In the spirit of keeping things classy, let’s talk about sex…columns.
As of this semester, The Daily Pennsylvanian officially has a sex column. Every other Thursday, author and College sophomore Arielle Pardes “screwtinizes” the sexual atmosphere on campus. Her column is accordingly called “The Screwtinizer.”
For anyone who’s a die-hard Sex and the City fan like myself, the sex column isn’t a new concept. But for those who aren’t familiar with the sexcapades of Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte (please get your hands on the series), a sex column is exactly what it sounds like; it talks about sex.
Some sex columnists take a casual approach, focusing on their own sex lives. Others are more informative, and talk about sexual health and different approaches to sexuality and relationships.
Although some commenters find such frank talk about sex reprehensible, as of yet the Screwtinizer isn’t especially controversial. Pardes said she’s taking a more distanced, “academic approach” to sexuality.
“It’s not a Carrie Bradshaw thing,” she said. “I didn’t want it to be a column about my personal sex life.”
The DP isn’t the first school newspaper to have a sex column. The University of California, Berkeley was the pioneer of this phenomenon, debuting “Sex on Tuesday” in 1996. The column was such a hit that it sparked a sexual media revolution, resulting in hundreds of college sex columns.
Among the Ivies, some of the most famous ones have been Natalie Krinsky’s “Sex in the Elm City,” which drew hundreds of thousands of hits to Yale’s The Yale Daily News, and Harvard graduate Lena Chen’s regular tell-all in The Harvard Crimson. Columbia and Cornell also publish notable sex columns.
Then there are also collegiate magazines dedicated to sex. Once again, Harvard has a pretty notable one—The H Bomb. Rice has something akin to Playboy; called Open Magazine, it features (or at the very least used to feature) pictures of naked Rice students. And let’s not forget Columbia’s C-Spot, which aims to intelligently discuss sexual behaviors and norms.
In the real world, sex columns are prevalent, and they have been for several decades. All you need to do is look at Cosmopolitan or Redbook to realize how important sex is to readers.
And although not as common in newspapers, sex columns still sometimes make their way into the dailies. The San Francisco Inquirer is one such newspaper.
So with all this talk about sex, why do we need another sex column?
Pardes believes that although there’s a movement towards talking more candidly about intercourse, we’re talking about it in the wrong ways.
“We’re not living in a sexual revolution right now,” she said, adding that we’ve regressed in our tolerance of sexuality since the 1960s.
I agree that society has become a bit closed off towards talking about sex. As another DP columnist, Ernest Owens, pointed out in one of his columns earlier this semester, there’s a stigma at Penn if you remain a virgin in college. And at the same time, in the outside world, you’re judged by how many sexual partners you’ve had. What’s the right number? What’s the right way to have sex? And why are we so afraid to discuss the possible risks of sexual activity, such as pregnancy, STIs and emotional baggage?
(Plug: Pardes talks about the embarrassment surrounding STI talk and testing in one of her articles.)
Sex is everywhere. Sex is a stigma and a hot topic. Some would have us believe sex is poisoning society, but the media would have us believe sex is the antidote to a myriad of problems.
We have so many labels for sex, and yet it’s still such an elusive topic.
I think it’s important to talk about sex, but I wonder if the school newspaper is really the place to do it. On the one hand, it’s an issue that matters to everyone. But on the other hand, it doesn’t exactly seem “newsy.”
College and Wharton sophomore Diksha Bali disagrees.
“I think it’s interesting,” she said, referring the column. “It adds a greater sense of legitimacy to the paper as it deals with a big part of college life.”
College junior Robert Berg also feels positively about “The Screwtinizer.”
“I think people are naturally interested in reading about sex,” Robert said. “I think it’s an important topic to write about.”
“People are generally interested in hearing about sex. I’m bridging that gap with what I’m learning in my classes,” Pardes said.
“You’re missing the point” if you don’t spend time discussing what sex means to different people, she added.
I’m still not sure how I feel about opening the paper in the morning, over my morning coffee, and starting my day with an article about sex. But then again, that seems like a great way to wake up.
And even though a part of me feels “The Screwtinizer” should be published in a different medium, another part of me really likes the idea of discussing something so taboo, so scintillating and yet so integral to who we are as humans. Maybe I’m a prude to have mixed feelings about this. Or perhaps this is a sign that society is moving towards a more honest approach towards intimacy.
I look forward to reading what else Pardes has to say about sex. In the future, we can expect to see stories about masturbation, consent with regard to rape and transgender rights. These topics may not be sexy, but they’re oh-so-necessary to talk about.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Penn chapter.