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Random Controversy: USC's Topless Professor A
Random Controversy: USC's Topless Professor
Commentary by Timothy Horrigan; July 12, 2006
My alma mater USC (one of two alma maters) is embroiled in a controversy which I just now learned of. A feminist studies professor (or perhaps just a Lecturer) posted photos of her boobs on her blog (or, more accurately, on her Flickr page.) Shocking!
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CAPTION: Dr. Blaine posing with Hall of Fame lineman Anthony Muñoz. (She is the person on the left in the #11 shirt.) |
CAPTION: Dr. Blaine lecturing. |
CAPTION: Dr. Blaine with a famous fellow Trojan. Well actually I guess it's just a kid in a mask, in the likeness of the late super-fan Gypsy Boots. |
Dr. Diana York Blaine turns out to actually be an very attractive person in her late 30s or early 40s, who is not at all ashamed to be bigger, oldier and fleshier than the models you see in Playboy and the like. (Playboy is kind of an outdated cultural touchstone, although it is relevant to this controversy: several USC women posed in a "Girls of the Pac-10" feature which appeared at the beginning of the 2005-2006 academic year.) She was teaching at USC and enjoying life in Trojanland, until she spoke out against a football player who had been accused of assault.
Everyone seems afraid to say who the player was: virtually all the commentaries I have seen refer to him simply as "a player." The player was evidently (unless there is some other case I haven't heard about) star linebacker linebacker Frostee Rucker (now with the Cincinnati Bengals), who was indicted for spousal abuse. (He is unmarried, but the California definition of spousal abuse includes abuse against any intimate partner, and he was accused of beating up his girlfriend.) Rucker previously was convicted of similar charges while playing for Colorado State: he copped a harassment plea (bargained down from sexual assault), left Fort Collins, and transferred to USC in 2002 (which was basically a lateral move which turned into a step up.) Rucker is not the only Trojan to be busted for violence against women: backup quarterback Mark Sanchez, was busted for sexual assault (and underage drinking) one night in late April 2006. Ironically, there are rumors that he began that faithful night by attending an sexual-harassment awareness seminar and that the alleged victim was a female classmate.
In all fairness to Sanchez, it is worth pointing out that in the end he was not charged with anything. However, he was suspended from school and from the team for several weeks and he may face further punishment. He has admitted to underage drinking, using a fake ID to buy alcohol at a venerable neighborhood dive bar, the 901 Club.
Dr. Blaine's personal Flickr site. The three topless photos were all taken at the Burning Man Festival.
Dr. Blaine's April 11, 2005 USC Daily Trojan op-ed. (I myself appeared on the op-ed page back in 1984.) A year later, she wrote a brief April 10, 2006 letter to the DT, which eventually sparked a firestorm of controversy. (Well maybe "firestorm" is too strong a word, but it is a fair-sized brushfire of controversy.)
CardinalMartini.mu.nu: The snarky student blog which fanned the flames of controversy. Someone who calls himself "Cardinal Martini" called her a "Man-Hating Feminazi." Judging by her blog, it seems clear that she is in fact not a Nazi and actually likes men.
An amusing Channel 4 News Raw piece where two talking heads earnestly express their concern about the topless photo scandal. Amusingly, no one at USC seems very concerned about this, and no students had anything of substance to say about it to the News 4 camera crew. NBC4 reporter Cary Berglund chalked that up to the students being in shock and too upset to go on-camera.
David Markland's Blogging.LA article entitled USC's Boobgate... the scandal that wasn't
A May 19, 2006 Village Voice commentary by Rachel Kramer Bussel.
"Let's Talk Tits": a July 10. 2006 commentary by someone on Feministe.US who goes by the handle "ZuZu."
My Paris Hilton page which really has nothing to do with any of this, although one of Paris's many lovers is an ex-USC quarterback who is by all accounts a gentle person off the field (i..e., Matt Leinart.)
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She describes her religious practice straightforwardly: "I am an atheist who prays." (She says she actually got ordained at this time simply so she keep a promise to officiate at a friend's daughter's wedding.) |
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