They gave one to Chris Mathews, too? Way to fail, WU.

that's great to hear and i'm proud of the graduates and faculty who stood up to this bullshit. i too would love to see pictures or video of this.

Good for them (the ones who turned their back, I mean). I'm glad a lot of people did it because I was afraid everyone would chicken out.

Glad to hear this went off as planned, and I second Jessica's request for pics.

Yay for the students. Can't wait to read Schlafly's interpretation of the morning on her stupid website. Maybe she'll die of old age before she has the chance to write it.

That was mean, I know.

Brave women and men who stood up. Wish I could have been there to see it.
Pictures please!

Very glad they went through with it. I clicked a link at the bottom of that online article to another Schlafly-related article and ew, I think the author could use some feedback about her (mis)characterization of Schlafly and mischaracterization of the KINDS of women and feminists who find her offensive. The author tries to paint it as a "radical feminist" problem, and apparently wants us all to remember that not all women are "feminist" (i.e., interested in equality), and somehow this should be celebrated. Huh?

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/columnists.nsf/colleencarrollcampbell/story/A1EFDDE8E0844AF686257449007B6AB1?OpenDocument

I'm glad the protesters turned their backs on her--no one should have to watch her being "honored."

So...why doesn't anyone show up with "Iron my shirt" or "Make me a sandwich" signs when she appears? She's the one saying that women should be home doing that, yet somehow thinks it's OK for her to get up and make speeches, instead of staying home and taking care of her husband or baking cookies for her grandchildren. I really, really hate hypocrites and people who don't follow their own rhetoric.

As an addendum to my earlier comment about that other Schlafly article, I was not aware that *upholding and vigorously defending the oppressive status quo* could be labeled as "activism." (The author calls Schlafly a conservative activist.)

Conservative activist? That's an oxymoron, isn't it? Conservative oppressor, maybe. Or is that being redundant?

A degree, honorary or earned, must be worth less than a pile of green horse shit if this woman gets one.

Congrats! But where's the uproar about Chris Matthews? He doesn't deserve to be "honoured" for anything either, as far as I'm concerned.

My thoughts exactly, FEMily!

vanstl posted this link earlier. you can watch the prerecorded graduation ceremony and see students and some of the faculty turning their backs.

"Bitter women?" So no men participated? Or is that just her bias showing?...again.

sorry. here it is.

http://commencement.wustl.edu

The choice of "anguished" pisses me off. Makes it sound like the Chancellor is thinking of poor females getting hurty feelings. Rather than righteous anger.

Maybe she should have declined the degree since she feels that as a woman she does not need to do anything other than have her ass in a kitchen cooking for a man.

Her honorary degree was received by trodding on the backs of the feminists who ensured she could have a public voice in the first place.

Yeah, Chris Matthews, too? Blech.

I'm not surprised to hear that she called them a "bunch of losers." Not surprised at all.

But I admire them for sticking to their plan. Nice work!

From the article:
"It's really unfortunate that this tantrum is trying to ruin the day for all these kids getting their bachelor's degrees," Schlafly said.

Um, no. I'm pretty sure you're what's ruining it for them, dipshit.

Also, it kind of sucks that the uproar about Schlafly is completely wiping out any and all protest for Matthews. He got mad lucky on this one: it's like the University decided to honor both Hitler and Bin Laden, and we only have the energy and resources to be pissed off about one. Gotta go with Hitler, I guess.

Um, good people of the press who like to misquote bloggers and/or blogger commenters: I am not comparing Schlafly to Hitler. I am not comparing Matthews to Bin Laden. Feministing is not comparing Schlafly to Hitler. Feministing is not comaping Matthews to Bin Laden. For fuck's sake.

I like that she's referred to as "a fearless debtor" in her introduction and then her response to the dissent is, "wahh, bunch of losers". I guess that's why they didn't call her eloquent. lol

lovely update with even more people participating!

bluebluedress, thanks for the link--do you know approximately where in the ceremony the presentation of schlafly's honorary degree is by chance? i can't really watch the whole thing.

