Sometimes A Shield Is Just A Shield

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

Wasilla Alaska, the hometown of ex half-governor Sarah Palin, is in the news again. Artists Jim Dault and Shala Dobson were commissioned to create an outdoor sculpture for Wasilla High School. The $100,000 work of art is entitled “The Warrior Within” and is pictured on the left.

The problem? Some parents and students think it looks like … girlie parts.

The principal, Amy Spargo, has put a tarp over the sculpture because of complaints that it vaguely resembles a vulva. That high school students would display such juvenile thinking is understandable, but the reaction of the parents is mind boggling.

Spargo claims the tarp isn’t censorship, it’s there to protect the sculpture. Spargo is concerned vandals might damage the artwork. There’s a teachable moment in leadership, caving in to threats of vandalism.

The design of the sculpture was presented to the art committee and the school board, and was given a  green light. They obviously didn’t take into account the anatomy-challenged philistines of Wasilla.

H/T: Pharyngula, The Mudflats, LA Times, Frontiersman.