Some students and parents were undoubtedly offended when how-to-masturbate posters stating “Your body is a wonderland” and urging readers to “spend your day thinking about situations that get you turned on” were put up in the campus library at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs New York, but that postering was nothing compared to what happened in a Human Sexuality class at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
John Leo at Minding The Campus:
A course on sex taught by psychology Professor John Michael Bailey recently featured a naked woman being worked on by a man wielding a sex toy. The man was described as ‘a Chicago sex tour guide.’ The 600-student course, which for some reason is one of the largest at Northwestern, features all kinds of sexual expression and guests that include swingers and convicted sex offenders. The optional, after-class sex-toy demonstration, Bailey said, “helps us understand sexual diversity”—possibly the first time a state-of-the-art vibrator demonstration was stuffed in under the campus diversity umbrella.
After a controversy erupted over the classroom activity, the University’s President issued a statement saying that the school “supports the efforts of faculty to further the advancement of knowledge…”
h/t David Thompson
I’m going to beat Kathy Shaidle to it: Don’t go to University. If you’re in University, drop out. It’s a waste of a your time and money. It’s a scam for tenured swine; it’s a bubble that’s about to burst.
Physics, Chemistry, Engineering? Fine. But eschew the Humanities and the Social Sciences. Nobody’s going to pay you for having a degree in Marxiological criticism of knitting throughout history and a minor in watching live pron shows.
Our young daughter was attending public school (only 5 at the time) and came home one day to inform us that she had learned that her grandfather must no longer hug her, the reason being that he might touch her in places on her body that he shouldn’t. Her grandfather, according to her liberal teachers, might be a child molester. This conclusion was reached even though they had never met him, even though he is as honest and clean as the day is long, and even though our daughter thinks the world of him.
Needless to say our daughter is no longer in public school.
It also took me several weeks to calm my father down once he heard the crap they had fed to my daughter.
Black Mamba I’m afraid even science and engineering are suffering at this point.
TJ, as far as I know there’s no Marxist math or Marxist engineering. But as for your 1:20 comment…yes, there’s a lot of misdirection going on.
True story: about twenty years ago my brother’s ex-girlfriend had a toddler nephew who had been given a vinyl recording of a song called “It’s Okay to Say No.” He would listen to it tirelessly, and would sing along; a couple of weeks later, his interactions with his mom would go like this:
“Willy, it’s time for your bath.”
“NO!”
“Willy, please stop hitting your brother.”
“NO!”
Everyone had assumed that he just liked the tune…
Can someone please send Jim Flaherty a copy of “It’s OK to Say No” ?
Never underestimate the power of suggestion. Children who have not acquired deductive sophistication are confused by the political correct fanatics. A grandpa who smokes a pipe becomes a bad man – because smokers are nasty people, according to the PC crowd. These PC idiots with their sweeping generalizations are making the lives of today’s children a hell on earth. People should not send their children to pubic schools or public universities, IMO.
Good comments TJ, Black Mamba and EBD. Alarming post EBD – how long has ‘education’ been going on?
What could be the motivation? Making students feel creepy and revolted by people who should be attempting to earn the respect of their students is puzzling.
Oh I am so leaning to plumber and electrician for my boys.
EBD, it was bad in the 90’s (when I did my undergrad) and it’s worse today. The curriculum isn’t polluted, but the student environment is soaked in it. In a professional career, the contacts and relationships you make in university are almost as important as the coursework. Some of the most ardent proponents of AGW I know are chemical engineers who really ought to know better.
“…a man wielding a sex toy.” Geesh, makes it sound like he has a weapon or sumptin’. At least in Canada it would probably be registered.
Some students and parents were undoubtedly offended when how-to-masturbate poster…..
HUH?? Now there telling us how to spank the monkey?? Didn’t know that people needed to be told.
I know there are larger issues at play here, but something else makes me shake my head about that dildo demonstration. What sort of loser university students have to take a course to get any kind of sexual experience happening?
