University of Virginia Library

An Explanation

Yesterday we printed a photograph, some
three columns wide, on the second page of
this newspaper which caused quite a bit of
consternation amongst our non-student
readership. The picture, you see, depicted a
young man wearing a T-shirt with an
"obscenity" written on it. We would like to
explain our decision to print that picture.

For many years, this newspaper had a
policy of including no "obscenities" (to use a
poor word) in its stories. We have, from time
to time, left a "damn" or a "hell" in a letter
to the editor, as well as other expletives.
Certainly the individual writing the letter had
his reasons, and who were we to doubt that
reasoning? We have also, on occasion, quoted
a speaker or a writer who used an obscenity.
In our news, features, sports copy written by
a staff member we avoid such language, unless
we are quoting someone, and then we
exorcise it unless the statement is vital to an
understanding of the story.

We treat our columnists in much the same
was as our letter writers, feeling that because
they are expressing their own feelings they
should be able to choose their own language.

We did not stage yesterday's photo. There
happen to exist at this University a group of
students who wear undershirts with "Stoned
Fucker" written upon them. These students
live in the dormitories. We thought our
student readership would appreciate the
photo. We don't really know whether or not
they did, but we do know that of the
telephone calls we received yesterday, not one
was from a student.

Most students use words older folks
consider "obscene" quite frequently in their
everyday speech, and we would wager that a
good many of those who complained to us
have, from time to time, belted out a
four-letter word or two. And, since we
publish this newspaper for those who pay for
it, it is student attitudes we tend to reflect.
One of these attitudes is an unwillingness to
train their minds to reject certain words as
inappropriate simply because others consider
them to be so.

We are sure that some students, after
reading this, will write or phone us to say that
they consider certain words unsuitable for
print. Please don't. Any student who
complains will either have to be a saint who
has never uttered a dirty word (in which case
he wouldn't have complained, saints being
known for their tolerance) or a hypocrite. Or
he could be even worse: a prude.