Lysistrata: Understanding (and Supporting) the Ban

            Broadly speaking, I do not believe in censorship. It is the reason I elected to take this course in the first place. (Small anecdote: when I was younger, one of my favorite books I read for school was And Then There Were None by Agatha Christe. The year after being taught to my class, the book was banned in from the curriculum as a result of parental complaints against the text’s original racist title. Twelve-year-old me was simultaneously outraged, and inspired to read as many banned books as possible.) 

During class time, we often shake our heads, laugh even, at the absurd criteria so many of the books are judged on.The Hate U Give banned for “depictions of racism”; The Color Purple banned as a result of its portrayals of “homosexuality and African History.” I mean c’mon! How can we not laugh from time to time? However, as I read Lysistrata, I found myself returning to the “age limit” argument. As a college student, studying English nonetheless, this text was slightly more difficult for me to grasp. There were moments I found myself struggling to discern between the author’s true message and moments of satire, to understand some of the less obvious jokes. As we discussed during class presentations, there is great debate over the interpretations of the play. Is it or is it not a piece of feminist literature? How is the play still relevant today? 

If I were to have read Lysistrata in my high school lit class—aside from the fact that many of the students would not have even bothered to do the reading at all—I imagine the conversation surrounded the play would be unproductive and full of poorly-concealed giggles at all of the sexual innuendos. And so, I return to the idea of an age limit. I asked myself the following: are we doing students a disservice by not exposing them to what are often considered “controversial” or “taboo” topics, only furthering the stigma that surrounds them? Or, are we doing students a disservice by expecting them to fully grasp such convoluted material at a young age? After some serious internal debate, I ultimately do believe the play is inappropriate (as in, not intended for) youth and should perhaps be censored in some settings.