OP-ED: Lies reaffirms free speech: Offensiveness is not a crime
It isn't a crime to offend people in print... at least it shouldn't be. Yet two Sundays ago, Lies Magazine had to go before the Union senate to defend our right to publish an article titled, "Lies Guide to Banging Sorority Girls," because the article offended some students. By the time the meeting had finished the senate promised they would not de-charter Lies over the article, nor would they censor us. It was a small victory for Lies and a larger victory for free expression on the Brandeis Campus.
However, Lies should never have been in danger of having action taken against it, simply because select members of the community took offense to work published in the magazine.
Brandeis University is a private institution that retains the right to enforce its own community standards and, as such, there is no First Amendment protection on campus. As members of the Brandeis Community we all agree to the rules of allowable speech as defined by the Rights and Responsibilities Handbook.
The handbook makes clear that no group or individual is to be discriminated against based upon a "protected category" such as, but not limited to, her/his race, color, religious creed, national or ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, etc.
The term "sorority girl" is a term of affiliation and not an immutable characteristic, such as ethnicity or race, nor is it an ideology, like a religion. No one is born into a sorority; it is a self-identifying and self-selected group, like Democrats or theater majors. As such, the term "sorority girl," or any variation of it, does not fall under the Handbook's guidelines as a protected category.
If action had been taken against Lies it would have sent a message that there is no freedom to satirize groups or clubs on campus. It would have said that you cannot publish a parody stating that all Democrats are drunken socialists or theater majors have future careers as waiters. These are obvious exaggerations that few would take seriously-just like, for example, the parody of sorority girls published in Lies.
Lies may have offended some individuals, but because sororities do not fall under the umbrella of protected groups we did not violate any community standards. As the Brandeis policy on nondiscrimination says, "Not every act that might be offensive to an individual or a group necessarily will be considered as discrimination or harassment and/or a violation of the University's policy on discrimination." A club must take care to not cause direct harm to others, but this does not mean avoiding offensiveness.
Some have argued that the article in Lies was offensive not only to sorority members, but also to women in general. In fact, the article was not misogynistic, but it was a parody of both sexes and of gender relations at college. While the article implied that women can be used as sex objects, it also implied that men have no morals and will resort to desperate means to get laid. Men and women were equal targets of the article's satirical take on sex relations. To read the text otherwise would not only be a misinterpretation of its message, but it would also miss the joke.
In the last issue of the Justice, the sorority article was compared to the WBRS "Men's Room" incident by Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity member Eli Wolfhagen '05. The "Men's Room" incident was an unmistakable act of bigotry based on racial stereotyping. Lies Magazine did not-and will never-allow bigotry or racial stereotyping in our pages.
While we are not actually protected by the First Amendment at Brandeis, the spirit of free speech is vital to the well-being of our campus. Our school's mission statement reads, "Brandeis renews the American heritage of cultural diversity, equal access to opportunity, and freedom of expression." One cannot support free expression while also disbanding groups merely for being offensive. Without free speech there can be no social justice, an ideal on which Brandeis prides itself.
We apologize if anyone felt attacked by Lies Magazine. This was not our intent. It is part of our goal to provide social commentary that could be potentially offensive, but not our goal to be in opposition to any specific group. Lies magazine is accepting of women, sororities and all other groups with members in the Brandeis community. In satirizing a group, we were not expressing any kind of vendetta against them. We apologize if this was misunderstood by the community.
I helped found Lies Magazine with the goal of broadening the spectrum of accepted discourse at Brandeis and giving voice to a community of students whom-I feel-are under-represented by other campus publications. I think Lies has succeeded in this goal, and I hope we will continue to inspire dialogue and challenge views at Brandeis.
While we agree to abide by the rules in the Rights and Responsibilities handbook, we refuse to shy away from controversial material or from possibly being offensive. To do so would not only be against the goal of our magazine, it would also be against the community wide ideal of social justice.
Editor's Note: Zachary Reff '05 is the publisher and co-editor-in-chief of Lies.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Justice.