SHARE THIS SHOW:
RELATED CONVERSATIONS:
RECENTLY ON TOL:
TOL Our Town
- A tumblr site dedicated to the people and places that make up Oregon and Southwest Washington.
TAGS:
Sex Education for College Students
Writer, educator and self-described feminist pornographer Tristan Taormino will speak to students at the University of Oregon and Oregon State University this week. Over the past few months, she's had an on-again, off-again relationship with OSU. In October 2010, she was invited to be the keynote speaker at the university's Modern Sex Conference, taking place this week. Last month, the university uninvited Taormino, citing her involvement in the pornography industry. Administrators argued that paying for Taormino to speak on campus would be an inappropriate use of taxpayer money.
When University of Oregon literature professor Jennifer Burns Levin caught wind of the original cancellation, she jumped at the opportunity to bring the writer and sex educator to the Eugene campus. The cost of Taormino's appearance at the University of Oregon will be paid for by a combination of student and public funds. In the past, Taormino has lectured at top colleges and universities including Yale, Cornell, Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Smith, Vassar, and New York University, about issues affecting sexuality and feminism.
Rachel Ulrich — a Oregon State University graduate student and member of the Modern Sex Conference's planning committee — was resolute in her belief that Taormino's voice was necessary on her campus. Ulrich rallied other students and used student funds to bring Taormino back to Oregon State University.
Are you a student? What do you hope to learn from Tristan Taormino about sex, feminism, pornography or other topics? Do you teach at a college or university? What is your experience in booking controversial speakers in public places?
Tagged as: osu · sex education · university of oregon
Photo credit: Photo courtesy of Puckerup.com
-
It is so disappointing that "family values" has come to mean anti-sex, anti-choice, conservative, shame-ridden, etc... We need a set of "values" that values ALL families and helps produce people who are prepared for what life may bring them and who are comfortable and confident enough to own their own sexualities and make educated and responsible decisions about their own bodies.
-
In a country where ELEVEN-TWELVE-THIRTEEN year old girls are pregnant, sex education in college is about a decade too late!
These kids have been practicing hookups with dozens of partners since puberty. Some of these kids know more about sex practices and pornography than the professor. Maybe they will learn about the quaint practice of dating.
It is like teaching driver education to 25 year olds who have been around the block.
-
NO KIDDING. I think Dan Savage made an incredibly good point on last weekend's Live Wire Radio (http://www.livewireradio.org/node/631). To paraphrase, his point (one that was alluded to briefly by today's TOL guest) was basically that learning about the mechanics of the urinary system has virtually nothing to do with "sex" as we practice it. Communication, technique, frank discussions about STDs are far more relevant and pragmatic.
-
What I really could have used in college along these lines was a broad-based understanding of what drives each sex in relationships, how they approach them, how they think and see the world around them, what they expect, how to best meet their needs and how to best integrate sex into the calculus of a relationship.
It took me far too long to: Realize that it's the woman that makes a man a good lover; Accept that women are superior to men in many ways (and that I should be thankful that they're willing to put up with me) :-)
-
Better late than never.
And the earlier the better.
To paraphrase the Realtors slogan: Education, education, education.
And: Prevention, Prevention, Prevention.
-
It is interesting to see what defines a college education nowadays. It is a ZERO SUM GAME: Time is not unlimited and neither is student attention. If you add something, something else gets subtracted.
And if you are studying 'Pornography' and Modern Sex, chances are you are not studying harder stuff like Modern Statistics of several variables.
One of these is salcious and fun. And one of these is a critical skill that will benefit your lifetime education....Guess Which One?
Why are college graduates underequipped for the job market?.....Ans: Poor decision making.
-
Job market? Really? That's the argument you want to use?
If that's the case, how's that football and basketball experience playing out in the job market for 99% of the participants?
Hmmm? Right up there with Modern Stats?
-
Is this a serious discussion? Like by 18 or 19 young people in a nation saturated with sex and violence sex ed is needed in college??
From what I read kids are having sex much earlier than my generation and know more about everything related thereto than most adults over 40. Kids today are degenerate, for god's sake by the time they are 18. Boozing, taking drugs, having kinky sex...and seriously, colleges are going to waste more time and money (student loans) teaching the previously debauched about sex??? That's like teaching grannie to suck eggs.
Come on, you're kidding us? Right?
-
for gerang and jacob
ummm... come on out into the sunshine dudes - you're on the wrong track entirely and you can't see that because you're in the dark still
the light won't hurt you and you can judge better when you can see rather than guess
and, it is pretty much our generation who made this world by now - so don't put all those assumptions upon the young - take some responsibility upon yourself-
now - so far, this has not been so well acquitted, by the present speakers- but it the subject remains valid
-
you're still on the wrong track
a] universities are not job-mills, even a vocational school should not be brought down to that level
b]we're the nation which made an 'education race' into a racket (which you might not have participated in) - the value of/in life is not to work for a corporation or some boss - if you yourself want to be a slave, that is your decision, but don't expect others to do the same so you can trumpet acclaim for a place you were born in but did not do much to better
c]i'd like to think there is more content in what you wrote this time, but i think you are being facetious and i congratulate you on that accomplishment - but if all that is what you really meant, you're in the wrong country - you want New Dumblandia and it's to your far right
-
don't be a numb-skull! it's not about teaching them, it's about getting them to think more clearly -as you might be able to do, had you paid attention when you were in school
the public doesn't seem so well administered
is that YOUR fault then?
the last note was under your tab- did you think i was writing to santa?
