- Censorship laws were used to keep Margaret Sanger from distributing information about contraception, Strossen said, and, ironically, to keep Andrea Dworkin books out of Canada. With this in mind, at what point do we stop censoring people with whom we disagree? Melinda Tankard Reist has identified herself as a “pro-life feminist,” a position I personally don’t hold. Nor do I agree with some of Collective Shout’s targeting and methods, though I wholly share their announced goal of eradicating the rape culture and ending violence against women. In this disagreement, I have the right to counter-speak—same as Collective Shout uses its voice to speak up against the speech of Tyler and other musicians.
And when do we choose to forgive an artist—or a person, for that matter—for past transgressions, as they get older, evolve, hopefully mature? The Beastie Boys’ first album, License to Ill, was notoriously sexist, and was originally almost titled Don’t Be a Faggot. It included the cut “Rhymin’ and Stealin’,” which made reference to “rapin’ and robbin’.” As a group, though, they were able to publicly evolve into human rights activists and feminists (recall Ad-Rock’s famous VMAs anti-rape speech, from a person who at one point told the NME that he “hates faggots”). And plenty of other artists who have a history of actual violence against women are allowed to travel freely—Sean Penn, for example, or Dr. Dre.
I'd have to agree with the lady in this quote, and with the quote OP gave. I don't agree with what his music endorses in some cases, but banning it and banning him from the country won't accomplish anything. I think censoring somebody on the basis of things said years ago, sets a rather troubling precedent as well.For United States feminists like Nadine Strossen, a professor at New York Law School and the first woman President of the ACLU from 1991 to 2008, it doesn’t matter how “offensive, how vile” Tyler’s lyrics or persona might be—under the Constitution, it’s protected speech. “Censorship always does more harm than good, including and especially to the groups that are supposedly benefiting from it.
I don't like that term much either. Maybe it's a victory, Tyler's both a misogynist and a hack so it's a win-win.