Why I Don't Understand Why People Call This Place So Liberal

[debka_notion]

As I was getting my lunch today, Steve comes over to me, takes a look at my shirt, which says "Brandeis University Conservative Organization" on the front and "Hebrew is Gender Specific, BUCO is not" on the back, and says to me "You know, we have a shirt like that for BOO too, only on the back it says 'G-d doesn't hate us'". (BOO is the Brandeis Orthodox Organization.) I tried to joke back something, but I was rather offended. It isn't like this is the first time he's said something offensive to me either: last time it was a whole string of bigotted comments about Indians, Pakistanis, Muslims, Asians and other immigrants. I'm getting to the point where I really want to do something about it, but I'm not really sure what to do. File some sort of complaint to the student senate about religious persecution? It seems a bit ridiculous here, but I'm not sure what else to call this one. Talk to the Orthodox rabbi here? I don't know what he'd do... Ideas?

Comments

[doodah.livejournal.com]

Wow! So many opinions!

I don't think the BUCO shirt is rude at all. I do find the slogan to be quite odd because, really, how can one, unless one is transgendered or genderless, not be "gender-specificied"? I imagine that BUCO recognizes who is a male and who is a female within their minyan, regardless of whether they care to do anything about it. I thought about the shirt for far too long in women & the bible (easy enough to do in that class) and now giggle whenever I see someone wearing it. I don't think many of the people wearing the shirts are aiming to be genderless - or vaguely gendered - just equally gendered.

And there's nothing wrong with that or rude about that in the slightest. It's not "we're equal AND WE'RE BETTER" or "we're equal, you're not, YOU'RE WORSE", it's just - blah. It's not a shirt about anyone but themselves. Which makes sense. As it's a BUCO shirt. And hey! It's a shirt! It's only a shirt! What about BOO's "top ten ways you know that you're in BOO" shirt from simchas torah '03 that offended half of the people in BOO? :)

(aaaand...i'm done rambling. hooray!)

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

I think the idea is that the organization, not the people in it, is gender-blind/gender-irrelevant. But your reading is certainly funnier, and one of my favorite "But how can a religion do that?" questions that I get to answer.

And thanks for verifying that I wasn't out of my mind for not seeing something offensive in that shirt.

[bobtheslinky.livejournal.com]

the boo shirt did? I didn't get any of the top 10, anyways. :p
I wasn't cool enough to know that we could order those shirts, and i didn't really get the point.

[doodah.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they are not so exciting. I don't know why I always order one. I guess so I'll have something to remember my fleeting college years by. :)

I gave one of them (from my freshman year) to my little brother when he ran out of clothing, and he thinks it is for Hallowe'en (it says "BOO" in Greek letters). I think all of the BOO shirts I've seen, with the possible exception of this year's which was just stupid, have been borderline offensive.