-
part 1 (one)
it would be interesting were it a more productive argument, and i am not going to hold myself up as a paragon to emulate, and certainly you could, but that would be even more laughable - and i don’t really mean to hang you out to dry, but, umm... if you are trying to be disruptive, do you hold education in the same contempt as you hold, say sci’logy (pronounced silage-y)
-you are the one who jumped tabs - replying to me on someone else’s and referring to a thread on your own tab, which is where i put my reply so as to be more clear to you - your topic change from that thread made, let’s say, little sense - no comment on the post itself
your responses to me seem to indicate you are less well informed about anything having to do with the topic of sex, sex-ed, and an anthropological study of sex in culture and literature - so you are in the same tank as our guest yesterday, stuck on porn; poor quality, low class, mechanical, porn; except she somehow wrangled a degree- but that is not the point now- although it should be a part of it - you and i are well beyond that now-
now you are not only off-track, you’ve crashed, you’re burning, you’re taking out the neighborhood, all the while saying everything is on schedule and the train will arrive soon -
well, where’s the beef?
-
part 2 (two)
it seems, even after you somehow got a degree from somewhere, you have no understanding nor appreciation of education, higher, lower or in front of your nose -
I’m sorry you never suffered the burning curiosity TO WANT TO KNOW MORE - or perhaps you think the history channel and mythbusters were the best there could be -
i close with this - if you can develop no higher sense of the erotic than how hard your member gets or for how long, you will have never had a chance of being a trustworthy lover, nor a satisfying nor satisfied one - if you can find no possibility for, nor reason to study, the poetry and other literature and art which has arisen and will continue to arise because we have this gift of erotic feelings, then you are, sadly, a lower creature- you don’t really want to be that way, do you? i am sure not -
learning to appreciate the erotic and lift it from mere and mechanical to the godhead of union is one of the requirements to join humanity and leave to the side the less evolved
-and i do not mean to kick at you like a stray dog who nips my heels, but stop nipping my heels, or i will tell you stories about what dog-catchers do to poor, stray dogs - nobody likes those stories and i don’t like to tell them
p.s. - sometimes your sarcasms are really funny - improve your aim and they will even be effective, and funny
-
you are both obstinate and unintuitive
you are out on a limb, and like some of our ancestors who did not survive, you are about to drop off, so i will not try to lure you further out - you are already too far out and this has only become a pissing contest and i have no need of proving the strength of my bladder, unless you were on fire
good luck buddy
-
The question is not whether or not there should be a discussion of SEX at a State University.
The question is whether or not a brillian sex educator should be EXCLUDED from a conference about Sexuality being held at a State University because of her involvement in the (highly subjective) area of "pornography."
-
one might hope it would be the sociological study of the effects of various sex practices, and so forth, and one should be able to safely assume that it would not be for making said product, and one should not assume it would be for salacious enjoyment but rather for thoughtful reflection-
and if one cannot do that oneself, it indicates a lack of both education and self-control, which funny enough, are pretty much one and the same
-
What makes her brilliant?
-
To lolo above,
What are you talking about??? "coming out into the light?" What does that mean? Poor bedroom techniques? STDS?? An 18 yr old that does not by now understand that sexually transmitted diseases are sexually transmitted is not cut out for deep board room discussions.
Haven't several recent programs been covering how poorly our education system serves the nation, in terms of spending and curriculum priorities? So you think more money spent on touchy-feely (pun intentional) social intercourse and improved communications between America's present day numerous genders are somehow going to help us catch up with the Koreans and Chinese? After all that IS the issue at present with our education system. Universities included, where cost factors are under the microscope.
Ask any of the degree holders walking the streets looking for jobs whether or not a more profound knowledge of the arcanum of sex would help he or she earn a decent paycheck? Odds are damned good that a better understanding of the ins and outs of sex (intentional pun) would NOT have aided them in their search for a decent or even indecent paycheck.
I would agree the topic is relevant for college aged people only if sex toy engineering and improved production methods is added. Now there is a possible market in China for these. Since our trade deficit with the Asians just took another Great Leap Forward and Oregon is searching for new industries that is a reasonable connection and worth discussing.
This is my thoughtful response.
-
lolo,
To whom is your latest message addressed? If to me, please be more specific in your critique...it's a bit obscure, as of now. Dumblandia?? Is this a place you have visited? You appear to know it.
Again, if to me, I have never worked for a corporation. Nor do I consider myself ever having been a wage slave. My degree is in the liberal arts, public administration to be specific. I stick to my conclusions about wasting a university's time, resources and the student's money teaching 19-22 yr olds about sex.
Maybe if we were financially plush as we thought ourselves to be about 6 or 7 yrs ago, sex ed as an elective course for males on athletic scholarships might be in order if only to train them to recognize the difference between the words- 'yes' and 'no'.
