Hi it's Elise. I'm finally piping up! In regards to an earlier posting regarding Zen Buddhism and Natalie Goldberg, I write: During my senior year in high school I was taking a creative writing course with, un beknosnst to me, one of the most radical feminist teachers. She asked us to purchase with our own money (not the school's) the book _Writing Down The Bones_. I loved the book and what it did for my perception of poetry and my own writing. It taught me that it's O.K. to feel what I feel and think what I think. In no way is it wrong. The class was enlightening and thought provoking. Little did anyone know however that one of the ultra conservative board members' daughters was in the class. (well, we knew but we didn't think there was a problem because she never spoke up in class.) She brought the book home to her _father_ and had him read it. Shortly there after students and faculty began harassing her. Later, when asked to write a letter to the school board in her defense, I found out the real problem. The book contained references to non-Christian religion (aka. Zen),used "bad" language( an occasional one at that-5 or so in all), and also made references to sexual body parts (two sentences in the whole book). Therefore, this "concerned parent" and conveniently a board member decided that the reading, which was not required, was unfit to be taught to high school seniors (legal adults). Needless to say I was out raged. That teacher decided that it wasn't productive to stay on at my high school and resigned after that year. That disappoints me because I feel as though I did most of my growing in that class that year. A few years later when my brother took the class he didn't get anything need the experience that I did. It changed my life and now that teacher, Ms. Mary Brosmer, is one of the greatest female heros(heroine) I know.