There are more photos on the KDSK website.

eh, make that KSDK, but the link still works...lol.

Rileystclair, I found it. It's a little over halfway in. I believe on my computer the little circle on the player thing was hovering just above the "on" on "Washington."

That's great! Good for them. Shame on the people who remained seated (I know, I know, maybe they didn't want to ruffle their parents' feathers or something like that, but still).
And shame on that old ghoul for insulting the WU community.

I am so proud.

I graduated from WashU in '94. My majors were Psych & Women's Studies. I decided to walk with the Women's Studies majors to receive my degree since my WS experience had profoundly shaped me.

When our small group walked on stage to receive our degrees we were greeted with a lovely "Show us your tits!" shout from the crowd. I was so tempted to shout "Fuck Off" back, but instead I let my dignity and pride shine through.

To see the campus response to Schafly is so gratifying :)

That's great, although Murphy's 75% estimate seems wildly optimistic after viewing video and photos.

GOOD FOR THEM!
At my graduatuion, less than a week ago, at UGA when Clarence Thomas spoke, we were told that if the stood up, turned around, or held up signs we would be escorted out.

Yay free speech!

GOOD FOR THEM!
At my graduatuion, less than a week ago, at UGA when Clarence Thomas spoke, we were told that if the stood up, turned around, or held up signs we would be escorted out.

Yay free speech!

Besides the awesomeness of the protest, I got a small bit of satisfaction from the mispronunciation of Schlafly's name by the woman doing the presenting. Hah!

Yeah, noname, I was thinking the same thing. Like I nerd I watched both videos and scanned the pics a few times. I saw a very disappointing number of people stand up.

Who knows though - maybe they were just photographing the business majors. ;)

A "bunch of losers"? What is she, twelve? Way to demonstrate the intellectual heft and critical thinking skills that earning a degree should imply: name calling. That's really mature.

I guess wisdom doesn't always come with age.

TheSoyMilkConspiracy - Yeah. They were pretty tight shots, and all the cool kids are near the back.

I graduated from WashU this morning and there were definitely more people standing up than the pictures and videos show. It seems that the photographer only caught the Masters and PhD candidates on film, but where I was sitting, you could barely see anyone sitting down. Many of the parents and family members of the graduates also participated. I would say that at least 50% of the attendees participated in the protest. Thank you for all of your support!

That. Is. Fucking. AWESOME.

In particular, it is amazing because the faculty--both male and female, from what I can tell--ALSO participated. So it's not "just those silly kids" any more, it's PhDs as well.

I attended the ceremony this morning and there were definitely more people standing than the Fox News segment implies through their images. I was sitting/standing in the very back and it looked like at least half of the crowd to me - both students and family. There were certainly thousands. Mike (who gave the 75% estimate) walked around a little and actually may have a better estimate.

Another unfortunate thing for the camera footage is that the speaker who read Schlafly's accomplishements (and who is the first African American woman to get a law degree in Missouri and was the Prez of the NAACP in MO for years) paused a lot and people clapped in the pauses. It was very subdued clapping in relation to the other speakers, but those who were watching the video streaming online said that it looked like there was no dissent. for those doing something similar in the future, I think some kind of sound would be beneficial.

Also, a less-reported on aspect of the ceremony is that the Chancellor's speech (near the end of the ceremony and after many had already left) admitted that Wash U has some work to do with respect to gender equality, diversity, and inclusion. He then expressed his commitment to remedying gender discrepancies on campus. It is true that this may simply be lip service, but he certainly wouldn't have made this statement if it weren't for the demonstration against Schlafly. I think the way that students mobilized was impressive and made a real difference. I'm very proud. Let's hold him accountable!

OMG look what someone did. I just about peed.

http://gayforphyllis.blogspot.com/

I just did a quick YouTube search and found a bit of footage that might better show the number of people standing. It looks like it is shot from a lot farther back and includes audience members too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMqLoH-_IyQ

Good for all the students, parents and faculty:) Count me among the people who find Schlafy's "bunch of losers" comments striking. That's the best she can do? Call people, who are within their right to protest her and quite frankly did it in a respectful manner, a bunch of losers? Wow.

