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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-02-10, Page 5Other Views THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2005. PAGE 5. The conflict of nudes and prudes For me, one of the great pie-in-the-face moments for the execrable Political Correctness movement occurred on the steps of Toronto City Hall in the spring of 1991. That is when Toronto mayor June Rowlands announced, with a sniff and a huff, that she was canceling the scheduled performance of an up-and-coming band in Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square. Reason? The band’s name. It was ‘unacceptable’. It was a hilariously defining moment for the careers of both mayor Rowlands and the band. The Barenaked Ladies became instantly and internationally famous; June Rowlands was on her way to being laughed out of public office. Now you would think a Keystone Kops- style boner like that would resonate in council chambers across the country. You would assume that public administrators from Carbonear to Qualicum would pause and look nervously over their shoulder before committing a similar civic bungle. But no. Instead, we have Mayor David Perry of Penticton. The city in the South Okanagan hit the headlines recently over a piece of publicly commissioned art that now stands in the middle of a roundabout at the entrance to the city's marina area. It’s by a local artist and it consists of a life-size sculpture of a man holding a suitcase and surrounded by 24 other suitcases. So far, so good. But curiously (and calamitously for mayor Perry) the man is naked. Recent premiers leave unhappy Another Ontario premier has had difficulty making a graceful exit, but this now almost goes with the job. The last five premiers, including Ernie Eves have left in varying degrees of ignominy and none has departed still high in public esteem since William Davis in 1985. One obvious conclusion is being a premier is getting tougher and the glory days are over. Eves’s departure was ignominious first because he lost an election after only 18 months as premier and his Progressive Conservative party has dominated for half-a- century and expects to be in government as if it had paid for a lease. Eves also hung on to his legislature seat his party needs for its new leader while he angled for some sort of post, preferably public, and eventually some in his party said publicly it was time to go. Eves ironically is much worthier than these misadventures suggest. He was solid and respected as house leader and finance minister under premier Mike Harris and articulate enough to make his cases better - Harris would not have worn out his welcome as quickly if he had Eves’s comfort with words. But Eves took over when their party’s popularity had fallen dramatically, particularly because Harris weakened services to pay for tax cuts. Eves had no chance of winning because voters already had decided to change and has to be admired for not blaming others. Eves also might be forgiven for hoping to have some role in which he could show he is made of better stuff because former premiers have been given posts by Ontario or federal governments. Eves joined a rapidly growing list of recent premiers who left with their reputations tarnished. Harris, immensely popular when starting his tax-cutting, lost respect also for his abrasive style, which included calling a leading Liberal an “asshole.” The public and even some Tories concluded Vienna could handle this. London wouldn’t notice. Paris would yawn. Even Toronto the Good would get on board. But Penticton, if mayor Perry’s reaction is any indication, is on the brink of social meltdown. Responding to the mayor's objections, the artist welded a square steel plate across the sculpture’s naughty bits. This of course immediately focused everyone’s attention on the figure’s midsection and made the whole work look ridiculous. But some people are more comfortable with ridicule than nudity and mayor Perry would appear to be among that number. “Penticton is not as open to such nude artworks as Toronto and other large cities,” the mayor said. If it’s any consolation, nude prudery is not a Canadian phenomenon. Shortly after John Ashcroft was named U.S. attorney general, he ordered $10,000 worth of heavy blue drapes to hide a bare-breasted statue under which attorneys general had been giving press conferences since 1936. “The White House agreed to cover it up,’ quipped David Letterman, “so they got out one of J. Edgar Hoover’s old dresses.” Eric Dowd From Queens Park he served a purpose, but they were better off without him. New Democrat premier Bob Rae remains admired across party lines for his intellect, but the public voted him out because he piled up $10 billion deficits. He lost support even in his party because of acts that included forcing civil servants to take unpaid time off to save money, and abandoning long-cherished goals such as public auto insurance. The party made no secret it wanted him to go quickly so it could start wooing back unions and others he had alienated. Liberal premier David Peterson lost both an election and his seat, so there was no possibility his party would want him to stay. Many Liberals also lost no time blaming him because he called an election a year early claiming he needed a new mandate to lead the province on national unity and few believed him. Tory Frank Miller left under the burden, hard to live down, of losing the government his party had held as if it were private property for four decades. Former rivals for leader refused him another chance and squabbling among Tories helped Final Thought The most important work you and I will ever do will be within the wall of our own homes. - Harold B. Lee What is it about North Americans and simple, uncomplicated nudity? We can watch firefights in Fallujah in prime time, televised corpse counts from fire, flood and famine and NHL goons knocking each other’s teeth out. But the glimpse of a breast or a buttock? Eek! Europeans must just shake their heads. 