This post almost turned into a tirade about the effects of abstinence education, but I’ll spare you all that rant.
Instead, since it’s my last post of the semester (and I refuse to write a single post about the “s word” next year), let’s actually talk about sex.
Being the DP “sex blogger” has given me new perspective. (And no, not the staring-at-the-ceiling kind.) Regardless of what the shout outs imply, I wasn’t surprised to read in the 34th Street sex issue that most Penn students have only had one or two partners by graduation. Maybe it’s that we party less than those who go to state schools, or just that many Penn students tend to overthink their lives, but I’ve certainly come across a lot of hang ups and assumptions that I didn’t expect to — some of them my own.
Mostly, what I’ve found is that people just don’t care that much. Sure, a juicy sex blog like the anonymous Columbia Commentariat or Sex and the Ivy can be fun to read occasionally, and everyone loves a bit of good gossip, but with everything happening on campus, sex isn’t anywhere near the focus of our attention.
We’re a pretty tame crowd. Women who lead active sex lives still get called sluts — but I hear negative commentary on “manwhores” almost as often (hey, at least it’s equal-opportunity judgment). “Hooking up” more often refers to making out than actual intercourse. And I’d venture to say that Street’s finding that 8% of seniors are virgins is actually a pretty low estimate.
In short: it’s been fun, but geez, are we (yes, we) boring. I think I wrote more about masturbation than actual sex. Maybe that’s the effect of the “hookup culture” — we can move beyond sex and start thinking about real issues.
That or Penn’s crawling with sexually frustrated, socially inept geeks. I’ve linked to this article before, and I guess they have a point: having the time, energy, and partner at the same time can be a damn difficult thing at an institution like ours.
Anyone up for writing a scandalous study blog next year?
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December 10th, 2007 at 8:14 am
Too bad.
Your blog is about the only one that consistantly brings me back here, and one that actually prompts me to comment fairly regularly.
So please I implore you keep on writing about the “S” word because maybe there are some undersexed and boring folks in this student community, but not all of your readership is that way nor are we all students.
ps perhaps if you must stop you can write about that other closeted subject, students and substance addiction ETOH and otherwise.
Nah that would probably be far too controversial stick with sex it’s more entertaining if somewhat less enlightening.