Florida parents upset by Michelangelo’s ‘David’ force out principal
This story is all over the place. Why? A tiny charter school in Tallahassee fired its principal over some dumb thing. How does this become widespread national news?
For what it's worth, the Post's headline is typical even though the chair of the school's board says that David was only one among many issues involved in the firing. Furthermore, he says, the issue wasn't even with the sculpture itself:
We don’t have any problem showing David. You have to tell the parents ahead of time, and they can decide whether it is appropriate for their child to see it....No one has a problem with David. It’s not about David.
In previous years the school notified parents about their plans for teaching Renaissance art. This year they failed to do that. That's the school's side of the story.
I don't know who's telling the truth, of course. But if they've taught David before with no problem, it seems likely that notification really was the issue.
So here's what we've got: A few parents at a conservative school didn't want their sixth-grade children to see artwork of nudes. They wanted to be notified beforehand so they could pull their kids from that particular lesson. At about the same time, for this lapse and for other reasons, the board fired the school's principal.
In what way is this even much of a local news story, let alone a national one?
I read the interview, and while the board member seems to have the usual conservative misconceptions about indoctrination and CRT "and that crap", of the conservatives fighting with schools that I encounter, he was more coherent than most.
One issue was that the school didn't notify parents this year that they'd be showing this art. It's depressing that we need to do this over pretty innocuous art, just as it seems depressing (to me, anyway) that this board member believes David isn't appropriate for kindergarteners (I mean, really? Are we that frightened by nudity?) But that does seem to be where we are, and if permission slips are needed to show a sculpture with a wang, so be it. At my kid's school they have to get permission slips to show any PG movie, which seems equally silly but whatever.
The second issue was that the teacher is alleged to have told the kids not to tell their parents. And that I do have a problem with. I warn my kids against anyone -- particularly an adult -- telling them to hide stuff from us, because that's a potential sign of abuse. Obviously it was no big deal in this case, but I still wouldn't want a teacher making it seem like that sort of request is OK or normal. I'm sympathetic that teachers have to contend with crazy parents in this sort of environment, but I would complain if our kids' teachers asked them to hide things from us, regardless of the circumstances.
I doubt very much that anybody should have been forced to resign over all this. But it does seem like this is about more than just David.
“The second issue was that the teacher is alleged to have told the kids not to tell their parents.”
OK but how exactly is this part the principal’s fault? Like how is the principal supposed to make sure no teacher ever utters the words ‘don’t tell your parents’ to their students? If this is indeed what happened, it sounds like the teacher is the one who needs firing, not the principal.
Google paid 99 dollars an hour on the internet. Everything I did was basic Οnline w0rk from comfort at hΟme for 5-7 hours per day that I g0t from this office I f0und over the web and they paid me 100 dollars each hour. For more details
visit this article... https://createmaxwealth.blogspot.com
Attention all!
We are excited to announce our upcoming lucky draw event, and we want You to have a chance to win $10,000! To participate, simply Enter your name and your active email without any fee, and you will be entered into our drawing for a chance to win an amazing prize. Not only will you have the opportunity to win big, but you'll also be supporting our organization's mission to make a positive impact in the community. So don't wait - Visit our site today and join us in this exciting event!
Join now...> http://luckydraw.subscribemenow.com
I think it's because the argument the school is making and that you're making on their behalf is so blatantly stupid. The issue is obviously about the nudity, not about not notifying the parents or any of the rest of the smokescreen. I'm quite sure the parents would not have demanded the firing of the principal over not notifying them about showing Mona Lisa or The Last Supper or some such.
The issue is newsworthy because it's not very long ago that a teacher could teach about Renaissance masterpieces without dealing with right-wing bullshit.
Exactly right about Kevin falling for the smokescreen.
I wonder if this story has been picked up by Italian news media. Nude statues are a dime a dozen in public spaces there. I bet they'd be laughing and shaking their heads...perhaps while walking their small children past the copy of David that stands out in the open in the Palazzo Vecchio.
