V-Day at Dartmouth
Happy Valentine's Day, Dartmouth.
I got a little early celebrating in yesterday at the 4th annual Sex Festival. It must be said that for an event that features sex toys, costumes, and low red lighting, the atmosphere was surprisingly comfortable and thoughtful. The students running the booths were friendly and funny without being pushy, and I saw lots of students taking advantage of things like free condoms - definitely a good thing.
That said, though, I haven't seen much else in the way of sex-ed related events this week. The Vagina Monologues will go on tonight and tomorrow night, and apparently there was a Sextravaganza discussion in Mid Mass, but that seems to be the extent of Dartmouth-sponsored events. Why not use this week, already saturated with cheesy V-day fundraisers, to start a bigger campus discussion? Full disclosure: I definitely participated in one of those cheesy fundraisers for my own organization. But all week, as my inbox has been filling with invitations to get some Speed Dating, "Crush" cans, cards, chocolate, and flowers, I've been thinking - is this all?
Monday's D reported on Sex Week at Yale, which includes speakers, events, and a whole 60-page booklet, all ostensibly about relationships, sexuality, and love. Perhaps Dartmouth should shoot for something on a larger scale too.
Having not experienced "Sex Week at Yale", I don't know if it's necessarily a perfect model. But walking around Dartmouth's Sex Festival, I wondered how many students might be turned off by its flashiness. Why not make those educational resources available in other ways, for those who aren't interested in wearing glittery heart antennae and strolling underneath the red lights? What about a speaker? A website? Discussion forums? A publication? (Supposedly Yale will be sending Dartmouth their Sex Week publication - great, but why not have our own?) It seems that the people who most need the resources, advice, and ideas that something like the Sex Festival offers would be the least likely to stop in and check things out. But they might pick up a booklet or attend a discussion forum. Some will say that students could just as easily self-educate themselves about sex or relationships, and that the College should butt out of students' personal lives. But this neglects to account for the way that campus dialogue on contentious or challenging issues can jump-start people into thinking about things on a deeper level. Some of the best discussions about issues like gender relations in the Greek system have come from candid, thoughtful student-run discussions. When dialogue becomes indoctrination, though, you lose that opportunity.
So hooray for the Sex Festival - but just the same, there's a place for respecting and listening to those who have views that differ from the Sex Festival's pro-sex atmosphere. Why not hold student-run discussion forums through campus religious communities? Political groups? Greeks? First-year dorms? There's a lot that goes unsaid about love, sex, and relationships here, and now seems like the perfect time to start talking about it.
I got a little early celebrating in yesterday at the 4th annual Sex Festival. It must be said that for an event that features sex toys, costumes, and low red lighting, the atmosphere was surprisingly comfortable and thoughtful. The students running the booths were friendly and funny without being pushy, and I saw lots of students taking advantage of things like free condoms - definitely a good thing.
That said, though, I haven't seen much else in the way of sex-ed related events this week. The Vagina Monologues will go on tonight and tomorrow night, and apparently there was a Sextravaganza discussion in Mid Mass, but that seems to be the extent of Dartmouth-sponsored events. Why not use this week, already saturated with cheesy V-day fundraisers, to start a bigger campus discussion? Full disclosure: I definitely participated in one of those cheesy fundraisers for my own organization. But all week, as my inbox has been filling with invitations to get some Speed Dating, "Crush" cans, cards, chocolate, and flowers, I've been thinking - is this all?
Monday's D reported on Sex Week at Yale, which includes speakers, events, and a whole 60-page booklet, all ostensibly about relationships, sexuality, and love. Perhaps Dartmouth should shoot for something on a larger scale too.
Having not experienced "Sex Week at Yale", I don't know if it's necessarily a perfect model. But walking around Dartmouth's Sex Festival, I wondered how many students might be turned off by its flashiness. Why not make those educational resources available in other ways, for those who aren't interested in wearing glittery heart antennae and strolling underneath the red lights? What about a speaker? A website? Discussion forums? A publication? (Supposedly Yale will be sending Dartmouth their Sex Week publication - great, but why not have our own?) It seems that the people who most need the resources, advice, and ideas that something like the Sex Festival offers would be the least likely to stop in and check things out. But they might pick up a booklet or attend a discussion forum. Some will say that students could just as easily self-educate themselves about sex or relationships, and that the College should butt out of students' personal lives. But this neglects to account for the way that campus dialogue on contentious or challenging issues can jump-start people into thinking about things on a deeper level. Some of the best discussions about issues like gender relations in the Greek system have come from candid, thoughtful student-run discussions. When dialogue becomes indoctrination, though, you lose that opportunity.
So hooray for the Sex Festival - but just the same, there's a place for respecting and listening to those who have views that differ from the Sex Festival's pro-sex atmosphere. Why not hold student-run discussion forums through campus religious communities? Political groups? Greeks? First-year dorms? There's a lot that goes unsaid about love, sex, and relationships here, and now seems like the perfect time to start talking about it.
posted by Sarah at 8:16 AM Permalink
1 Comments:
I tried to start a sex ed column many times for the D (ugh, the D), but as you'd expect, I was met with rejection/no response each and every time. There was discussion about doing a separate publication or putting it in another paper (DFP used to do one...not sure if they still do), but unfortunately, nothing else gets the same readership...
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