-
Numb skull? Writing to Santa? Why not use the name of the poster, then there would be less confusion on the point. A question..are you drinking a lot of coffee? Your fingers appear to be typing faster than your mind works. "Thinking clearly" about a physiological function? Why do Americans insist on making sex so complicated? Only in America is so much time taken up with the subject. Why do you suppose we're like that? And why are you so rude and intense about the topic? Do you have a problem in this area?
What is it about the economics of a university education that you don't understand? With most students, getting a degree puts them in ao much debt that it will take yrs to pay off iF they can find a job in this economy paying more than minimum wage!
Most sensible people would say that spending the bank's money on courses and text books that do not enhance the graduates ability to land a job is extremely foolish. Given the economic decline we currently confront, any student using borrowed money for such nonessential courses on (whatever descrition you prefer) is too silly to be in college, and most likely will flunk out, anyway.
-
lolo
You still miss the point. It is the economics of obtaining an education at this time with educ. loans that is the issue I was raising and NOT the mechanics of sex, nor porn. About your other assumptions concerning my personal tastes, education, and various capacities.
Your attack is childish and has nothing to do with the topic. I stick to my guns. Spending tuition money, likely borrowed, on social engineering twaddle when the nation is suffering unemployment of perhaps 12% or higher is ridiculous.
I'm going out on a limb, here and guess that you must be a female under age 35, very unhappy, and perhaps unmarried and unemployed. Otherwise your sarcasim and bitterness would not be so near the surface.
-
to lolo,
We both know that I'll never know how close to the mark I came in describing you. What I would like to do is find out how many students would agree with either you or me in our differing opinions on this contentious subject. I was suprised to learn that we have been in a peeing contest. Had I known I might have used a different approach and aimed at the high ground. Or stood on it.
-
a] not sex education - this is/should be broaching upon the realms of philosophy - which may change behavior through volition : sub-paragraph for education as a learning experience and there is no such thing as teaching, rather, that is conditioning, like what we do to the dog, without kicking it, if it is lucky
b]we were the degenerates to our previous generation, like it or not - this echoes back to the pharaonic egyptians- but we don't build pyramids anymore, so maybe we have degenerated - there is some research which suggests this very thing
c]hopefully a very serious discussion- possibly - although i don't know this person nor her topics, i would prefer it spoken of by someone who has been around the block several times, survived and is actually the wiser for it, and not just seeming the more glamourous
d] book by its cover- but the look in the photo does not for me show genius, it hints at something else more common -my apologies but folks in the spotlight are subject to more scutiny - it's true- a university is not a club, and if one cannot dress for the part it may be they don't understand the part - but i am willing to listen to her speak and give it thought - i have no acquaintance with her work but i have had some other similar studies - and they were probably like nothing many would think, partly because seldom too seldom does one put oneself in the situation of thinking about sex without thinking they should be getting aroused now, and that is already missing the boat -
-
I do wish that Ms. Taormino would listen to herself a bit. She has that annoying and rather silly sounding habit of ending her statements with a rising tone, as if it's a question. I realize that this is common among the young but I promise that she'll drop this habit as time goes on. She should start now. There's no need to mention this on air. I wish her well.
-
Amen brother. Like TOTALLY annoying!
-
Ending statements with a rising tone is more common among women than you appear to realise, Mike. And Ms. Taormino is not as young as I think you imagine; see this link for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_Taormino
-
yes, but it is still 'valley-speech' and it is reflexive and not cultured, rather 'culted'
imo
but in itself does not negate entirely the content
-
I'm not at all sure the excuse of going to her website to finish a contract, as the phone interview explaining all the tumult claims, was not a disingenuous invasion of privacy (by some busybody?)
-
Taormino's Valley Girl speech patterns make her almost impossible to listen to! I can't get past this long enough to hear anything she has to say. Hard to believe she is paid as a public speaker.
Toni
-
What exactly makes her any kind of authority or educator, a bachelors degree in American Studies or some porn books she wrote?
Her bio lists: She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with her Bachelor's degree in American Studies from Wesleyan University in 1993. She is the author of seven books: Secrets of Female Ejaculation and Great G-Spot Orgasms(Quiver Books, forthcoming), The Big Book of Sex Toys (Quiver Books, 2010), The Anal Sex Position Guide (Quiver Books, 2009), Opening Up: A Guide to Creating and Sustaining Open Relationships (Cleis Press, 2008); True Lust: Adventures in Sex, Porn and Perversion (Cleis Press); Down and Dirty Sex Secrets (ReganBooks/HaperCollins); and The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women (Cleis Press)
-
Why does Tristan Taormino look so cliche? And why does her work need to be so sensational? Perhaps she is, yet another, part of the problem with Americans talking about sex. There is no intelligent balance, it is either the overly animal folks like Taormino, who still think tattoos are edgy and that talking about anal sex is shocking. She doesn’t seem to have anything interesting to say about sex and seems to spend most of her time talking about herself.
