With Playboy Magazine coming to Dartmouth in about a week, Women's Studies and English Professor Ivy Schweitzer told students last night it is important to "raise consciousness" and to become informed about "the issues surrounding pornography and sexuality."
The Women's Studies Department sponsored the showing of two films portraying opposing viewpoints on pornography followed by a discussion led by Schweitzer and University of California at Riverside Graduate Student Tiffany Lopez.
In a short introduction to the almost full auditorium in Carpenter last night, Schweitzer said she was glad to see the large number of men in the audience.
"It is important that a lot of men are here," she said. "We have to reach out to the men because pornography is an issue that affects us all."
Schweitzer showed clips from two movies: "Female Misbehavior," which was made in 1992, and "Not a Love Story," which was made in 1983. The two movies presented different positions in the debate over pornography.
The short clips from "Female Misbehavior" presented the issue of pornography in a light and almost "pro-love" manner, while the documentary "Not a Love Story" produced by the Canadian Film Board was more hard-hitting and serious.
"Not a Love Story" cited several startling statistics such as the fact that there are more sex shops and pornography theaters than McDonald's and the circulation of Playboy and Penthouse Magazines exceeds that of Newsweek and Time.
The film depicted pornography as not only degrading and demeaning toward women, but to society in general.
This view contrasted greatly with that presented in "Female Misbehavior," where pornography was presented as being liberating and enjoyable for the women involved. Women in the film used and viewed pornography as a means of exploring and expressing comfort with their own sexuality.
Following the films, Lopez and Schweitzer led a discussion on the issues presented in the movies as well as feelings towards Playboy's arrival on campus in one week.
Student reaction towards the films ranged from those of disgust and surprise, to fear.
The issue of whether men or women are in control of pornography and sexuality was discussed.
Feeding from the different viewpoints presented in the films, Schweitzer and Lopez discussed reactions toward Playboy's imminent arrival on campus.
Schweitzer asked the audience whether or not they think women at Dartmouth who choose to pose for Playboy will have control over the representation of their sexuality.
The general consensus of the audience was that those women will not have control, as was strongly supported by examples from "Not a Love Story."
Lopez asked why Playboy is touring only the Ivy League colleges as opposed to less prestigious schools.
"What does it mean that Playboy is only touring the Ivy Leagues where Ph.D's are more powerful than any other colleges in the country?" she asked.
One student responded that Playboy coming to campus runs counter to everything an education stands for and demeans the intellectual and academic achievements of women.