1 am reminded of an interview with a French artist by the name of Louise Bourgeois, who was born in France but moved to the United States. The interviewer asked her to explain the difference ‘in aesthetics’ between the two countries. Mme. Bourgeois replied: “I’ll tell you a story about my mother. When I was a little girl growing up in France, my mother worked sewing tapestries. Some of the tapestries were exported to America. The only problem was that many of the images on the tapestries were of naked people. My mother’s job was to cut out the - what do you call it?” INTERVIEWER: “The genitals?” “Yes,” replied Mme. Bourgeois, “the genitals of the men and the women, and replace these parts with pictures of flowers so they could be sold to Americans. My mother saved all the pictures of the genitals over the years, and one day she sewed them together as a quilt, and then she gave the quilt to me.” “That,” said Mme. Bourgeois, “is the difference between French and American aesthetics.” Not to mention Penticton. them, next election, to their worst defeat in memory. Davis, the last premier to leave while generally basking in acclaim, retired undefeated and often is pointed to as a premier others should copy. Less remembered is that he helped Miller lose because his last act before retiring was to extend full funding to Roman Catholic high schools, bringing back an issue that had almost died and prompting many to vote against the Tories. Earlier Tory premiers John Robarts and Leslie Frost retired mostly to praise they were moderates who managed generally for the public good. Recent premiers have had a tougher time leaving with their heads high partly because government is more complex and has more issues to deal with. Voters also are more volatile, turfing out four of the last five premiers, and news media more aggressive. Ask current Liberal premier Dalton McGuinty, who has to worry every time he picks up his paper. Letters Policy The Citizen welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and should include a daytime telephone number for the purpose of verification only. Letters that are not signed will not be printed. Submissions may be edited for length, clarity arid content, using fair comment as our guideline. The Citizen reserves the right to refuse any letter on the basis of unfair bias, prejudice or inaccurate information. As well, letters can only be printed as space allows. Please keep your letters brief and concise. —j.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bonnie Gropp The short of it Be mine, Valentine Be mine, Valentine. Feb. 14 is just around the corner, the day of friendship and romance. And I for one am quite happy there’s only one valentine to worry about on my list now. From my childhood I remember that Valentine's Day was not the heartwarming event for some that it was meant to be. You have to remember this was a time when a little one’s feelings were not given the consideration they should have been. Teachers were adept at the three Rs, but not so much psychology. Thus, the annual passing out of valentine cards could be a hurtful experience. In our classrooms, days before Feb. 14, the excitement began in art class with the creation of special containers for the scads of syrupy cards each student would apparently receive. Unfortunately, some needed bigger holders than others; some could have gotten by without. Even in Grade 1 the social status was evident. I was in the majority, the kids who received not a massive number, but respectable. And there was generally one ‘From your secret admirer’ to take the sharp edge off the fact that you hadn’t received as many as the popular kids. But there was that other group, the shy ones, the outsiders, who could count on one hand the number of valentines they got. As their classmates insouciantly shuffled through their messages of adoration, they would consider their own carefully. And the face shadowed with disappointment would beam just a little more with each one read. A few of the more-sensitive popular kids, secure in their place in the social hierarchy of elementary school, could extend a fingertip of friendship and bestow a valentine upon these children. But for the most part, the rest of us couldn’t take the chance and ignored them and the way they were treated. Thus the stigma was solidified. In my tender years I didn’t recognize how awful this was. Yet, a feeling was filed away that inspired insight in the years after. It became particularly vivid as a parent, when the hurt could be to my own children. I remember, therefore, the gratitude I fe't the time a class list was sent home with my youngest. The teacher encouraged that a valentine be sent to all on the list, or none. As children get older they too develop broader shoulders. As grownups must, they’re best to accept that everyone won’t like them, that some people are mean-spirited and narrow-minded. It is probably wrong, therefore in their case, to develop what could perhaps be construed as a somewhat patronizing rule. After all, what cool pre-teen would want a valentine they know they only received because someone was told they must give them one? But for the children of the tenderest years isn’t it imperative they learn and understand the importance of everyone being treated the same way? Children may not be aware of it, but they recognize ostracism with surprising clarity. They also tend to follow the norm. As Valentine’s Day approaches each year, I often think of those little faces and wonder how life went for them. The ones that were with me through several years of school did, I recall, continue to sit on the outside, though high school opened the door to a larger circle of friends. Hopefully, now they’re getting valentines — from someone who really matters.