I’m sure my memories are enhanced by the years, but it was the best time of my life for that kind of thing…
I know there are larger issues at play here
Yes, there are.
Ever since I grew up and became a political conservative, I’ve come to realize something:
The left, by and large, defines freedom solely as the ability to get it on with whoever (or whatever), whenever and wherever without criticism or consequence.
I genuinely believe that this is their very limited definition of freedom, or at least the majority of it.
As our gracious blog hostess has pointed out, they don’t believe in things like free speech (it offends them; see above), economic freedom (it is “unfair”), political freedom (people may vote the way we don’t like).
The same people who – as they did in San Francisco – ban both Happy Meal toys and circumcision will be the same people who go to bat for a “woman’s right to choose” or “gay marriage” and who will decry opposition to abortion or same sex marriage as “bigots” and haters of freedom.
The only way to get people to believe that things like unfettered sex is a Constitutional right that surpasses freedom of speech/religion is to teach it as a respectable subject in college. By making sex workshops part of an “education”, people are far more likely to believe it is more important than the ability to, say, buy incandescent lightbulbs without government interference.
@atric — yeah that’s just how lame this coming generation is. They need help with *everything*. Ever notice how a 20-something year-old in any retail setting immediately goes to someone older than them for help when they run into the smallest snag — say, the paper running out of the receipt printer?
This story broke last week. Guys, really, you need to start reading HotAir.com It’s my home page.
clean up in stall 222.clean up in stall 222
“This story broke last week.” Yeah so? I didn’t realize you thought this site was a news aggregator, Kathy. Some things don’t have to be breaking stories to put up for discussion. At least this site allows comments.
He’s got you there kathy!!
I would frequent your site more if there were a spot for me to vent on some of the stories.
I still enjoy going to your site but sda is where it is at for me.
you have to be inordinately cautious about what you present to the toddlers for 2 reasons:
– we’re all born with the level of intelligence we exhibit later in life, and the talents. you may have sired a particularly estute study.
– as expressed above however, they lack the skills to filter and interpret what they see and hear.
my kid won a scholarship to university and has now long surpassed my accomplishments in the work place.
when she was less than 2 yrs old I made a big fuss about swatting flies. she soon acquired an excessive fear of them. when I realized that I then turned it into a game and she calmed down.
be careful what you allow them to take in especially when you’re not around.
p.s. gobi: good luck with that, apprenticeshits are still dished out on the basis of ‘who’ you know not ‘what’ you know. feel free to join a service club, the masons or buy an existing utility contractor business and fire their apprentice to make room for your own kid.
it’s harder to get an apprenticeshit than a medical license. doing that requires two thing entirely up to the individual: get high marks and don’t kill anybody during your internship.
not so with the trades. aptitude, strength, honesty, eschewing drugs and alcohol on the job don’t amount to SQUAT compared to an ‘inside connection’. in fact exhibiting honesty and work ethic will get you labeled as a boat rocker and doom your budding career.
Comments are like letters to the editor. They are often the best part of a post. The reading experience at Ms Shaidle’s site is poorer for the lack of them.
Yeah, but wouldn’t a Masters degree in Dildo-ology from Northwestern still be more useful than a U Ottawa doctorate in political science…
I don’t have a problem with a class on human sexuality. The part that made me cringe was when I learned this was an offer by one of the students to demonstrate a sex toy (a dildo attached to a saw) on his fiancee. The class was informed of the demonstration, told it was graphic and optional, and about 100 of the 600 students stayed for it. Among the many things I find disturbing about the situation is that anyone would volunteer his fiancee for this exercise and that she would agree and that the prof would deem it acceptable. Perhaps the topic of the day was exhibitionism. Or 1001 uses for power tools?
The other question it poses: does academic freedom trump everything including good judgement and respect? Or are those concepts so naive and passe they don’t bear mentioning on a campus?
Jamie MacMaster Once society has been totally neutered you would be right.