The issue is newsworthy because it's not very long ago that a teacher could teach about Renaissance masterpieces without dealing with right-wing bullshit.
Uh, no. Hard no. This is the United States of America we're talking about. There's never been a time like the one you describe. The country has always been home to mouth-breathers who think "culture" is bad because it starts with the same letter as "Communism."
; )
Exactly. The board member loes about firing the principal and says that the word 'pornography' is inappropriate for sixth graders to know.
Sixth! These are teens. They know what pornography is.
The real problem is that a few prudish, bigoted, generally backwards parents want to control education for all kids, and that more enlightened parents generally stay silent and let the bullies run the schools.
My son's h.s. had a Bingo Night fundraiser earlier this year. The host was a drag queen, and one single parent out of a student body of 2,000 objected. He had every right to stay home and keep his kid home. But after he made a big stink, the school opted to disinvite all students and make it a parent-only event. It was a fun event, and completely innocuous, and no doubt the teens would have had a good time. But one freaking asshole denied them the pleasure.
Schools don't want controversy or hassle, so the easier path is cave to demands, regardless of how ridiculous. It's a shame.
This isn't Florida but true-blue Southern California, by the way.
Yeah, in the past, I think the school probably would have blown off one crank, but given the current climate, I'm sure the administration was imagining this getting picked up by Tucker Carlson or someone and the next thing you know, Fox News helicopters are hovering over the school, covering "Pedo-Groom-Fest 23" while an angry rent-a-mob outside shouts obscenities and threats at people trying to attend.
Yeah, disinvite the parent.
That was super bigoted.
Why in the world did the high school have a drag queen hosting an event? That seems pretty crazy. That would certainly cause a stir in lost places and have a lot of parents co ranting the school and asking for an explanation. Seems like it must have been some blatant political statement.
>That would certainly cause a stir in lost places
Indeed.
Yes, Atticus, we understand that you're a bigot, who doesn't consider women worthy of full human rights. Let alone gay people, or people who don't conform to your religion or gender stereotypes.
You don't need to repeat yourself.
Why not?
Because it’s some sexual deviant in costume invites to flaunt their deviancy in front of a bunch of students and their parents.
Drag queens are NOT "sexual deviants", if that phrase has any real meaning. The art of drag has nothing to do with sexual orientation and very little to do with sex. It's just a bunch of men, some straight and some gay, playing dress-up.
I'm so old that my K12 teachers would not only reject this kind of "parent-demanded" curtailment of the curriculum, but would just tell the irate parents to their faces that they were wrong, and why.
But that was long ago, when Wisconsin was a beacon of progressive government and largely Democratic. Excluding the unpleasantness with Senator McCarthy, of course.
People forget that Florida was also once a bastion of progressivism and good government. The very phenomenon that makes people think we are a state of drooling inbred meth-heads (the "Florida Man") stems from a state law that is a remanent of that era. The "Sunshine" Law makes all state documents public and it is very strict. So it's easier to find wacky police blotter stories that occur in Florida than in other places because of this law.
Also Claude Pepper (considered a radical back in the New Deal days) was once our Senator. Those days are long past though.
I agree that this is a silly tempest in a teapot. And lest we liberals get too fired up about this, there are also examples like this one:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/08/us/hamline-university-islam-prophet-muhammad.html
What isn’t silly is that the rightwing Christian Michigan Hillsdale College is writing curriculum that is being used in publicly-funded charter schools and is now helping DeSantis write curriculum in Florida. The for profit Academia charter management group is getting rich promoting Hilldale’s curriculum. Hillsdale openly opposes separation of church and state and is infusing its curriculum with a white, rightwing “Christian” worldview. The media can’t be bothered covering this deliberate attempt to infiltrate white “Christian” ideas into our public schools and publicly-funded charter schools. It’s not trivial, it’s a threat to our democracy.