-
I agree. There are legitimate sex educators out there who have studied the subject seriously and their academic record reflects it. They usually get an advanced degree and have real credentials. She doesn't.
-
hint:
vote yourselves more taxes to support the institutions of higher education so they can afford to hire the more qualified, then we'll have far better guest speakers and everyone will benefit
or crawl back into the dark and complain how things were better way back when
-
lolo,
I am not sure what your point is---assuming there is one? Or if you are just trying to be helpful and I am misunderstanding?
-
yes i can be round-about in the path i take -
the great costs great money - cut and snip at education budgets, then complain about the quality of the product?
-not you personally-
education is something which benefits us all if it is available to the extent that each is capable of absorbing it
some few will emerge who can also make a further contribution while for the rest of us, we simply have a better life for all of us having had the benefit of the most education we can get -
(we did not have some of those few on the show today, we had the mediocre representative)
...or we are animals, and the way animals get taken care of is getting kicked around - meanwhile the few and rich will still have some of the benefits of education, but the cultural divide between rich and poor in a world like that is hardly civil, even worse than it is now, although we seem hell-bent on approaching that uncivilizing state rather than easing back for that abyss
give it a think
thanks
-
lolo,
Yes, you take some ‘liberties’ with your writing, which I generally like, although not when it loses clarity, or when the style overshadows the content---but that doesn’t happen often, and generally I enjoy reading your comments more then most. Or maybe it is more fun to watch (read) then to be at the end of it, ‘it’ being your words, as I find myself now. Perhaps, I am being too literal, or taking things personally, but how else should one take them? But, I don’t find myself in the ‘dark’, and I generally support higher taxes---so I find myself left with little to think about after reading your initial comment (or was it a command?).
You bring up civility in your second comment (response), which is curious considering your first comment, but ‘civility’ is definitely interesting and something I would like to think more about. And really ‘civility’ also seems to be the crux of discussions we often have about sex. In life, in manners, in the way we get along, we ask for civility, and then in the bedroom we ask that the animal be unleashed, that everything be acceptable? Is anything sexually perverse? Is anything negative? Must everything be positive? Or are these just animal actions of necessity and need, that are neither good nor bad? I can’t get around that in the superficial social manners of our daily interactions we want civility and then in the bedroom we want the monkey to come out. Can these ideas coexist? What is civility? Does it exist? Or does it exist in everyplace but the bedroom? Where does these two worlds meet? Or do they not meet, or need to meet, at all? Or are they totally unrelated?
-
quite a response, and i want time to mull it over- look around later this day or tomorrow, if i can give it the half/hour or so it needs, i'll try -
yours are primal questions - i don't know that i can offer all the wisdom there is, but i know i have some
-
for scottmil-
i took a very roundabout tour - look here to see if it is interesting to you
http://nothingpretentiousyet.blogspot.com
i would appreciate any intelligent questions and comments, whether you agree with me or not, and anyone else is welcomed the same way - perhaps you will have something thoughtful to contribute, but i won't engage in name calling et c
i admit the formatting is horrible - maybe i'll change it when i have more time, but try not to let the trees hide the forest from you
ah yes, and i promise thee are no virum to be caught there, unlike what i suspect of the sci'ligists - this is a supposedly secure site
-
Let me guess. She looks like her books suggest she might look. She writes those naughty books in order to make money. She has absolutely zero interest in sex ed as such unless it sells her naughty books.
-
lolo,
Thank you. I took a look, but need some time. A little more later, perhaps.
-
i know it's out there, and not too directly to what you brought up, only in a circular fashion - and it needs A LOT of re-working, and it might seem disagreeable, but if you want to copy it to have it to think about, I'm going to take it down soon - it is too unfinished, and i only wanted to give the chance for you to reply with your further thoughts and questions, whether more on your topic focus or mine, or both
all the best
-
lolo,
Admittedly, it is difficult to respond to what you posted (externally) in a clear and concise method. I am not suggesting there is something ‘wrong’ with this method, it just makes it more difficult for me (personally) to give anything back, when so much is left up to stylistic and literal interpretation. What I end up doing is focusing on the smaller pictures you present rather then the larger issues, because the smaller thoughts are the only pieces I can functionally pin down.
I, we, don’t spend much time thinking about our sneezes, we don’t spend much time wondering why we get hungry and need to feed our calorie fueled bodies----these functions of necessity are readily apparent. Sex, is quite a bit, or a lot, more complex. Of course we can say it is black and white, and reflexive, but all these comparisons and vantages can easily be flipped to fit our relative positions and objectives. Sex may be totally banal, but for whatever reason, whether inherent or due to our social interferences, sex seems to be a lot more difficult to grapple, and sometimes more controversial, then the sneeze. It is quite possible that it doesn’t deserve, or need to be controversial, but that seems to be where we are at.
This black-white-gray thing is easy to bandy about, but a lot harder to prove, or really even, to ascertain what the often-used claim actually means. Yes, I get the meaning, the gist, I am just not sure how useful its application actually is. I was never proposing that the lines must be clear, between what is good or bad, black or white, among our sexual activities or behaviors. Or if there are even lines at all. Nor was I saying that the lines are universal, and not simply individual. This mention of gray is so often a way to say, I don’t know, rather then evidence that the answer doesn’t exist. In a way the world is all black and white, and only when I can’t provide an answer does it appear to be gray. But even then is it actually gray? Or is it just simply impossible that an answer could exist in that area of inquiry?