I liked the part about the ‘power tool converted into a sex toy’. There was a female patron of a bar that I used to frequent years ago that was a mature woman who had elected to get braces to straighten her teeth. She was also of dubious virtue and was soon saddled with the nickname ‘Black and Decker Pecker Wrecker’. Ah, the good old days…
Teaching school kids how to masturbate rubs me the wrong way.
Re University. I passed on post secondary education long ago and have been passing those savings on to my customers for many years. It is a good idea to learn how to do something that others will be willing to pay for … such as plumber, electrician etc. Don’t bother much with industrial skills, those jobs are in China.
Re Kathy Shaidle’s Five Feet. I too go to you site about once a week, but would go every day if there some comments to read and or add to.
When Bill Maher’s right, he’s bang on. The prudish, disportionate response and attendant attack on an incredibly well respected university immediately made me think of this from 2007:
“Republicans say that sex is bad, because with them it always is. I’m sorry, but they’re just doughy, asexual, wonky, white people, and if you had to have sex with them it would be over in an excruciating three minutes. It’s just, — and from the headlines of the past year I gather the only sex they’re really good at, is gay sex. Really. Jeff Gannon in the White House press room, Representative Mark Foley, the Reverend Ted Haggard. I mean, that’s an awful lot of gay when you’re running against it in every election.
Jamie MacMaster “Yeah, but wouldn’t a Masters degree in Dildo-ology from Northwestern still be more useful than a U Ottawa doctorate in political science…”
I’m not so sure Jamie; given the similarities in curriculum and Ottawa’s co-op programme, Ottawa may have an edge.
It’s just more reinforcement of Les Bewley’s, “you can replace liberal arts colleges with library cards” except in this case, a few PC keystrokes/links.
Please tell me that the industrial dildo demonstration was in no way connected to the visit by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
“…a man wielding a sex toy.” Geesh, makes it sound like he has a weapon or sumptin’. At least in Canada it would probably be registered.
Posted by: Texas Canuck at March 9, 2011 5:58 AM
Might even be prohibited…depends on barrel length. Short ones would be outlawed…
“supports the efforts of faculty to further the advancement of knowledge.”
Which is the problem with most universities and what they teach.
Properly conducted a university should support the efforts of faculty to further the advancement of Wisdom.
EBD said: “TJ, as far as I know there’s no Marxist math or Marxist engineering.”
There’s much more brainwashing going on in engineering today than ever in the past. It’s not as bad as liberal arts, but heading in that direction. Undergraduate engineers today are forced for example to take courses where they must swallow the global warming hoax.
In engineering you now can find positions such as “Professor of Sustainability”.
Think of science and engineering as the last surviving outposts, but they are slowly succumbing too. One of the most depressing ways they are succumbing is through lowering of standards.
Re: Engineering and global warming. It’s not just in faculties. From any reading of PEO materials it’s obvious the Ontario licensing body has taken an official position. There’s money out there to be had I guess.
rita: “The part that made me cringe was when I learned this was an offer by one of the students to demonstrate a sex toy (a dildo attached to a saw) on his fiancee.”
It wasn’t a student. The pair were consenting adults not otherwise affiliated with Northwestern, brought in by the prof for the optional after-class session on sexual kink and fetish (suntimes.com/news/4115230-418/northwestern-president-troubled-over-live-sex-demonstration.html).
Abe Froman: “Teaching school kids how to masturbate rubs me the wrong way”
As for the “Your body is a wonderland” posters, they were put up by a student-run group focused on promoting healthy sexuality, not by anyone from the faculty as part of a course.
Daniel Ream says “Some of the most ardent proponents of AGW I know are chemical engineers who really ought to know better.”
Well, perhaps those chemical engineers are trolling for taxpayer funded research grants…..they know where the gravy train is.
Someone should tell the parents of these students they don’t have spend $10k a year for porn.
It is free on the interweb thingy.
1. My body truly is…er..wonderful. Well it would be if I lost the weight.
2. This wasn’t just any sex toy. It was a sawzall with a dildo attached. Only one piece of advice. GFCI outlets only please!!!
