September 28, 2005

If they decide to indulge this nonsense (you mean there's nothing more imporant going on in Iowa for law profs that they have to worry about wall paint), they should give those who give a damn the opportunity to repaint it themselves. Nobody else should have to toil for this kind of innanity.

posted by kokaku at 12:28 PM on September 28, 2005

Its more than just wall paint now. The lockers are pink. The showers, toilets,carpet and everything is pink...Its has become a tradition. Under that rationale, the Hawkeyes should have painted their locker room red...to promote aggression. true-some would say that the Hawkeyes must have painted thier own locker room pink as they have been playing really "un-agressive"

posted by daddisamm at 01:21 PM on September 28, 2005

objecting to pink locker rooms = nonsense death threats = heinous sociopathic behavior And by nonsense, I don't mean that the objection is invalid or that they shouldn't object. They're entitled to their opinion and the exression of it. Still, I stand by my first thought - don't law profs have more important issues to worry about? Unless, that is, Iowa has solved all problems of legal justice in which case, go nuts, concern yourself about paint drying, grass growing, mountains and molehills.

posted by kokaku at 03:20 PM on September 28, 2005

kokaku: And by nonsense, I don't mean that the objection is invalid or that they shouldn't object. They're entitled to their opinion and the exression of it. Still, I stand by my first thought - don't law profs have more important issues to worry about? Hell, no! They're professors, it's academia, you know...more and more about less and less. Look, although there are exceptions, expecting a law professor to be involved with solving all the problems of legal justice is on a par with expecting an English professor to be writing the greatest novel ever writ in the language. It might happen, but it's mostly not what that game is all about. meathead: When a law professor makes a far out claim. She should expect a far out response. That's a good rule of thumb. I'll remember that, so next time someone says to me, "The Patriots can't possibly repeat this year," I'll come right back with, "I'm gonna kill you for that."

posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:11 PM on September 28, 2005

Here is">another article about the locker complete with a picture.

posted by daddisamm at 12:20 AM on September 29, 2005

oops-sorry I am not sure how to handle that--it was more of a repeat of the story but it did have a nice picture of the pink lockers and matching carpet--quite nice. I had no feelings of homphobia looking at the picture--

posted by daddisamm at 08:20 AM on September 29, 2005

There is a great photo tour that I cant get to link over you cant find in the Iowa City paper. www.press-citizen.com You can judge for your self- it should the pink floors, locker, toilets, urnels, etc--then compares it to the home locker room.

posted by daddisamm at 08:56 AM on September 29, 2005

Don't hate because it is a male sport, grand stand some other way. Is this person a Hawkeye or what!!

posted by realdeal at 10:39 AM on September 29, 2005

Pink, green, blue, purple, red, or yellow. It is good for the game. Home lockerrooms are sacred places. They should be used in that manner. We get way to serious over issues that were never a part of the original concept and we promote our bad behavior in the hope it will change society to our personal way of thinking. Thats crap. Let people be people. History proves that most expression is harmless. Of course history suggests there is always people with their own agenda looking for a stage with lighting. I find this immensely humoristic.

posted by silas10pony at 12:44 PM on September 29, 2005

Since when is pink denigrating to women? It's not denigrating to women, but it's stereotypical of women, that is, stereotypically associated with women and girls. The contention apparently is that the pink locker room, in today's world, sends the message, "You're all a bunch of women/girls" -- and that that isderogatory towards women. Obviously, though, there are a metric ton of exceptions. It's not as if a woman is looked askance if she wears some other color, and pink cycles in and out of fashion in men's shirts (twas all the rage in dress shirts at one point, and polo shirts and so on). It's kind of interesting, though, if you look at the "men's colors" and "women's colors" in apparel manufacturers. Taking something that's pretty unisex, like a fleece jacket, here's an example from the L.L. Bean catalog showing men's colors and women's colors. It's a lot more complex than pink and baby blue, but clearly, at least in the eyes of the apparel manufacturers, there are some pretty gender-specific color combos.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 02:24 PM on September 29, 2005

Look at the pictures--Its laughable to say that a room could cause such a discussion. Thats the bottom line! There are no other "bad intentions" by the rooms decor other than to maybe effect the other team's mental status.

posted by daddisamm at 03:10 PM on September 29, 2005

What? You mean there are men who don't just run into the store and buy the first thing they try on? Clearly L.L. Bean and Land's End don't think so ;-)

posted by lil_brown_bat at 03:45 PM on September 29, 2005

What do L.L. Bean and Land's End think about the visitor's locker room at Iowa's football stadium? I don't know. Why don't you go don't you go look at their polo shirts and see whether it shows up under women's or men's?

posted by lil_brown_bat at 05:46 PM on September 29, 2005

That was my point right there, they don't have a thing to do with the visitors locker room. So what is the point in comparing current shirt colors to the color of a locker room that was painted how long ago? The plain and simple of it all is it is a load of shit. Tell the law prof. and the other whinners if they don't like the colors don't go in there. It is the football programs tradition, not theirs. Is the football coach complaining about it? NO.

posted by jojomfd1 at 12:55 AM on September 30, 2005

Tell the law prof. and the other whinners if they don't like the colors don't go in there. So if some prof at the UI College of Law routinely carries on about college football players who break the law, Kirk Ferentz can't express his reaction to it because he doesn't teach law? Of course she has the right to object if she finds it objectionable. If she finds it objectionable enough, she may even have the responsibility to make the issue public. Just because she doesn't have to visit the locker room doesn't mean she can't have and express an opinion about it. As for her having other things to do--I'm sure she's taking care of business. She's teaching at a well-regarded law school, so she probably has some game. At least she's not oblivious to or mute about things going on around her own campus. This is sort of like the NCAA mascot debacle, in that the original intent of those who chose the mascot or hue in question is not terribly relevant. In most quarters of American culture, pink means girly. So painting their locker room is, regardless of Hayden Fry's intent, the same thing as putting up a sign that reads, "We think you're girls." See lbb's comments above for more on that. NOW, I write all this as a lifelong Hawkeye fan. Grew up in Iowa City. Love Hayden Fry. Hope the Hawks make something of their (so-far) troubled season. And FWIW, I can say that anyone who knows the cultural climate of a campus town like Iowa City should not be surprised at this--it was only a matter of time.

posted by Uncle Toby at 01:36 PM on September 30, 2005