Duke, Horizontal

The librarians in the Rare Book Room are beginning to think I have a problem. There was probably sufficient reason for alarm after I spent enough time in the room to snag the title of Foursquare Mayor. In researching a history thesis on the nature of female sexuality in the 1950’s, however, my book requests are what truly raise eyebrows. Day in and day out, I’m camped out amongst the industrial furniture and fluorescent lighting, pouring through the pages of half-century-old sex manuals and marriage self-help guides. I’m sure the staff is beginning to wonder why I am so desperate for outdated advice as I hand them another request slip for a 1956 pamphlet on the benefits of oral sex in marriage. Yep, this is my life.

A few nights ago, hunkered down in my usual spot and reading a 1953 sexual handbook for married couples, I came across an intriguing passage on the airing of past relationships, or what we would probably call hook-up baggage. The authors state, “With respect to a woman’s voluntary admissions of premarital experiences, even though the average man should at this date expect them to be the rule rather than the exception, nothing at all is to be gained.” In simpler words, talking about your sexual past will probably blow up in your face. Some things never change?

I didn’t want to talk about the PowerPoint. I was desperate for a reason to ignore it, looking for a way to avoid one of the only campus-events to ever fall under my journalistic jurisdiction. The whole topic seemed toxic to the touch, engulfing anyone who got near it. I’ve been frustrated with the nature of the public debate thus far, though, if for no other reason than it reveals a discernible gap in Duke’s English curriculum regarding the use of satire. I’ve cringed a little as distinct parties unwittingly argued the same point, and I will be wholeheartedly disappointed if the “Monday, Monday” columnist retracts and apologizes for his statements, even though I disagree with the crude and obtuse method with which he made them.

This PowerPoint and its author are not crusaders for feminine principles any more than they are an appropriate medium for discussing profound gender-based symptoms in Duke’s hook-up culture. What leaves such a bad taste in our mouths is not the sexual events themselves, but rather the harsh public light in which we have been forced to view them. Perhaps the author should have read the 1953 edition of Sex: Methods and Manners.

With this in mind, the “thesis” and its author are not the platform on which to build an attack against sexism in Duke’s sexual culture. We have all been quick to condemn this woman’s crime of indiscretion and thus I am more interested in observing where we as women have failed our own cause, repulsed by the airing of this dirty laundry yet ready to blame anyone but ourselves.

You don’t read this column for polemical opinions or serious commentary. Everyone likes a good Thursday-morning chuckle about sex, and I honestly hope it stays that way. Awkward humor will be back in full force in my next installment. Still, to date, my most popular article remains my inaugural editorial, which begins, “A few nights ago, I found myself having the best sex of someone else’s life.” You can’t say Duke doesn’t love controversy.

Brooke Hartley is Trinity senior. Her column runs every other Thursday.