...Anyway, I am getting nowhere with this, there are too many facets to delve into, it seems impractical to continue. Thank you for your response and time.
-
many thanks for your reading and your reply
i have taken the document back to draft status
i would like to give your comments a closer look and give a reply in the next several days, taking into account the whole of the conversation and not only my digressions
please check back to the blogsite if you would like to say more at any time, use the comment box there, if you would, and i will likely let you know via a quick note here, after the next several days
i know what you mean, but while i use cliché, i try to use it in a/its special form, and not its debased form (nless i'm being terrible and sarcastic)- i think that if you really try to puzzle it out, you will get somewhere for yourself (and i think you already have)- don't worry what i mean, find for yourself meaning and test that against other wisdom you are fairly sure of -
i hope you didn't mind terribly what i wrote today about the use of censorship
i would look forward to some kind of real intellectual exchange
again - thank you
-
scottmil
please go to
http://nothingpretentiousyet.blogspot.com/2011/02/reconsidering-sexmeditationevolution.html
i just couldn't leave it for long and inserted a few prelim comments into your reply - look for font change- apologies for butchering your document - this is just for a quick response - it deserves more thought but i wanted to give you more to think of while it is in your mind
i think you've no real reason for thinking you've gotten nowhere, even this soon- give it thought, give it time, more thought, et c
-
lolo, went to comment but it (your new comment, that included mine--http://nothingpretentiousyet.blogspot.com/2011/02/reconsidering-sexmeditationevolution.html) seems to be gone ?
-
sorry for any and all confusion
i just started the blog page and barely know how to navigate it myself
i read and understand your comments - again - apologies - i suppose someone could try to make a cult of it, if they were that lost, but that is not my intent - and i copyright so i'll sue them if they do!
give me some time to try to straighten it out - this stuff can literally eat hours of time - i love writing then suddenly I'm late for a month
i have much the same qualms and again my apologies-so perhaps with that in mind we need not worry too much that we might step on each other's virtual and tender toes, i.e. that you have intentionally stepped on mine nor that i have tromped on purpose on yours - freedom is not license - this is not meant as invasive, and i doubt you can try to push me around so we should be fine - i seek intellectual engagement period - you needn't pull punches when you are reasoning with me
fine response to plastic bags - no holds barred, eh? some put so much personality up with no content it is impossible to not attack ad hominem - i def have/use personality, but i really try to have valid content/well thought out opinion, tho' perhaps it is not yet the most valid, and i am open to reason - I RECOGNIZE AND WELCOME IT
i don't like pussy-footing around, and i have someone to play footsie with - i hope you may be similarly inclined and positioned
if possible i would rather communicate further through some other anonymous channel for the time being
we are off topic here, and there are "lurkers" ooh whoooo ooooo (twilight zone music swells and fades)(leave a comment you more intelligent and daring ghosts!)
if you would, leave me a note with a contact on the comments page you got to , and from there i will give you a similar email addy- if you so care to - if not - we can continue to have the occasional parry/riposte at OPB - and owing that you have gained some respect from me, i will try not to skewer you personally, just bbq any 'mistaken' ideas you might hold -LOL and wink eh?
reason seems inherently to welcome rhetoric - rhetoric is sadly not necessarily reason - not a perfectly correct paradigm, but until we can agree on a more correct one, let's not be afraid to use that
oh lordy! why can't i write a SHORT note
-
Young people who are just given abstinence-only sex education (usually in junior high/early high school) are NO MORE likely to wait until marriage to have sex, or even to wait longer than their peers. They are, however, significantly more likely to not use safer sex practices and engage in riskier behavior. We desperately need continuing, age appropriate sex education that is factually based and easily accessible. Yes, this should start early on but also be readily available for ALL ages. Thankfully we have people like Tristan Taormino who are providing this kind of education for adults in a safe, open and honest way without shame.
-
Amen, sister! Did you see the first comment (mine) in this thread, where I call out the right-wing for their total abdication of responsibility where age-appropriate sex ed is concerned?
-
"inappropriate use of taxpayer money."
It's my understanding that the porn industry and the people in it make huge amounts of money. Now, I am it sure it is politically incorrect to mention this but since our universities are in the business of developing people to work in and manage industries, maybe Tristan Taormino ought to teach interested students all about the porn industry and what to expect and how to get into it and all that stuff. What are the various work options, like photographer, video editor, sound people, actors, writers, producers, Blu-Ray and label manufacturers, etc.
The potential of alumni contributing to university endowments is probably very high.
And think of the marketing attraction of a Porn department at each University, think of how many students would sign up out of sheer interest. This could potentially get far larger than the football programs in bringing in money.
I bet even the UCLA film school does not have a porn-specific department.
This would be very controversial but could bring in huge amounts of money.