3.Modern college and grad education is an enormous bubble, just as real estate was. Immense price, limited usefulness, soon comes the rash and pointless classes such as this one will be gone, in favor of classes that will help your career.
Sorry, I read that as “Skidmark College” for some reason…
I don’t know where the dog gets his cynical perspective on trades and apprenticeships,but it certainly isn’t MY reality,and I’ve been in the building business for 27 years.
All plumbing,electrical,HVAC,and drywall companies I work with are constantly on the lookout for bright young people with a good work ethic,with emphasis on the latter.
This is,of course,in times where there ARE jobs to offer, such as the building boom we had here in Kelowna for the last ten years.Right now,it’s pretty slow, but construction has it’s cycles,like any other business.
I would suggest to any young person,if you have an aptitude for working with your hands,and LIKE doing so, try the trades.
Chances are pretty good that you’ll find a job in any area where there’s construction going on,and you won’t have to spend four or more years taking out student loans.
K.Shaide. People shouldn’t visit your site as well then.
Are we not feeding trolls today or just a little too close to the bone ?
Peace…
PERVERTS!!!!
This should be part of a qualifying entrance exam.
However, prove that you know how and you need
not attend as they’ve nothing “left” to teach.
Resumés would then list a degree from Wanker U.
As for the Humanities, they are most important, and
a foundation of Western Civilization. Judge from it’s
highest performance of erudition, not from the
mediocrity of present low standards due to political correctness.
Engineering can be used to build concentration camps
and Sharia law or freedom from them. Whether we win
WW IV will depend on how well know our and honour
our history and noblest ideals.
“To you from failing hands we throw, the torch”
Davenport, I think I arrived at the conclusion that the demonstrators were students because of info like this:
“Jim Marcus said he and his fiancé hadn’t planned to show off the sex act at first, but decided to do so after the class watched a video on female orgasm that he thought was unrealistic. They already had brought the equipment to show as part of the discussion.” http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chibrknews-northwestern-to-pay-for-live-sex-toy-demonstration-20110302,0,3942305.story?obref=obinsite
Reading it again, I agree these people were there as guests (?) rather than students.
Thanks for clarifying.
Coming soon (no pun intended) – – The long dong registry.
Oh for the good ol days of JFK’s inaugural speech. “Ask not what my country can do for me, but what I can do for my country.” True, even back then these were just words to JFK that he never heeded. Erudition should have a goal of serving society. Unbridled hedonism diminishes humanity.
Twenty years from now the progressive liberals will most likely be teaching our youth how to have sex on stage at schools, yes specifically “Gay friendly sex”. Their obsession with our sexuality is just plain creepy if not deviant, never get between the anything goes if it feels good crowd and their lack of morals.
I love Five Feet of Fury, but Kathy’s missing the point here, or at least she doesn’t get what the point is for some of us. I did know about this story last week, but I couldn’t comment on it on SDA last week ’cause there wasn’t a thread up about it.
Bill Stewart – you’re an annoying troll with horrible taste in “comedians”, so shut up. Happy? (On the plus side, maybe if you head over to Illinois maybe they’ll let you audit the class.)
Awww Mamba, you fed it. We were doing so well too. 🙁
On the subject of the thread, the key here is -funding-. End the free-from-scrutiny government money, and this type of thing will just vanish like the morning dew.
Because really, can you imagine a situation where a private fund, company or trust would see having their name linked to this “event” as a good thing?
“Dildology 101 at Skidmark U, brought to you by Coke!”
Yep, Coca-Cola Inc. is going to just looooove that.
So, you see, there is no need to infringe people’s rights to make them behave in a seemly fashion. All you have to do is make them spend their -own- money, and they smarten right up.
Another reminder that nomenclature Phd means…
Phenomenally Dum
I just hope the Liberals out there don’t read the comment at the end of the article about “Christian vs. Lion” rematches and get any ideas.