I'll echo the sentiments already stated: to those conservative women who believe a woman's place is in the home, do the rest of us a favor and LEAD BY EXAMPLE. Do NOT vote, do NOT go to college, do NOT seek out any kind of payment for any kind of work outside the home and don't expect payment within it. Stay home and take care of your family and leave the rest of us alone.

Phyllis Schlafly, a woman brave enough to stand for the (eminently principled) view that the benefits of feminism should only be available to herself!

UltraMagnus and Elise, good points! She says it's ok she's in the public eye because she "raised her family first" but shouldn't the resolute anti-feminist remain home after the kids leave to take care of her husband? WAS HE FORCED TO EAT MICROWAVE DINNERS DURING HER DAYS AWAY? For shame, Phyllis, for shame.

WAS HE FORCED TO EAT MICROWAVE DINNERS DURING HER DAYS AWAY?

"After years of silence, Mr Schlafly has come forward about the 'years of Domino's and Hot Pockets' he was forced to endure in order for his wife to pursue her career. "I sometimes hear people saying that Phyllis makes them puke," he said in this first-ever interview, "but in our house her absence just gave us diarrhoea."

/satire

You know, maybe I am bitter. What intelligent woman wouldn't be what with all the shit we deal with on a daily fucking basis and all the goddamn double standards mentioned in Jessica Valenti's new book (which I happened upon in Borders today)? Excuse me for fucking living and excuse me for wanting to be treated like a human being.

Bitter old women like Phyllis Schlafly make me thing of the great Rebecca West quote: "People call me a feminist when I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute."

Wow, that's one annoying article (the one Charity linked to)!! I cannot fucking stand it when people scatter about the term 'radical feminist'. Right, as opposed to the nice, regular feminists who don't actually believe in all that ker-razy equality shit. I mean, that's just SO extremist.
Plus, she mentioned bra-burning. Gaahh!! It's a myth! It never happened! Why is this myth so popular? Do people like being able to think that feminism's just about underwear-hate so they don't have to think about the REAL stuff that might scare them?

Anyway. Awesome protest. I'm so glad so many people ended up taking part- the pictures of the professors turning their backs kind of blew me away. Well done guys :)

You know, rosiepie, that actually bring up a point. Have any of the people that use the term, "radical feminist" actually ever defined a non-radical feminist? Someone, somewhere, must have.

Now that's some proper protestin! The protesters at Washington have made a great example of how to get a point across without giving the other side anything to legitimately complain about.

It seems to me that Washington should be feeling mighty mighty pissed that the woman sleazo they just chose to honor turned around and called their faculty and graduates "losers."

Uh, biting the hand that feeds you much, there, Phyl? Looking like idiots there much, WU administration? Oh yeah.

I love out of the video, a perfect sum up:

"Schafly devoted a career to saying women should stay at home . . ."

My isn't that interesting.

Hooray! And the photos show men and women, and white people and PoC and...oh, this is so nice. My Sunday is much improved.

I know we shouldn't have to say it but...honestly? Especially the faculty and the men involved. KUDOS.

I have a question. If women are supposed to stay home, then why wasn't Phyllis at home?

I have an idea that Phyllis Schlafly is has a Y chromosome in there somewhere. I don't consider her a woman in any meaningful sense of the term. She is a woman the way Ann Coulter is a woman or one of the female guards at Auschwitz was a woman. No true woman hates women the way she does. No true woman is as destructive of women as she is.

I have an idea that Phyllis Schlafly is has a Y chromosome in there somewhere. I don't consider her a woman in any meaningful sense of the term. She is a woman the way Ann Coulter is a woman or one of the female guards at Auschwitz was a woman. No true woman hates women the way she does. No true woman is as destructive of women as she is.

"Especially the faculty and the men involved. KUDOS."

No offense intended, but please don't give extra credit to men who are active against sexism just because they are men. People should oppose injustice wherever they see it.