-
oh yes, but oh no -
the short-term logic seems to work, but it's a sell-out, and so far, as i listen, I'm thinking yes yes yes- sex needs intelligent conversation, but no no no no no no oh no
this conversation isn't it - BUMMER
this has become unexplored content, more content and continued skimming exploration - sex is powerful stuff and this makes it like aspirin -
these folks are old enough to be explorers, but not mature enough to do the deeper thinking about it -
i don't know if that is their choice, or if they have not been sufficiently challenged, or if the topical has overwhelmed them - it's making me think the latter as it goes on
-
I appreciate several of Ms. Taormino's points (especially those which forward a sex-positive society), but believe her definitions of "porn" vs. "art" are flawed, and disadvantage the general point I believe she's trying to make. Ms. Harris noted that porn is basically defined as material of a prurient nature that lacks artistic value. Ms. Taormino's points afterwards were awkward and amateurish ("art porn"). I think that we, as a society, should look toward removing victimization at all levels: it's sad that we have to have a specific genre of porn ("feminist pornography") to try to categorize porn as "cruelty-free". Also, Ms. Taormino misses an opportunity to make a point: "porn" should be no more "dirty" or "taboo" than "food". Porn serves a human need, much as food does for hunger. When we stop applying an outmoded Puritan ethos to porn, we can begin to have a far healthier discussion about its creation and use--and contribute to a more sex-positive society.
-
Wouldn’t it be hard to establish that pornography is necessary or satisfies an inherent human need? Perhaps, if we have a need for pornography is it related to sexual repression, or a million other things. Is it necessary for pornography to be seen as a positive? Or is it just something people should be allowed to create and view? Pornography most certainly does not satisfy a human need in the way food satisfies hunger. Sexual needs and desires are a bit more ethereal, and less functional, then the consumption of food in order to stay living.
-
Porn is not a basic human need. Porn creates neural pathways in the brain for more porn use. Porn is the gateway drug for sex addicts.
-
I would like to ask Tristan what her fee is for speaking.
Thank you
-
does it REALLY matter???? - you get what you pay for
whatever it was, it's peanuts, and even dozens and dozens of little piles of peanuts doesn't add up to the billions and billions we need to find again
and if we may have learned anything from this session, it is that the schools need much more funding to acquire competence and retain it
-
I read that her fee is $3k in addition to travel expenses.
-
3 thou isn't much and they did not get their money's worth, no matter who paid, she really should volunteer her services- actually, unless she was just really off the day she gave this interview, i suggest she go to a real school and subject herself to some real peer-reviewed scrutiny-
there is a real need and a real use, not merely economic nor merely mechanical gratification, for what she purports to offer
there really are folks out there who do intelligent 'sex' research
and this society really really would do well to get over sex and figure out what the erotic is (and isn't) and get on with it
and anyone intelligent really should be able to go to the bookstore and ought to be able to chose it out and not get uncontrollably aroused -
the other comment about sex addicts/gateway hoohaa is only partly right and mostly wrong - so the end effect is wrong - get all the portions right and the end product will also have a better chance of being right
-or-don't draw premature conclusions (what an apt term for a discussion like this)
did i use 'real' quite a bit? that's because this whole thing has veered into a quite real un-reality
-
Imagine if Taormino was actually doing something to help free children and women from the bondage of ponography, rather than capitalize on and legitimize her work as a pornographer.....this just once again tells people that it's better to worry about sexual needs than channel all that extra free time into being a productive human being with the capacity to effect change in the world by donating all that free time toward something more lifechanging. Once again, were mired down by the reptilliian brain instead of using our hearts.
-
I appreciate your commend Nedragsto1 in that it depicts a stance, while I disagree strongly with, that sex is reduced to a mere biological or reptillian brain drive. I couldn't disagree with this interpretation of sex more.
Ultimately, I find that your distinction between "productive" and "sex" is a false distinction and fundamentally flawed. Sex, like many things in life, can be used as a mere technique, reduced and mechanical interaction in life. It can also be experienced as a deepening of being to increase our presence in the world and connections with others. Discussing it, being open about it, reducing shame, and embracing our humaness I find to be more productive in a society that has overly reduced and mechanized being.
-
Tristan speaks eloquently about normalizing conversations about sexuality and creating a space for open-mindedness and acceptance of variance within sexual expression. Working within the field of women’s reproductive health and being admittedly liberal minded, I’ve come to realize that “normal” isn’t a word we can use to define the sexual experiences of a population. That said, I struggle to find a balance between acceptance of all sexual fantasy and not wanting to promote oppression or degradation of women. I have difficulty teasing out what sexual desires stem from years of societal ideology promoting the oppression and domination of women and what sexual impulses represent human desire and curiosity. I have concerns about much of what widespread pornography symbolizes and am curious how Tristan approaches pornography from a feminist perspective and from a place, presumably, of being pro-woman, and how does societal context affect her approach to creating pornography?
-
Ironically Pornography may have played a major role in recent Arab revolutions.
Up to 40% of Internet traffic is Pornography related. Young men in conservative countries like islamic republics are not reading treatises on Jeffersonian Democracy or the Federalist Papers on Google books. Young men welcome the internet, become more sexual liberalized. search for new ideas and they lust after freedom in the west. They all want high speed internet with video capability...and it is not to watch the Ayatollah's Revolutionary Speeches.
