Expurgations (4) Society

   This is a brief note about another word that may be expunged. If you have not been following this series, the previous three were: "Accident", "Illegal Aliens" and "Mistress." "Society" is now a word that is too exclusive for our inclusive times. Since you are unlikely to believe me, I will go directly to the sources.
   "New-York Historical Society Gets a New Name and a New Wing: The museum will now be called the New York Historical and will name a new Wing for American Democracy after two major benefactors, H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang and Oscar L. Tang," Robin Pogrebin, The New York Times, Oct. 27, 2024.
After 220 years of existence, New-York Historical Society is changing its name to the New York Historical....The name change — which becomes effective on Tuesday — is intended to distinguish the museum from the many other historical societies around the country, but also to be more welcoming, given that “society” in a title “has a bit of a highfalutin’ vibe,” said Ken Weine, the museum’s senior vice president and chief content officer.
Weine acknowledged that “the New York Historical” doesn’t necessarily make grammatical sense, but he likened it to the former Apple marketing campaign, “Think different."
“Brands can take a little bit of license,” Weine said. “We will officially be known as the New York Historical, but the shorthand can be, ‘Hey, I’ll see you at the Historical.’ That could be a name that we fall upon years down the road.”

  For more examples see: "This Go-to Term for Teamwork is Now a No-No For the Snobbery Police: Down With Fancy "Society Names," Mark Lasswell, The Washington Post, Jan. 29, 2025.
"Next month, the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society International will unite under a new name, the Humane World for Animals....Granted, “Humane World for Animals” might be strong, memorable, etc., and only a monster would object to the idea itself. But spare a thought for the word “society” as it is abandoned by yet another organization....Nowadays, though, when the faintest hint of exclusionary inclinations must be stamped out, “society” has gotta go....
It is historical societies, though, that seem especially intent on deeming “society” unfit for society. Since the 2000s, they’ve been madly deaccessioning the word — the Chicago Historical Society became the Chicago History Museum; the Colorado Historical Society became History Colorado; the Fairfield Historical Society in Connecticut became the Fairfield Museum and History Center; and the Ohio Historical Society became the Ohio History Connection.
  If you are a bird watcher, you may now have difficulty finding the local branch of the Audubon Society, since both his name and that word are problematic. For more about the new lingo see: Watch Your Mouth! or Out in Left Field.

The Bonus: Brush Up On These Words
 I have focussed enough on words being removed from our vocabulary, so I will now suggest some with which you should become more familiar. Rumour has it that Canada may be annexed and become the 51st state. If that happens the popularity of these words will surely soar on Google's Ngram Viewer: samizdat, weltschmerz and, disappeared, as explained in the OED:

"disappeared"
4.b.1965– transitive. spec. To abduct or arrest (a person), esp. for political reasons, typically killing or imprisoning the individual, without making his or her fate known.Originally and frequently with reference to Latin America.

1965
"One day, without explanation, he ‘was disappeared’ to Czechoslovakia, say reliable Cuban sources."
1987
"Our two Nicaraguan doctors were disappeared, one right after the other."
1990
"Armed men arrive in a village and ‘disappear’ any activists, several of whom have later been found floating in nearby rivers."
2006"It is estimated that some 7,000 people have been disappeared by security forces.

Beyond the Palewall (3)

 

["Beyond the Palewall" is the title of this series because "Beyond the Paywall" is taken. Information for which you are not willing to pay, along with information you may not wish to know, is presented in abbreviated form without charge. What has caught my eye may sometimes feel like a poke in yours and, in that sense, be beyond the pale for you. Items will appear weekly, or perhaps monthly, or maybe semi-annually, if I can get started and the weather is bleak.]

                                        News From the Art World

Intolerance Outside the MUSEUM OF TOLERANCE
   There is some irony left in L.A. where the Museum of Tolerance is located and where fights occurred outside the Museum recently because of what was going on inside. You will find a few articles about it in early November. For example:
"Inside the Museum of Tolerance's Screening of Hamas Attack Footage," Josh Rottenberg, L.A. Times, Nov. 8, 2023.
"Demonstrators Brawl Outside LA's Museum of Tolerance After Screening of Hamas Attack Video," Associated Press, Nov.9, 2023.
The website of the Museum of Tolerance is here.
Now, on to a museum that is really tolerant.

Serrano's Piss Christ

The Upcoming Brawl in Barcelona - THE MUSEUM OF PROHIBITED ART
   The Museum of Prohibited Art is a brand new one in Barcelona and, while I welcome it, it is highly likely that others will not. During a time when everyone is highly sensitive and just about anything displayed is offensive to someone, you have to admire the chutzpah of Tatxo Benet, a wealthy Catalan, who is opening a museum dedicated to nothing but showing offensive artworks which have already been censored and previously prohibited. Skirmishes outside this museum are predicted. Apart from controversial sexual and political items there are also religious ones, although it is also predicted that one religion will be treated lightly and there probably aren't any of those cartoons on display. Some titillating headlines:
"Is This the Most Offensive Museum in the World," James Badcock, The Telegraph, Oct.24, 2023. The question:
"Who would dare to open a museum of censored art in these puritanical times, when barely a day passes without news of a work being withdrawn after offending sensibilities or due to the creator's "problematic" persuasions?"
The answer:
"Tatxo Benet, a Catalan art collector, has no such qualms as he prepares to open the doors of his Museu de l'Art Prohibit in Barcelona tomorrow."

"A New Museum of Prohibited Art Shows How Censorship Evolved: When One Person's Art is Another Person's Insult," The Economist, Nov.3, 2023.

"Christ crucified on a fighter jet. Ronald McDonald on the cross. The Madonna in traditional guise, reaching under her robe between her legs. At the new Museum of Prohibited Art in Barcelona, it is not hard to detect a common theme."

Many objects in the museum focus on religion, but not all. Mockery of macho politicians has a way of bringing out the censors, too. Here is Andy Warhol’s Mao Zedong, there a painting of Emiliano Zapata naked on horseback, wearing a pink sombrero and high heels. (The revolutionary Mexican leader’s descendants threatened, preposterously, to sue the artist, Fabián Cháirez, for defamation.) The museum’s main criterion is that works were banned or censored in some way. Tatxo Benet, a journalist-turned-businessman, founded the museum and collected the art."

The website of the Museu de l'Art Prohibit is here, if you dare to look.

Post Script: 

   Although I suppose one can always find in art a bit of politics, today the latter subject is harder to avoid. I mentioned recently that I visited the Vancouver Art Gallery and among the exhibits is "Conceptions of White" which you can view until Feb. 2, 2024. Curious about the reaction to it, I learned that on social media there were some (probably white) who were not happy with it. Among the regular media I have not found much, but will include the references here to help you decide if you want to go to Vancouver. 

   The VAG description of "Conceptions of White" is found here. 

It includes a YouTube presentation by the curators, found here. (13:50)

An article by Lindsay Shepherd is here. "SHEPHERD: An Inside Look at the Vancouver Gallery's Anti-White Exhibit, True North, Nov. 8, 2023. 

(You may remember her for getting in trouble for showing a bit from a TVO program including Jordan Peterson at WLU.)   

There is another in Georgia Strait: "VAG'S Conceptions of White Takes an Uncompromising Swing at a World That Seriously Needs to Change," Mike Usinger, Sept. 7, 2023.