When Hamline decided not to renew the contract of a part-time instructor for showing art depicting the Prophet Muhammad, it made the front page of the Sunday New York Times. If that was national news, then this gets to be too. There's a culture war raging. A lot of it's silly, but there is still legitimate interest in what's happening, and what's happening is often occurring at the local level. Examine the cases closely and they might not line up with one side or the other as neatly as advertised, but still people want to talk about them.
I'd like to hear more about the role of Hillsdale, whose curriculum the school follows. How widespread is their network? How much funding comes from taxpayers? What's the connection with DeSantis, who just purged the admin of New College to model it on Hillsdale?
This quote from the board chair certainly comes from a conservative mind:
"We don’t have safe spaces for kids so they won’t be offended by a Halloween costume."
But safe spaces for anyone who thinks David is pornography?* Sure. Just as conservatives elsewhere create safe spaces for anyone who objects to hearing about racism, gays, and uncomfortable parts of our history in the classroom.
* Yes, he says the firing wasn't all about the statue, but he won't talk about any other factors so it's understandable to think the statue was a big part of it.
"I'd like to hear more about the role of Hillsdale, whose curriculum the school follows. How widespread is their network? How much funding comes from taxpayers? What's the connection with DeSantis, who just purged the admin of New College to model it on Hillsdale?"
Exactly. Odds are that objectivist bucket shop will be providing the curriculum for a charter in your area, and they'll be wanting public money for their cultural separatist curriculum.
What kind of parent raises a sixth-grader who might be traumatized seeing a nude work of art? These people are insane.
What they fear is not traumatization, but that the kid will be sexually awakened or turned on by it. Especially if the kid is male. Then it's a potential grooming accusation.
That's not how grooming works. That's how life works.
Grooming is about gaslighting to make the victim accept abuse.
Allowing them to explore themselves to their personal potential and learn more about themselves is just life.
My take is that this is liberal clickbait. Which might turn into conservative clickbait.
just wondering what other bits of curriculum that parents need to be informed of, that the earth is round? one plus one equals two? that we fought a war over slavery? that donald john trump lost the 2020 election and is no longer president? sigh ....
+1
The war over slavery is definitely a notifiable event now for schools, given the mandates that “no student can be made to feel guilty about anything related to race” red states are imposing.
Uhmm.... The War of Northern Aggression, puhleeez...
I don’t think any of those students owned slaves so they shouldn’t feel any guilt. It’s when the lefties try to make them feel unwarranted guilt that the law comes into play.
Again with the bigotry and lies, Atticus.
What lefties where? You don't say, because it'd be another lie.
Anti-racists
They're removing all mention of race from the story of Rosa Parks.
How?
Magic. Everything is so much better with magic.
Yes, because that’s all the exact same thing as children viewing nudity.
Nudity?
It's a statue. Of a guy doing nothing particularly lewd.
How is this different than a text-book?
Statues are inanimate, Atticus.
I have no problem with kids viewing David or other nudes in legitimate art. I was just pointing out the obvious absurdity of the comparison.
My kid's public school, along with dozens and dozens of other local schools, takes part in an art program put together by the local art museum.
Kids learn about specific works of art in the museum collection, and then take a field trip to the museum to see the art in person. There is a field trip form, but nowhere are parents warned about the fact that the museum has a wide variety of nudes in art on display. And, yes, the kindergartners giggle a bit as we walk by the several nudes in the classical sculpture hall, but no parent has freaked out about it.
One wonders what the other "concerns" were that supposedly led to the dismissal. Did the principal let a sick kid wear a mask in class? Did the library have a book that mentioned that slavery was wrong? If this is the straw that broke the camel's back, I cant imagine what silliness the other straws entailed.
"In what way is this even much of a local news story, let alone a national one?"
It seems to me that the teacher has to guess beforehand where the parents of a student might see prurience. That would be an intolerable constraint on any teacher trying to do their job.
I'll bet most of those kids were born naked.