And Facebook's major initial draw was a hook-up tool.
Pornography may have played a bigger role in the Middle East Revolution 2.011 than the US State Department.
-
sounds off-the-wall, huh? but it's what happens in a repressed society
and it's not like ours is not a repressed society we live in either -
the t-party claims to read the federalist papers, but we'd better read them ourselves before they re-write them or completely misinterpret them for us - like the fundies do to the bible (and everyone else for that matter)
...fb's major initial draw?
like it's not still?
we should be so lucky - fb is a farce
-
How do you change a Monolithic, Conservative, Inwardly-turned, In-Bred Society that embraces 6th Century Pre-Medieval Desert History?
Ans: One Little Known Tool May be PORNOGRAPHY.
Would a teen age male rather have 72 virgins in heaven or two virgins on Saturday night?
Porn sites may be more effective than 500 lb bombs and lectures about democracy by the Secretary of State.
There is a silvery, lacy, lining to every cloud......
-
machiavelli is not a well proven theorist for the better ending of things - expediency is one thing we may have had too much of -
i don't know if the arab boys are into sex, and who wouldn't be, or love, and who wouldn't be - especially at that age - it's natural - either one
and i still think the sixties was, initially, about love, and not sex, but hey- we are a nation of merchants and middle-men and sex sells but love is an investment - so guess which one won - thanks a lot again wall street
it's an idea, but not an admirable idea that you've offered and we ought not take advantage of it
"what is the gain if you've lost your soul" that's the mangled paraphrase that comes to mind
-
When I was younger there were rumors that the French had a tradition of taking a young man to an older woman who would teach him about how to be a good lover, actually having sex and all of the things surrounding being a lover.
I think there were also rumors about young women doing the same.
Very different way of "teaching". A lab class, I guess.
-
I am happy that the women you film are in control, but how do we, as the viewers, know that? How does your representation demonstrate female choice or empowerment any more than the next porn? Is there relevance to how a video is made if the end product for viewers is the same?
-
Have you viewed any of her videos? Do a search for some of the trailers.. there are extensive interviews with the performers who are sharing how they were involved in the making of the film and how it truly does reflect their sexualities. These are included IN THE VIDEOS, not somewhere hidden away or difficult to find which is actually quite different from what one might consider to be "typical" pornography.
-
Thank you for the information.
-
On her website, there is a pic of TT seated, with a group of of seminaked young women draped around her. This does not look like a reciprocal sexual situation, it's a dominance situation. Is this is what the Me Generation thinks is enlightened sex?
-
Please ask her not to have her voice rise after a sentance as if she were asking a question or for approval. It is common for women not men to do this while speaking. As a woman I hear her statements lacking confidence when her voice rises.
-
It's not good for ANYONE to speak like this, regardless of gender. It's got an "OMG" quality, and not what I would expect from a lecturer.
-
Send that girl to a speech coach. She needs to learn how to complete a sentence without it sounding like it ends in a ?question?.
-
I would not pay for her to lecture. It is a waste of tax payer money because she does it poorly. She does need a speech coach especially if her content is worthy.
-
As a retired medium high level university admonistrator, I think that not all high level U. administrators are stupid, but many are almost always devious. Failing to approve a contract that close to the deadline was explained in very reasonable terms, but he/she/they must have believed that doing so would also prevent Ms. Taormiono's appearance at the conference, achieving two effects for the price of one.
-
AS far as the submission comments, I have to say that I think it is more simple that the show is making out.... we all want to be "taken care of..." men and woman... the bedroom activity is the central place that trust is developed for this principle....
My mother used to say that "sex is the oil that oils the machine of love."
The bedroom is to make or break a marriage.... and the submission goes both ways.... We need to learn to take care of each other to have a great married.... and it can start there.
-
I appreciate that this show has brought up a common non addressed conversation: how to discuss sex at a younger age with age appropriate language. This is something that is often avoided in our culture (US). Recognizing sex, sexuality, and sex identity are not dormant until someone turns 18, and then gets turned on like a switch.
-
ummm, well, you know, ummm, too bad, i think ...
hope springs eternal still, though, eh?
-
Ms. Taormino PALES in comparison to Dan Savage.
-
1
-
A lot of listeners whining about her speech pattern of rising inflection at the end her sentences. Geez, get over it.
It might be valley-speak or it might be a lack of confidence in her own power, like not "making a statement" but offering up an idea with a self defeating "question" inflection at the end.
I found her ideas to be very interesting and I got past my annoyance at her particular voice patterns.
-
Sex has so many facets that it is easy to focused on one, or a few, and neglect the others. I think that most young people still hear from the most experienced elders in each generation the message: "to proceed with caution and with as much information and good will as you can muster".
I think because Sex is such a complex mix of possibilities and dangers the average parent feels inadequate to articulate balanced and comprehensive advise. Most avoid the subject with their children. Some want the school to do it. Others choose to let the street and media fill the void. Still others look to their churches for help.
