Ultimately, the magazine was called mysongynistic, and the concern for how women are treated seemed to be the focus of why it should be pulled. In the "product description" of Vibe magazine on Amazon, it states: "Covering a culture that is frequently misogynistic and homophobic, Vibe is both women- and gay-friendly, and surprisingly broad in its interpretation of who's cool enough for hip-hop: Elton John (for his Grammy duet with Eminem), maverick senator Jim Jeffords, and Seattle Mariners baseball star Ichiro Suzuki." I wonder if the opposers of the magazine have more of a problem with the culture that is represented than the magazine, as Frinak felt the need to point out that even though the people in the magazine may not look like locals, it still represents a point of view that should be heard. Sometimes hip-hop culture can be mysonygistic, as noted in the above quote, but unless the magazine is openly promoting misogynous viewpoints, the magazine can't be faulted for the very content that it has to cover. I also find it troubling that the principal is on the review committee, since he made the complaint. Administrators should be more confident in the selection abilities of its media specialist, otherwise, the specialists may begin to censor when selecting for fear of administrative complaints. I also wonder if the principal only acted because a school board member complained about it (but that is all conjecture). I would like to hear a student point of view on this matter so that they can relate how the content actually affects them.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
6/17 High School May Pull 'Vibe' Magazine
According to a recent news article, there is an effort at a high school in Wisconsin to pull the magazine Vibe from shelves. The complaint didn't come from a parent but rather the principal who had received a complaint about the magazine from a board member. The principal is also on the review committee for deciding whether to keep the magazine. What I like about this coverage of the issue is the reading specialist Christine Frinak and IMC director Jeanne Anderson's strong stance supporting intellectual freedom and opposing the removal of the magazine . Anderson explained that a student requested more music magazines and that she chose Vibe, after doing research and finding it was on ALA's recommended magazines for high school students. Frinak reminded the committee that the content may not "look like a lot of the people who live here" but that students should have access to all points of view. A concerned parent and also a school board member asked if the magazine was worse than the swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated, which is kept behind the counter, and Frinak explained it is only behind the counter because it would get stolen. One of the most questionable arguments made against the magazine was that prisons don't allow the magazine. That a school is compared to a prison is troublesome, as such a comparison shows the lack of respect for the intellectual freedom of students.
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I would not be surprised if the principal acted because of board pressure, which can be a strong influence in some communities. Unfortunately, I suspect the issue of the magazine's "culture" differing from the majority population also factored. Regarding misogyny, I suggest that the review board would not want to slide down the slope of analyzing magazines by that standard. I could argue that many magazines targeted at young adults (Seventeen, etc.) promote potentially negative stereotypes about women and men. I strongly believe it is more important to teach students to read critically and form their own opinions than it is to overly restrict available materials.
ReplyDeleteAgnes Fusiek
I don't think this principal should be on the review committee. But the librarian has a very good case for keeping the magazine, Vibe is a respected music magazine, and it is significant that it is ALA-recommended. If students and parents don't object to it, what's the problem? Too bad the principal isn't more supportive of the librarian. :(
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting article, and I must say that I am a fan of the Vibe magazine (http://www.vibe.com/), and although some of the covers of Vibe are risky and /or questionable the magazine provides in-depth information about the stars who most teens love and adore. After reading this blog/article several times, I wonder if this magazine was simply to "urban" for the principal and school board member which may be the real reason why they want to remove this magazine. I think it would be useful to know the population of the African-American students at this school since this magazine focuses on African-American stars such as (Rhianna, Chris Brown, etc.) I think this is important because school libraries need to provide diverse materials to a diverse school population. In the end, I feel students should have the right to read any type of magazine that interests them. I think students should be given the option to read various materials/magazines such as Vibe, Teen People, etc. without automatically being restricted from these materials simply because a principal or school board is unable to relate to the content within the magazine.
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