“I don’t see how bringing a Playboy stripper to campus is helping anything,” said Travis Kavulla, editor of the Harvard Salient, which joined other conservative newspapers in giving Sex Week the Collegiate Network 2004 Outrage Award. “How are universities trying to educate students in sponsoring activities like this?”
I can understand why some folks might have their panties in a wad (no pun intended, of course), but it’s not as if Yale is hosting live sex shows in the Student Union. Didja ever stop to think that perhaps the biggest reason that this country is so conflicted over sex is because there is such a pronounced lack of open discussion about it? Contrary to what so many Fundamentalist prudes might think, sex is not some dirty, nasty undertaking best left undiscussed and behind locked doors. While some folks rail against anything they perceive as “pornographic” (which can be a disturbingly broad definition), it seems clear that they would much rather than sex be shrouded in fear, igorance, and secrecy than discussed as the beautiful and wonderful human activity that it is and can be.
We live in a world that condemns the depiction of a female breast and yet has no problem with depicting that same woman being shot. What does it say about society when the portrayal of graphic violence is deemed acceptable while the portrayal of a sexual act is roundly condemned as filthy and unacceptable?
Sure, some of the things taking place during sex week might seem a bit silly, but what, really, is so wrong with a frank and open discussion about sexual issues? What is wrong with anything that furthers an individual’s understanding of sex, and perhaps adds to his or her enjoyment of it? If you’re offended by this sort of openness and honesty, I would remind you that Sex Week is a voluntary thing. Stay away if you must, but keep your narrow-minded intolerance to yourself, willya? Some folks might actually be interested in learning something.
Right on the money, Jack. The fundamentalists aren't having any fun, so they want to spoil it for everyone else, too.