bdsm

Three new books published by academic presses use lofty intellectual theories to describe strange deviant sex (kink, bondage, and erotic masochism) as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Camile Paglia has reviewed the books for The Chronicle for Higher Education. It’s not pretty:

Gender-theory groupthink leads to bizarre formulations such as this, from Weiss’s introduction: “SM performances are deeply tied to capitalist cultural formations.” The preposterousness of that would have been obvious had Weiss ever dipped into the voluminous works of the Marquis de Sade, one of the most original and important writers of the past three centuries and a pivotal influence on Nietzsche. But incredibly, none of the three authors under review seem to have read a page of Sade. It is scandalous that the slick, game-playing Foucault (whose attempt to rival Nietzsche was an abysmal failure) has completely supplanted Sade, a mammoth cultural presence in the 1960s via Grove Press paperbacks that reprinted Simone de Beauvoir’s seminal essay, “Must We Burn Sade?”

Weiss is so busy with superfluous citations that she ignores what her interviewees actually tell her when it doesn’t fit her a priori system. Thus any references to religion or spirituality are passed by without comment. She also refuses to consider or inquire about any psychological aspect to her subjects’ sexual proclivities, no matter how much pain is inflicted or suffered. She declares that she rejects the “etiological approach”: Any search for “the causation of or motivation for BDSM desires” would mean that “marginalized sexualities” must be “explained and diagnosed as individual deviations.” To avoid any ripple in the smooth surface of liberal tolerance, therefore, flogging, cutting, branding, and the rest of the menu of consensual torture must be assumed to be meaning-free—no different than taking your coffee with cream or without. (These books approvingly quote BDSM players comparing what they do to extreme but blatantly nonsexual sports like rock climbing and sky diving.) Weiss’s neutrality here would be more palatable if she were indeed merely recording or chronicling, but her own biases are palpably invested in her avoidance of religion and her moralistic stands on economics.

Read the full review here.

Click here to Like The College Fix on Facebook  / Twitter: @CollegeFix

{ 0 comments }

Field trips to the local safe sex store, dental dam demonstrations, watching BDSM documentaries and discussions on sexual fetishes are some of the ways students involved in the University of Michigan’s eclectic Residential College’s Sexual Health forum can earn academic credit.

The Residential College is an undergraduate program within the university’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Billed as an on-campus “living learning community,” the Residential College offers small classes sizes, emphasizes student participation, and touts hands-on learning opportunities.

Its student forums are meant to offer a venue to “connect over topics of interest while contributing to the various communities that surround them,” the campus website states. Students in the sex health forum, as well as the other forums the college offers, can earn credit toward graduation, it adds.

The sexual health forum promises a “safe environment to dialogue about topics ranging from basic anatomy to sexual taboos,” its official description on the University of Michigan’s website states.

“Our forum seeks to promote the importance of sexual health and wellbeing in the Residential College community,” it states. “In the past, we have put on variety shows, has movie screenings, hosted guest speakers and the popular ‘gender panel.’ If there are any questions about sex that you’ve always wanted answered, there has never been a more comfortable and fun space to ask.”

But more specific details about exactly what goes on during the 7-year-old forum’s weekly one-hour gatherings came to light this week in an article published in The Michigan Daily student newspaper.

Students call it the Sex Forum, sans the health adjective. It’s led by a sophomore and discussions on masturbation, BDSM and sexual fetishes are not uncommon, the paper reported.

“The group educates its members on contraceptives and safe sex practices, often using demonstrative condoms and dental dams,” the article states. “There are also occasional field trips to Ann Arbor’s Safe Sex Store. … An upcoming meeting will discuss rape, hook-up and college sex cultures. In the past, the group has watched documentaries on various topics including BDSM as well as videos in the media that portray gender roles unfairly.”

In another activity the group engages in, called a gender panel, male students ask female students personal questions about sex anonymously, and vice-versa.

“(It included) a bunch of very sexual questions that I feel like a lot people — especially young people — think about but have essentially no outlet to find an answer and then have educated peers to receive the opinions of,” the group’s sophomore student leader told the newspaper.

