiconque

Of God and Naughty Bits

I am teaching two courses at the same public college. This semester I�m working in a special freshman program. The program is big and important and has won all sorts of awards. I was (and still am) excited to be teaching young minds. The kids are inquisitive and full of energy. But, I�ve also discovered that teaching freshman has its challenges.

First of all, freshmen are young. I�d forgotten how young. They�re half my age. That someone can be half my age and be almost an adult blows my mind. If I�d been more precocious my freshman year, I could have been their mother. Eeep.

Because of this age gap, they don�t get any of my pop culture references. They haven�t seen any of the movies I talk about in class. We haven�t read the same books. I cannot even assume they know about major events from the recent past, such as the OJ Simpson trial and the Mike Tyson rape trial. Ten years ago my students were small children. When they admitted that none of them had heard of Geraldine Ferraro, I had to remind myself that none of them had yet been born in 1984.

Many of them have not yet learned how to be college students. One young man came up to me after class yesterday to ask if the textbook was required reading. He first asked me about bookstore vouchers; so I thought the issue was that he had to wait for some financial aid to purchase his books. That was not the case; he was able to buy the books, he had just not done so. It�s the fourth week of school. It�s one thing to fall behind in the reading, but he�ll never catch up if he doesn�t make it his business to get copies of the books.

They are also young-acting. In the Gender and Anthropology course, students still twitter whenever I say �penis� or �vulva.� When we discussed male initiation rituals among the Sambia, both the men and women squealed in horror. They�re very reluctant to speak up in class, especially if the topic has anything to do with sexuality.

During the first week, in the class about intersexuality and genital �corrective� surgery, one student (out of nowhere, to my mind) asked me, �Would you let your son wear a skirt?� To which I replied, �Yes, of course I�d let my son wear a skirt.� My response was met with shocked gasps. A very frustrating discussion followed:

�You would let your son wear a skirt?!� �

"Yes, I would let my son wear a skirt.�

�But that�s not natural!�

�Have you been listening to anything I�ve been saying all class? None of this is �natural.� There is nothing natural about wearing a skirt or not wearing a skirt. Besides, men wear skirts all the time. Men in Indonesia wear sarongs. Scottish men wear kilts.�

�Yeah, but those are primitive people from the olden days.�

�What are you saying? Lots of men, today, so-called modern men, wear skirts. Look at the pope. He wears a dress every day!�

�Okay, but what if your son gets teased?�

�Then he gets teased. He�ll have to decide whether acceptance by his peers is more important than his love for his skirt. It�s a decision he�ll have to make. I�m not going to forbid him from wearing a skirt.�

And then, again, from out of nowhere, �Can I ask you a question? Do you believe in God?�

What in hell?�Yes, I believe in God, although probably not the same way you do. What has that to do with this discussion?�

�Well, I read that bible and the bible says that homosexuality is not the way. Homosexuality is wrong.�

Shit. Do I have to have this fight so early in the semester?

But another student raised her hand and drew some astute parallels between anti-black racism and heterosexism. So I was saved from having to fight with my God-loving student. (As it turns out, she�s also porn-loving, but cannot see that there are any cultural issues when it comes to sex) That would have, in effect, silenced her for the rest of the semester. And no teacher wants to do that on the second day of class.

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LINKS

DIARYRINGS

READING: Ni Putes Ni Soumises' White Book

WATCHING: Potlatch, a Strict Law Bids Us Dance. (Yeah, it's for class).