I think it is important to remember in all this, that,......, the Urge to Merge is not just physical!!! We call it 'making love' as opposed to 'sex' when people are trying to also connect in non-physical ways as well.
If we ignore the non-physical need to connect we will be sick at heart, or in our spirit. Just as, if we ignore the physical need we will have a sick animal. The best we may be able to do is to balance or combine the two. [I think there is a Carl Jung quote to that effect.] -
The thought of having to listen to this woman's annoying manner of speech for any length of time fills me with gratitude that I will miss her talk. Needs a speech coach perhaps she could trade lessons for a much needed skill, the moderator is a good model for a voice that is a pleasure to hear.
-
She is also a Porno film Director and Star.
You should rent her Porno Films: in Color with Sound. : c O
-
Show's over, I know, but better late than never.
Worst discussion about porn ever. OK, not the actual discussion, but just the sound of Tristan's voice. I hate to be a nit-picker, but did she have to talk like she's asking a question every three words? I was so put off that I had to turn the dial. Is that a regional dialect or is that specific to her age group? Yuck!
She may have something useful to say, but until she changes the way she speaks, I will never know.
-
Why does she make so many statements using an interrogative inflection? Is she not sure of what she’s saying?
-
Would a male heterosexual pronographer be invited to be a keynote speaker at the Modern Sex conference at OSU? My partner asked this when I told him about the conference. The conference schedule has some questionable content (http://oregonstate.edu/womenscenter/modern-sex-conference-schedule), starting with a lecture advocating expressing anger during sex for female pleasure, a workshop on sex toys, another on anal sex. Modern sex apparently doesn't have anything to do with feeling of love as well as pleasure. A Healthy Sex conference with more mental health professionals would be more appropriate for a taxpayer funded conference. And yes, the guest's voice belies her immaturity.
-
Correction: "the guest's voice indicates her immaturity."
-
you did well enough with 'belies' -
I'm not sure her voice adequately demonstrated her immaturity
as the interviews went on, i became more and more disappointed with the lack of deeper content - it was the shallow about the topical - so yes- this particular example was probably a waste of time and money - BUT NO - the subject itself has much more potential
and those who can only find titillation in the subject can still go to a titillation bar and chat about it, and they won't have to write a paper and be graded on their performance - at least not to their face, and that's what customer service is all about
-
TOTALLY worst guest EVER?
-
you just haven't been around long enough yet
I'm sorry. i would have patted you on the back but you didn't seem to be choking yet
i didn't come simply to be nice, nor to have others be nice to me - but to exchange ideas worth exchanging, rather than exchanging silly and pointless politenesses with the content of a sugar cookie made with nutrasweet - one joins a private club for that sort of thing. can you afford that?
but i suppose it's a good twit for you, and that belies your 'adequacy'
but thanks for thinking of me, the pleasure was mutual, dear, I'm sure -
-
ummm...
i just might owe you a humble and public apology if you were referring to our poorn interviewee yesterday, rather than to me -
i was a little surprised; not to be flamed, but partly i suppose, because in reviewing some comments to see that, whether you had agreed with me or not, i had found your comments and my impressions to be in accord - although i am rather more outspoken, which may not seem the most polite thing
and if instead you really did think of me as 'the worst guest ever', well, that's not so bad-
i do think that you did not incorrectly, but rather subtly, used 'belies', which made your statement more clever, if less direct
well...all the best anyway
for your namesake- don't burn your ships after you leave port (wink) - that would be my talent
-
this was easily the most offensive show you have ever done.
you used to balance issues, back when you started tol. where were the voices of women who will never trust their husbands again after catching them viewing porn? the counselors who have seen women's self esteem careen into lifelong tailspins or the lawyers who have handled their divorces? where was the mention that the industry this woman promotes devalues of women into self-propelled sex toys.
i kept waiting for you to have a real voice present the other side... you had NONE. you even had an ivory tower voice say she didn't think there were very many voters who would be offended by public funds being used that way... with no response as if you actually BELIEVE that to be true. are you serious?
i do note that your produces made tactical choice to put it on after your funding drive... seems they probably thought your supporters might think twice about giving to you... bit cynical, that.
i will be insisting on removing my id from this station as soon as i finish this. public funding for this? are you serious? i may not like the voices on fox, but i have to admit to a strong urge to forward this url to their news department before the senate takes up your funding... would make great national news, don't you think?
-
Comments are now closed.
I am a (lapsed) student at the University of Nike, not OSU.
Personally, I believe that sex education should begin as soon as boys and girls start to notice the differences between one another. I think that by providing children/young people with age-appropriate information and education, they can better protect themselves from unplanned pregnancy and from sexually transmissible infections. The attitude of the Republican'ts, the so-called "Party of 'Family Values,'" the Party of Hell, No!, is to teach abstinence only, which leaves young people woefully un-prepared for the realities of life when they start to discover and experiment with intimacy and sex.
Isn't it interesting that the "Standard Bearer" of the Tea Party Republican Movement, Half-Governor Sarah Palin (who can see Russia from her front porch), has a daughter who had a baby out of wedlock? Shows how well she and the former "First Dude" taught their children "family values."