And then there’s the condoms. Lots and lots of condoms.

“With less-somber topics, it’s common to keep the environment light — cue decorative condoms,” the Michigan Daily notes. “Last semester, the group made pins out of condoms decorated with magazine pictures for backpack decoration.”

Additional Residential College student forums, all of which earn students credit, include ones that are focused on the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Queer community and community organizing and social injustice. Forums on poetry, art, music, books and music are also offered.

Click here to read the entire Michigan Daily article.

Click here to Like The College Fix on Facebook.

IMAGE: Grilled Cheese/Flickr

{ 4 comments }

Editor’s Note: This report contains graphic and explicit material pulled directly from college newspapers. Please be advised.

Regular sex columns abound in college student newspapers across the country, where topics one might expect to read about in Penthouse or Hustler can instead be found at a campus publication near you.

Perhaps one of the best examples of the tales of the exotic weaved for college students’ reading pleasure is Swarthmore College Daily Gazette’s “Bound and Shagged” column, in which “The Knotty Girl” dishes on her sexcapades.

In her Sept. 6 column “A First Taste,” she explains she’s not the average sex columnist.

“You’ve all seen sex columns, and so you’re sure I’ll just be another run-of-the-mill person talking about different positions or how to deep-throat. But you are wrong. … I’m here to push the boundaries of ‘normal’ sexual behavior and explore different, darker territories.”

She then offers a mini-lesson on sensory depravation techniques. Blindfolds, earplugs, stuff like that.

“It’s a nice first step into the world of kinky sex,” Knotty Girl explains.

Her Sept. 27 column, “In a Bind,” offers some advice on what to do with a rope:

“There are a few positions that are fun to try – I mentioned the frogtie before. In this position, the bound’s ankles are tied to their thighs. This leaves the bound with little-to-no ability to obscure their ‘secret garden.’”

Then she takes it to the next level, of course:

“The lotus tie is very popular,” she writes. “In this tie, the lower legs are placed together pointing in opposite directions so that each foot is near the knee of the other leg. The legs are held in a triangle with the knees wide apart, permitting easy access. Frequently, the elbows are also tied together behind the back in this position, forcing the body into an arch and forcing the chest out. This is a great position in which to administer punishment, as there is no way to cover the body from the blow of a whip or a paddle or a flogger.”

Interesting news to read over a bowl of Cheerios.

Additional “Bound and Shagged” headlines published this semester include: “A Sex Store Adventure”; “Degradation, Depravation and Humiliation”; “Sadomasochism”; and “Discipline.”

Her most recent column, “On The Other Side of the Store” published Dec. 2, talked about her adventures in – where else? – a sex store.

“Slappers (are) my favorite type of impact toy … They leave a nice rounded welt and, because they’re loops, cut through the air more quietly, making them a great choice for a dorm room.”

Who knew the quietest BDSM tool for dorm rooms? Thanks, Knotty Girl!

She goes on to note “paddles, which come in all sorts of sizes and embellishments, are a classic. They can be used to create anywhere between mild and intense pain, but, because of their surface area, won’t break skin. Paddles also sometimes have cutouts in them to leave shaped marks on the skin. I recently received one with PRINCESS cut out of it so that whenever it’s used, the word is temporarily branded onto my skin.”

Good to know. Good to know.

On the other side of the country, Sacramento State University student newspaper readers are entertained by the aptly titled “Oral Sex” column, featured in The Daily Hornet.

With fantastic headlines published over the last year such as “Monogamy Not a Real Expectation for Everyone,” “Booty Calls Better Than a Night Alone,” “Spit, Swallow or Wear It?” and “The Walk of Shame is Outdated, Time for Ladies to Strut Their Stuff with Post-Sex Swag,” the women at that college sure have a great role model to emulate.

For inquiring minds that want to know, by the way, either spit, swallow or wear it will do – as long as two consenting adults talk about how it’s going to go down beforehand.

