This past month, a superb guest speaker joined the rising of a recently rejuvenated Men’s Leadership program and a rapidly ossifying MAD. The speaker was Jackson Katz, a brilliant orator with a desire to reject gender stereotypes. Katz brought an important set of subjects to his open-to-all-students forum last week. Among them: the power of the media to impact gender identities, how syntax shifts the focus from the perpetrators of rape to its victims, the denial of the role of men in feminist issues, and what defines consent. Perhaps the most intriguing case that Mr. Katz touched upon was the issue of feminism as not just a women’s issue, but as a societal one. It is true; the Men’s Leadership first meeting of 2014 had more female attendees than male ones. He urged that to disregard these issues and their sympathizers as wholly female is ludicrous. Perhaps most amazingly, the sexually mixed crowd seemed to respond fairly effusively.
If this response is indeed indicative of anything on the horizon, it would be a great boon to the Fieldston community. For a high school whose student body prides itself on “ethics,” there is a disgusting amount of disgusting behavior. Segregation, sexual harassment, blind eyes, and coughs to cover up insults in the wake of a passing faculty member run rampant. What are ethics worth if they are not applied to the everyday mentalities of the student body’s members? Absolutely nothing. That is what makes the response to Mr. Katz’s speech so exciting. It gives the notion that there may be real and enduring change coming in our community. It is up to those dedicated to the ethics that exist outside of the classroom, where students bumble through the curriculum, often taking the crow’s path to an honors grade, to ensure that this change does last.
Unfortunately, it is also likely that these perceived notions of ethical reform are simply perceptions rather than facts and that what Mr. Katz illuminated may fade in time, as is the tradition of Fieldston issues. We have seen the Fieldston Community get riled up by certain issues before. Whether it is Native American rights, LGBTQ concerns, the lives of the physically handicapped, or a slew of other matters that make the heart flutter and bring a temporary tear to the eye, these issues come around in full gusto, horns blaring and banners waving, before receding into the shadows when another one of its ilk becomes prominent. We all sit in assembly to nod and clap mindlessly at some cause or principle that we may or may not identify, only to find ourselves disregarding that same credo days or even hours later. And therein lies the ulterior question of not just this forum, but of all Fieldston events that serve to enlist a young generation in service of a brighter tomorrow: how do we make it last?
In a perfectly ethical but far from perfect world, a world without individuality and idiosyncrasy, an aggressive administration can hammer these issues into the heads of its student body without them having to think, leaving them as blank receptacles of ethical behavior and just missions. However, such is not the case; it is dependent on the students to bring about reform, not their administration. We cannot lounge around in plastic masks and perform the silent masquerade anymore. No, if we want to make 2014 the Year of the Eagle, we have to make noise and purify our languid hands by getting them dirty. After all, for an Ethical Culture school, we have been lacking Ethics as of late. So make community service not just about getting 60 hours; do not succumb to Facebook battles, where you sit around skimming through a hefty thesaurus of profanity looking for the perfect synonym for bulls**t; let the lessons of Somaly Mam, Justin Utley, Jackson Katz, and others thrive.
This article is meant to be neither accusatory nor punitive. It is a call to arms, a literary galvanization of a community that is resting on its “ethical” laurels. A final thought for those who have indeed been galvanized: if you face opposition in your pursuit of ethical values, do not quit. It means that you are on the right track.
