For anyone paying attention to the Chicago Tribune, WGN, Huffington Post or Gawker, you’ve probably heard about the controversial “sex demonstration” performed in a Northwestern University psychology class. In this nearly 600 person class that focuses on Human Sexuality, Professor J. Michael Bailey holds optional after-class events. This particuar demonstration featured exhibitionists. The topic of lecture that day focused on the female orgasm, and the exhibitionists believed that some of the information that Bailey presented pertaining to this subject was incorrect; Therefore, to dispell this incorrect information, these exhibitionists demonstrated the female orgasm through use of a sex object named the “fucksaw” (which is a dildo on the base of a power saw). Before the presentaton occurred, Bailey warned students about the content, and they were free to leave if they felt uncomfortable. Some students did choose to leave. Bailey, too, even hesitated to let this act occur but decided that it served this educational purpose. The woman, partially nude was penetrated by the object, and the act lasted for only three minutes until she reached this point of orgasm.
The media, though, in my opinion, has not done its correct research. As a Northwestern student and a member of this actual psychology class, the sensationalism that this after-class OPTIONAL demonstration has received is ridiculous. Bailey’s class serves to educate people about sexuality instead of confining it to a subject that society cannot talk about. His speakers are meant to make the textbook concepts clear and example-based. When I watched one Chicago broadcast about the topic, I was surprised about how many factual errors the reporter had allowed into her report. Even her tone made it seem as if the entire event was a completely traumatizing event. Many of these reports fail to emphasize the point that this was an OPTIONAL after-class event. Students do not and are not forced to stay after class. As well, Bailey dished out fair warning, and in a follow-up report by the Tribune that was published today, he admits that even he had apprehensions about the demonstration and was “surprised.”
What gets me the most is that people tend to skirt around this issue of sex, and this event and the media attention its receiving only further perpetuates this idea that sex can only be talked about “behind closed doors.”
College students are not chidren any more. We must educate ourselves about these mature decisions in order to protecct ourselves. If we cannot learn about sex in a 300 level psychology class, then some students (like myself) who did not have proper sex ed in high school may not know how to properly protect ourselves from the dangers of STDs or unprotected sex (topics that Bailey also examines in this class).
Her Campus readers, what do you think about this demonstration? Do you think the media is handling the topic in the correct way?