Because, as the columnist so gracefully put it, “despite what the blonde on the last porno you watched said, your girlfriend won’t be ecstatic about washing a surprise spunk-shake out of her hair.”

OK, moving on.

UC Berkeley’s most recent “Sex on Tuesday” column talked about sex on campus. Literally.

“Yes — having sex on campus is actually very doable, and it’s lots of fun. It’s also surprisingly easy,” the UC Berkeley columnist writes.

The down side? “Concerns about not getting to ‘finish’ when doing it in a public place.”

“Maybe I’m just not ambitious enough to have goal-oriented sex, but sex isn’t always about cumming and having orgasms,” she writes. “Sometimes it’s for shits and giggles. Having expectations and goals can ruin the fun of it. Besides, it’s probably not a good idea to ejaculate in public places — just saying. Keep this in mind should you ever attempt sex on campus.”

This columnist did just that, in fact, then detailed her adventures.

“The trick to doing it in Stacks,” she advises, “is to go at a time when there won’t be a lot of people studying at the same time and to pick a section of books that people won’t ever think to look up. … We decided that, out of the millions of books in the library, the shelves full of books on religion seemed like the best place to fuck.”

Nice touch.

She continues to dole out more advice:

“For a place to have loud ass-slapping sex, the classrooms in the dungeons of Moffitt served us well after Main Stacks because the ground floor of Moffitt was completely deserted,” she noted.

For a finale, she encourged others to do the same:

“Learn to appreciate your sexy side and experience a few frisky things during your time here. Take the Female Sexuality DeCal, have sex in Morrison, do the naked run and talk to people who are willing to share their personal experiences. The wide acceptance and freedom of open sexual expression are among the greatest legacies we have the opportunity to uphold at this university.”

Yeah, that about sums up Berkeley’s greatest legacy. No argument here.

Other “Sex on Tuesday” subjects tackled this semester include: “50 Shades of Rough Sex,” “The Best of Both Worlds (bisexuality)”; and “Dirty Habits Die Hard.”

That last one praised the pleasures of porn.

“Whenever I have convenient breaks in my schedule, I’ll come home after class, eat a snack, watch some porn, rub one out and go back to campus,” the female columnist dishes. “During breaks, when I spend weeks back home in Southern California with nothing to do, I’ll hole up in my room and watch videos up to five, six, seven times a day. … Porn can be used in constructive and beneficial ways to enhance your sexuality and lifestyle overall.”

Brown University’s The Brown Daily Herald relegates its sex column to its blog. Called “Sextion” and penned by the pseudonym “Monica Bruinsky,” pressing topics delved into this year include pearl handcuffs, chocolate body paint, condoms, dental dams, hickey removals – you get the picture.

“We Brunonians clearly love sex – and that’s great!” writes Monica. “But I fear with (SexPowerGod naked party) and Consent Day behind us, Brown students will not have another opportunity to be handed a free condom until Sex Week in the Spring. And that’s SCARY.”

Scary, indeed.

But alas, just when it appeared all hope was lost, over at Princeton University, The Daily Princetonian’s “Love and Lust in the Bubble” regular sex column frequently touches on the pitfalls, loneliness and emptiness of the college “hook-up culture.”

The silver lining on an otherwise sullied topic.

IMAGE: 2 Star Town/Flickr

Click Here to Like The College Fix on Facebook.

{ 5 comments }

Via Campus Reform:

Harvard University granted a controversial BDSM sex-club official school recognition on Wednesday, Campus Reform has confirmed.

The student club, Harvard College Munch, is a group of roughly 20 members that meets weekly to explicitly discuss matters related to BDSM and other forms of kinky sex.

School recognition will allow the club to apply for university funding and promote their group on school property, reports Harvard’s student newspaper, The Crimson

In an article published earlier this year, students in the group spoke freely about fantasies of rape, forced feeding, and impersonating animals during sex…

Read the full story here.

If you ask us, it sounds like Harvard is behind the curve here. After all, this kind of stuff has been going on at Yale for years.

Click here to Like The College Fix on Facebook.

 

{ 1 comment }