That particular statement, she said, was released in the milieu of a controversy at Notre Dame regarding a sociology professor’s alleged pro-abortion activism, including her alleged efforts to help students obtain both emergency contraception and abortifacients.
“I knew this statement was made to address the harassment that the professor was receiving for her pro-abortion stance … [but] I was infuriated about the fact that a professor who openly advertised access to chemical abortion pills was being protected by this statement, but an entire campus of women being mocked by this drag show were not,” Fogarty lamented.
Stout and Fogarty argued in their letter that drag shows amount to the harassment of women and thus do not fall under the umbrella of academic freedom.
The young women expanded on their arguments in their emails to CNA, saying the dignity of the university’s namesake, Mary, “must be protected.”
“People care about the dignity and sanctity of women — and it’s been evident in the feedback I’ve received thus far,” Stout said.
“I’ve been accused of spreading homophobic rhetoric and of ignoring how the art form of drag is a realization of what ‘it truly means to be a woman.’ As a young woman who faces a world in which the very essence of womanhood seems to be constantly called into question, I find these sentiments to be deeply unsettling and concerning.”
Fogarty also spoke about the pushback she has received for speaking out on the matter, calling it “disheartening but not surprising in a world that degrades femininity on a daily basis and can’t even define what it is to be a woman anymore.”
“This is a world I’ve grown up in. But it’s one that I absolutely reject,” Fogarty said.
“The beautiful creation of man and woman by our God is too perfect to give up on. We cannot let disordered gender ideologies and perverted conceptions of sexuality win. We must fight back against these falsehoods. We must stand up for the truth.”
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Stout and Fogarty in their letter to the editor held up Mary as an example of an image of femininity for women on campus to aspire to, not the distorted images that men portray in drag shows.
“Notre Dame, Our Lady, the Mother of God: She is the essence of the spirituality, femininity, and motherhood that women of faith aspire to,” Stout and Fogarty wrote.
“And yet, the university refuses to protect such an image … [T]o refuse to protect the beauty, sanctity, and dignity of the women of this university is to refuse to protect the woman who sits upon our dome,” they said, referring to a recently refurbished statue of Mary on the most prominent campus building.
Fogarty and another Notre Dame student, meanwhile, have created a website where students, faculty, and alumni can send a form email expressing their concern about the show to “Jenkins, university administrators, and the heads of each sponsoring department.”
Jonah McKeown is a staff writer and podcast producer for Catholic News Agency. He holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has worked as a writer, as a producer for public radio, and as a videographer. He is based in St. Louis.