SENATOR CAN'T HANDLE THE MEDICAL TERM FOR A WOMAN'S SEX ORGAN!
When Is It OK To Say The, Uh, V-Word?
By CARRIE BUDOFF
The Hartford Courant
February 27, 2001
The word "VAGINA," written hugely on a sign alongside I-95 in West Haven and visible to drivers from half a mile away, has state lawmakers tangled in a debate about restricting the content of billboards.
The uproar centers on an advertisement for "The Vagina Monologues," a series of monologues by women that ran earlier this month at the Palace Theatre in New Haven. The billboard, recently taken down, did not illustrate genitalia or promote scantily clad women - but it did contain a word written in large letters that always seems to make people blush and squirm.
Vagina.
State Sen. Winthrop S. Smith Jr., R-Milford, couldn't take his eyes off the word as he drove along the highway in his minivan with his three children, aged 11 to 14. As he got closer, Smith caught the whole message. It said, "Vagina Monologues," and in much smaller type, "Spread the Word."
His children snickered. Smith grew exasperated.
"There are some words that should not be up on a 20-foot billboard, like `penis,'" Smith said Monday. "I can turn off the TV. I can turn off the radio. I can't stop a 20-foot billboard from screaming at my children."
Smith promptly attached his name to legislation that would prohibit the display of "sexually explicit material" on billboards or outdoor advertisements along highways. The bill seems unlikely to go far in the legislature, but it generated a lively discussion Monday at a public hearing.
The legislation has raised questions about decency standards, freedom of speech and appropriate placement for the medical term for female genitalia. It was the size of "vagina" on the billboard that mattered to the legislators sponsoring the bill. ("You couldn't tell it was a play," Smith said.) But the sponsors say there has been a spate of risque outdoor advertisements that lend support to their cause.
As soon as the "Vagina Monologues" sign came down, Ann-Margret showed up on the same billboard in nothing more than a terrycloth towel in an advertisement for "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." The Tony Award-winning musical toured two weeks ago at the ctnow.com Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford.
"She filled out that towel kind of generously," Smith said. "My 11-year-old boy asked, `What's a whorehouse?' I think there is a line, and that line has been crossed."
Critics of the bill immediately warned against the danger of regulating speech: Who would determine what's offensive? Why not just turn your head? Children are bombarded constantly with sexually explicit images, so why billboards?
Rep. Peter J. Panaroni, D-Branford, a member of the transportation committee, posed a rhetorical question outside the hearing room. Because legislators repeatedly uttered the word "vagina" during the meeting, did they offend a group of high school seniors who were there to testify on another bill?
"It has no merit," Panaroni said. "There are issues much more important than billboards."
Martin Margulies, a law professor at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, said that any attempt to regulate billboard content would have "no chance of surviving judicial scrutiny."
"The U.S. Supreme Court made it clear that sexually explicit speech enjoys the same protection as any other speech as long as it is not legally obscene," one standard for which is whether it has any serious value, Margulies said.
"I understand that [`The Vagina Monologues'] is a serious attempt to grapple with social and political issues," Margulies said. "That is enough to take it out of the obscenity category. Whether you or I agree with the play's posture is beside the point. It is not a hard-core porn show."
The bill's sponsors said they would have the Department of Transportation set standards on billboard content if the industry refuses to tighten its self-imposed guidelines. With a rash of suggestive billboards popping up throughout the state, Smith said, that might be the way to go.
John E. Barrett, chief operating officer for Barrett Outdoor Communications, the company that owns the billboard in West Haven, said he called six elected officials to gauge their opinions on the "Vagina Monologues" advertisement before it went up. That is one example of how the industry regulates itself, Barrett said, so state oversight is unnecessary.
"There are serious constitutional issues there that nobody wants to start tangling with," said Barrett, who also represents the Outdoor Advertising Association of Connecticut.
Smith said he thinks it's worth challenging the First Amendment because even freedom of speech has its limits. What's next, he asked, a billboard with the word "penis" splashed across it?
"It doesn't make it OK because it is found in an anatomical dictionary," Smith said. "There seems to be some resonance among the public with this. We are not just doing it for entertainment."
a note from Josh: Get real Senator. This is the United States. It's not your uptight church service, filled with people who blush when someone says penis. You're an idiot, and I wonder how ANYONE voted for your dumbass. Your kids won't be harmed by hearing or seeing that word or any other word, ok? Learn how to be a parent, and stop expecting the government to do your job for you, because you're too damned lazy. Ok? Thanks.
Page Created on: March 8, 2001
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