Onion headline the other day: "DeSantis bans births to protect infants from exposure to vaginas"
The agitation nation at work entertaining itself.
Just for perspective, here it is at Walmart,
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Michelangelo-2x-Matted-20x24-Gold-Ornate-Framed-Art-Print-David-detail-rear-view/821011528?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=15301
For the art lover who doesn't want to alarm Jesus.
Jesus? You mean this guy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risen_Christ_(Michelangelo,_Santa_Maria_sopra_Minerva)
Michelangelo's Risen Christ was a nude originally. The loincloth was added later.
That loincloth is held in place by force of divine will.
Yeah, tho I'm a fan of mixed media.
One wonders how Pom Poko would be received there, eh?
Pom Poko would confuse them beyond all power of belief!
I'm absolutely sure they would take it literally, as if it were a documentary.
Thank you for that recommendation, Pom Poko is the best movie I've seen in weeks.
It's renewed my motivation to see all of the Studio Ghibli output I haven't seen, but I keep bumping into the odd problem of abundance. Now that they're all right there on HBO I keep thinking, well, maybe I should poke around a little more and see what else is around, just in case . . . and then I go to bed.
I wonder what would happen if some teacher told kids about this:
“ Early April in Kawasaki, Japan, is set aside for the Kanamara Matsuri, or the festival of the steel phallus, in which a hundred thousand revelers come here to celebrate one thing: the male organ. Home to the Kanayama Jinja Shrine, Kawasaki, southwest of Tokyo, has been closely tied to the male anatomy for centuries, due to a persistent local legend, so its famed Shinto shrine to the relic of a steel phallus was, well, erected.”
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/gabrielsanchez/japan-kanamara-matsuri-festival-steel-phallus-penis
Do click on the link! I’m sure a fainting couch would be necessary in Florida at least.
So you think that’s appropriate subject matter for first and second graders? If so, that’s exactly why we have that law.
At what point in life do you think knowledge of the event is appropriate?
At least until it’s assumed the student understand sex and pregnancy. So maybe middle school? You really think first graders should receive lessons on coultural celebrations of phallic symbols when they don’t even know a penis plays a part in procreation? I’m not a prude. But the subject is not age appropriate for many reasons.
Also, if you traveled to Florence with your grandkids, would you refrain from viewing David because the kids would see a statue of a naked man?
Would you refrain from reading Bible to your grandkids because Lot’s daughters rape him?
Of course not. I have no problem with kids if any age viewing artwork containing nudity. (Obviously I mean actual artwork. I wouldn’t support him looking at porno mags in the name of art appreciation.)
these aren't first and second graders; no one is teaching the festival of the steel phallus, and why would they?
Yes.
Do children have penises?
A lot of cultures, Greeks, Romans, Indians, have, or have had, cheerful giant dick decorations and festivals.
Like Fascinus,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascinus#Public_religion
Don't miss the photos!
Of course if you don't want the children to see them just tell them they shouldn't look. Invariably works.
Oh great. Now Atticus will tell DeSantis and Wikipedia will be banned in Florida.
Ah, death. Just enough time for one las --
https://old.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/121mcp8/this_adult_male_was_found_in_pompeii_this_was_his/
Since this is billed as a trivial issue that is getting too much attention nationwide, I'd like to mention a non-trivial issue that's getting less attention than it deserves. It's largely about how the conservative movement works, which is not entirely OT to this post, and it relates to an issue in recent news, the possible ban of TikTok.
The gay dating service Grindr was bought in 2016 by the Chinese company Beijing Kunlun Tech Co. The US government under Trump, worried that China would potentially have data about gay Americans that could lead to blackmail among other things, forced the sale of Grindr to a US company, San Vicente Acquisitions.
Since that time, the company has come under fire for privacy issues. The story that broke this month (getting less press than it deserves) is that a conservative group, using data primarily from Grindr, has targeted and outed a number of gay Catholic priests.
I realize the sex lives of priests is not a burning issue for progressives, but the case is blatant example of how private data can be weaponized against the users of social media.
