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REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS
Texas High School Students Slam Sexist Christian Speaker
Saturday, November 16, 2013 4:45 PM
NIKI2
Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...
Quote:Around 1 p.m. today, the hashtag #lookadouche showed up on the Twittersphere. A group of students at Richardson High School were skipping regularly scheduled math or science classes to attend an optional PTA-sponsored assembly. The day's guest speaker was a motivational speaker who has co-authored faith-based dating books "Dateable: are you? are they?" and "The Dateable Rules". His name: Justin Lookadoo. The students first learned of Lookadoo on Tuesday, when teachers informed them that today's classes would be canceled or shortened because of a special assembly. Upon hearing the news, Dr. Jaime Clark-Soles, mother of a RHS student and a professor at Southern Methodist University, visited Lookadoo's website. She, along with several other parents, took their concerns to the principal and other school officials, as well as to their social media networks. "I am extremely troubled by the fact that Richardson High School would bring in an 'expert' speaker who holds the dangerous, misogynistic views that advance a rape culture such as those expressed on his website," Clark-Soles said. "I was given no information about an unnamed speaker on an unnamed subject." At first the assembly was to be postponed, then students were told it would take place but be optional. It went on as scheduled. On his website, which was made public to the students, Lookadoo touts materials that include a list of "Dateable girls rules." On that list are rules including, “Dateable girls know that guys need to be needed. A Dateable girl isn’t Miss Independent.” “God made guys as leaders. Dateable girls get that and let him do guy things, get a door, open a ketchup bottle. They relax and let guys be guys. Which means they don’t ask him out!!!” “Keep it covered up. Dateable guys know that porn is bad for the spirit and the mind. They keep women covered up.” "Be Mysterious. Dateable girls know how to shut up" As for the "Dateable Boy," Lookadoo and co-author Hayley DiMarco want young people to know: “Men of God are wild, not domesticated. Dateable guys aren’t tamed....They fight battles, conquer lands and stand up for the oppressed.” “Being a guy is good. Dateable guys know they aren’t as sensitive as girls and that’s okay. They know they are stronger, more dangerous, and more adventurous and that’s okay. Dateable guys are real men who aren’t afraid to be guys.” Sarah Roeschley, the associate director of senior high youth at King of Glory Lutheran Church in Dallas, says her high school group reaches many of the RHS students. She calls Lookadoo's ideas "antiquated and sexist, gender-stereotyped B.S." "I'm mortified that this went on, and I apologize to the students of Richardson High School on behalf of Christians everywhere," Roeschley says. "Lookadoo is wrong." While the assembly itself was not to contain any faith-based doctrine or direct references to the "rules," students obviously found the rules, and reports on Twitter say the talk came across as "a rant against women." Several students are reported to have walked out of the assembly early. A very Dateable Spokeswoman at RISD didn't return calls for comment. http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/11/richardson_high_schoolers_lear.php] News coverage at http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=69016&sitesection=mailonline&VID=25360126 While he spoke Lookadoo had no idea that he was being totally rejected and humiliated on Twitter by the very students he was talking to. But that’s exactly what happened. Students criticized Lookadoo’s sexism and created a hashtag that will follow him to any school he goes to in the future. "#lookadouche". It’s got a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? After the assembly, students confronted Lookadouche, er, Lookadoo about his sexism and asked him why he tells girls “to get out of abusive relationships instead of telling guys not to be abusive in the first place?” The question surprised Lookadoo. It’s allegedly the first time he’s ever been challenged by students. Richardson students were smarter than the adults who hired Lookadoo but these kinds of assemblies happen all too often. Principal Charles Bruner has since apologized to parents, but it’s simply amazing that school officials would allow such a speaker to interact with the students in their care. Clearly, the students at Richardson High School know more about right and wrong than the supposed “adults” who run it. Religious-based sexism is running rampant in this country, especially within conservative circles. It’s the belief that men can do whatever the hell they want while women have to be pregnant and chained to an oven. Such views may have been acceptable in the 1800's, but they are not in today’s world. Yet, Christian fundamentalists show up in schools around the country in an effort to push their agenda upon the young minds who are subjected to such events. There was this, last April: "Northwest Rankin High School Sued For Literally Forcing Students Into Religious Assembly" ( http://www.policymic.com/articles/38249/northwest-rankin-high-school-sued-for-literally-forcing-students-into-religious-assembly), and a year earlier, a Christian rock band spoke at an Iowa high school. The band separated the girls and boys into different rooms. The boys learned about drug overdose. The girls, however, were told to not have sex until marriage and to be submissive to their husbands ( http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/state-and-regional/iowa-high-school-assembly-stirs-protest/article_d754d1b2-6a25-11e1-b4e1-001871e3ce6c.html). So the question is, why do schools hire such people to speak to their students? Even though these wonderful Richardson High students did their research and had the courage to stand up against the Christian speaker at their school, there are other students out there that are vulnerable to this kind of teaching. It destroys the confidence of young women and enables men to be assholes toward them. Such sexist attitudes are responsible for the culture of rape that has plagued this country for decades. If we want sexism and rape culture to end, we have to strip people like Lookadoo of their speaking platform. In other words, don’t hire them. Thankfully, the students at Richardson High didn’t buy in to his bullshit. Instead, students turned the tables, and the world is better for it.
Saturday, November 16, 2013 4:48 PM
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Saturday, November 16, 2013 5:05 PM
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