High school girls refuse to hate themselves–society as we know it falls apart

Minnesota high school students Carrie Rethlefsen and Emily Nixon loved “The Vagina Monologues” (who doesn’t?) and, inspired by the play, decided to spread a little love for the multi-talented organ at their high school. Naturally, this display of female pride upset the powers that be.
Despite the threats of serious punishment, Rethlefsen has continued to wear her button to raise awareness about women’s issues. As a show of support, more than 100 students have ordered T-shirts bearing “I (heart) My Vagina” for girls and “I Support Your Vagina” for boys.
Good for them–I’m happy to see this sort of outpouring of support for these girls and their cause. With all the paranoia over teenage sexuality, it’s refreshing to see kids stand up and refuse to be ashamed of the fact that they have bodies.
I’m not surprised, of course, that the school officials are reacting negatively–far too many educators all too readily embrace the role of stiflers of young minds. But sometimes you just want to smack someone upside the head. This sort of openness and respect for women’s bodies is exactly what it’s going to take to combat rape, unplanned pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases, but no, we can’t think about that because we are scared of the word “vagina”.
Of course, it probably doesn’t make the administrators feel any warmer to realize they’ve been exposed as a bunch of whining babies by a couple of teenage kids.