2002-10-18 - The Commentator - Torah or Homophobia

Torah or Homophobia?

Michael Matto

October 18, 2002

To the Editors:

I appreciate that Zack Streit is grappling with problems that lie at the heart of Torah U'Maddah and applaud his attempt to clarify his positions in the most recent issue. I also read with interest the responding letters regarding free speech and academic freedom. In addition to seconding the concerns of the letter writers, I would like address another aspect of both editorials that calls for a reply.

Analogies have appeared in both of Streit's editorials that employ a peculiar gender topos. In his first piece, Streit expresses fear that the female faculty, given their freedom, would choose not to dress "modestly." In his second, he invents a "school for homosexuals" as an analog for YU's specific religious mission. I find these hypothetical arguments curious, and even troubling.

Yes, The Commentator is the paper for the men's college, but that does not mean logical arguments can be made by appealing to gender myths and homophobia. Regarding dress codes: I have not noticed that the faculty at YU dress any differently than do faculty at the other colleges at which I have worked. I would therefore assume that my YU colleagues (those not bound by religious custom) make sartorial choices for basically the same reasons I do: professionalism and, to some degree, fashion. The assertion that some faculty are suppressing a (specifically feminine) urge to dress immodestly is both illogical and insulting. Regarding a "school for homosexuals": The term suggests that homosexuality is a religion, or a discipline that requires training, or perhaps a learning disability that requires special education. But contrary to popular fears, there is no unified "gay agenda" that could function as a mission statement for the sort of school Streit has conjured. Countless cases of free-speech limitation have arisen at existing American Universities, both historically and in the last year. Why not investigate one of these true-life cases for similarities instead of positing the unlikely "school for homosexuals," which uses "homosexual" as code for "everything we fear and do not believe in"?

This letter may seem like nit-picking at harmless analogies, but I think it is important to point out when a specific ideological stance is masquerading as a community's unanimous attitude, particularly when that ideology comes at the expense of some members of the community (the YC community is best defined as all its students, faculty, and staff). Streit is working very hard to sort out the tricky relationship between institutions and individuals, and he is to be admired for attempting to do so in public and in print. But I find it puzzling that arguments about free expression should be couched in terms of gender anxiety. I only hope Streit can find a way to develop arguments that appeal less to a limited sense of normative masculinity and more to his entire community's sense of reason.

Sincerely,
Michael Matto
YC Department of English