One may characterize life at Dartmouth College, in part, by the bombardment of the impressionable student with so-called "progressive" ideas.
Take, for instance, the issue of sex. A casual reading of The Dartmouth would have you believe that if you're not having sex, or do not possess some fascination with having sex, then you're weird (see last week's column by Zachary Gottlieb '10, "Sex-ploring the Sex Fest," Feb. 15, or the regular sex column in The Mirror).
Also consider Valentine's Day, which is celebrated on our campus by zealous proponents of the female anatomy and features College-funded displays of the obscene replicas of unwieldy genitalia. There is also the drunk-goggles-put-the-condom-on-the-penis game at the Sex Fest, which seems to me to make light of the real issues of birth control, unanticipated pregnancy and intoxicated intercourse (which, lest anyone forget on our campus, can be rape).
What I do not understand is the campus complacence with the devolution of lovemaking into a purely physical thing. Sex, I believe, is not simply the act of orgasm, meant only to gratify the carnal desire of humans. It is the most intimate of human experiences, meant to consummate the commitment of one individual to another. I believe in the sanctity of sexual intercourse, and I believe that a large number of Dartmouth students share this value with me.
I feel that Gottlieb's stroll through the erotic playland that was Collis Common Ground during the Sex Fest is allegorical in a very useful sense. He began by expressing uneasiness about the whole thing: "Sure, students should feel comfortable with their sexuality, but how far should it go?"
However, his uneasiness swiftly transformed into a comfortable feeling of normalcy when he saw a few other students playing with the dildos, too.
So it is with the young college student trying to find his or her identity and secure his or her beliefs.
One must use warily and sparingly the rationale that "it's OK because some other people do it." There is a growing trend to bring into the limelight everything once deemed taboo in the name of progressivism.
Well, I would like to state the case that sometimes the reason we do not talk about certain issues is that they are not acceptable. You probably would not talk to your mother about your "mechanical rotating penis of excessive and hilarious girth," as Gottlieb mentions, and for good reason: It's a perversion.
So I write to offer just a few words of encouragement to those who have become disquieted by the flippant discussion of sex that pervades the public sphere on campus: If you think the "Friday Quickie" completely disregards the sanctity of lovemaking, you're not weird or lame. And I would offer this advice to the folk who think sex "is like a steak" (Gottlieb): You should probably stick to baby food.
I ask your forgiveness if my tone has become accusatory, but I feel that such negligent and unwholesome discussion of sex attacks the values of many Dartmouth students, and I am compelled to respond.