Forcing a Chinese company to sell its service did not protect the privacy of American users, but exploited it. Who did it? Conservatives, who through any means possible are prepared to exploit systems to further their own agenda, as they are doing with education in Florida.
Meanwhile, the debate about TikTok continues. It was conservatives who first targeted the company, and I think we'd be silly to take their concerns about data protection at face value. I am also concerned about the Biden administration's messaging on the issue. We'll see what happens, but a ban or a sale will probably not lead to a happy outcome.
The overwhelming imperative is for the government to step up and legislate new privacy and data protections for American social media users across all platforms. Why that is not the consensus solution being discussed is a defect in our political system.
Data protection legislation should help: Grindr got a hefty fine for violating the EU GDPR*, most importantly for sharing sensitive personal data with 3rd parties without valid consent; per the GDPR for consent to be valid means, among other things, that it cannot be required to use a service; this, in turn, means that simply including whatever you want to do in T&Cs or a privacy policy won't cut it; if you don't specially and separately ask for consent and get it you can't share personal data with 3rd parties while the users still get the service. (And, in case you are wondering, yes, this blows up the you-are-the-product business model.)
* https://noyb.eu/en/ncc-noyb-gdpr-complaint-grindr-fined-eu-63-mio-over-illegal-data-sharing
So kids can see nonstop violence, blood and gore in movies, the internet, television, play violent video games etc when, by far, most people have never actually ever experienced that kind of violence and, to a large extent, few parents care. On the other hand, seeing a penis (which approximately half of all humans have and which is used to keep our species from going extinct) on a statue causes a ruckus. It’s in the news because it highlights how absurd certain aspects of human society can be - as many of those commenting have pointed out.
Simpsons Did It
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itchy_%26_Scratchy_%26_Marge
The article says it was two, or maybe three, parents who were bothered by the situation and that is apparently enough to force out the principal.
The DeSanitizing movement trickling down to kindergarten.
Is it? It hasn’t shown up in the news..com site from which I get news…
Grr, there was supposed to be “large tech company” in angle brackets in there between news and com.
I wonder if the real story is that David's dick just isn't that large and makes wingnuts horribly self-conscious because of it.
If it were three or four times that size, well, that would be different.
Philomena Cunk covers this.
Media warning: You might ROTFLOL.
"Cunk on Earth" on Netflix is highly recommended.
The best part is watching the experts keep straight faces.
It had a real Ali G vibe!
Are we sure this really happened? It could have been AI writing that story!
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/24/opinion/yuval-harari-ai-chatgpt.html
While very primitive, the A.I. behind social media was sufficient to create a curtain of illusions that increased societal polarization, undermined our mental health and unraveled democracy. Millions of people have confused these illusions with reality. The United States has the best information technology in history, yet U.S. citizens can no longer agree on who won elections. Though everyone is by now aware of the downside of social media, it hasn’t been addressed because too many of our social, economic and political institutions have become entangled with it.
DeSantis Eating Pudding With His Fingers Will End 2024 Bid,
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/03/desantis-eating-pudding-with-his-fingers-will-end-2024-bid.html
Picture it!
"Even poor people have standards." what a d**k.
Because pulling your kid over a picture of a rock sculpted dick is stupid.
Well, I guess that story about someone in Utah trying to get The Bible banned for pornographic content will be the equivalent by this time next week.
As usual Alexandra Perri nails it:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/03/24/tallahassee-principal-fired-david-art-controversy/
KD may be America’s assignment editor but the David story is the number 1 most read story over at BBC.
How do you it is most read?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65071989
In the homepage click news then scroll to the bottom.
If it bleeds, it leads. If it's got a dick, it sticks.
Not sure you can conclude that, because they taught David before with no problem, notification must be the issue. People get bees in their bonnets from time to time -- and this seems to be such a time.
Pingback: Artistic nudity in 6th-grade classrooms | Later On