Needed: A Modern-Day Aristophanes

I was reading an old lecture on Aristophanes by Leo Strauss when I came across these very usable sentences:

When about to enter a place at which we are meant to laugh and to enjoy ourselves, we must first cross a picket line of black-coated ushers exuding deadly and deadening seriousness. No doubt they unwittingly contribute to the effect of the comedies.

Strauss had in mind of course the typical college professoriate of our time. These lines came springing back to mind when you come across a story like this:

Michigan College Cancels ‘The Vagina Monologues’ Because Not All Women Have Vaginas

YPSILANTI, MI – Eastern Michigan University’s Women’s Resource Center will no longer host productions of “The Vagina Monologues,” noting that the play’s version of feminism excludes some women.

The WRC announced its decision in an email, which came after the center evaluated responses from a survey. Survey respondents opposing the production consistently indicated they were concerned that the play centers on cisgender women, that the play’s version of feminism excludes some women, including trans women, and that overall, “The Vagina Monologue” lacks diversity and inclusion.

Modifying the script to the play written by Eve Ensler is not an option, due to copyright laws, the WRC stated.

So I guess my proposal to the National Endowment for the Arts for a grant to stage a production of “The Penis Perspectives” is off?

Chaser:

EMU is not the first university to reconsider its position in hosting “The Vagina Monologues.” American University’s Women’s Initiative chose to change the event to the “Breaking Ground Monologues” in an effort to “broaden the focus from specifically female genitalia to multiple identities and bodies.”

Not hard to imagine what Aristophanes would have done with that. Also: “monologue” is the most fitting description of leftism in practice today.

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