Grover Cleveland High School (student newspaper)


Artist: Richard Edmond

Year: 2008

Date of Action: February 2008

Region: North America

Location: Los Angeles, California

Subject: Explicit Sexuality, Political/Economic/Social Opinion

Medium: Print Journalism

Confronting Bodies: Grover Cleveland High School officials

Description of Artwork: This edition of the school newspaper, Le Sabre, contained the headline "Happy Vagina Day!" as well as an anatomical picture of female genitalia on its cover. The issue was intended to draw attention to V-Day and bring about awareness of abuse of women.

The Incident: Very soon after the papers were released, teachers and administrators began collecting them back, even, according to some accounts, grabbing the newspapers out of students' hands.

Results of Incident: Several students came to school the next day wearing homemade tee-shirts which said "My Vagina is Obscene," to oppose the school's act of censorship. Two students who refused to change clothes were suspended. The school held a form of teachers and students in the following week to discuss violence against women, but did not return the newspaper to print, in spite of a letter from NCAC

Source:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cleveland16feb16,
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• 7502199.story?page=1



See also http://www.splc.org/news/newsflash.asp?id=1691