Northwestern to investigate sex toy demonstration or idiot professor in hot water

[cali]

yes, yes, I know, he's courageous fighter for the rights of.... well, whatever. But this was as predictable as the sun rising.

CHICAGO—Northwestern University's president said Thursday that he is "troubled and disappointed" that a psychology professor allowed a couple to engage in a sex act involving a motorized sex toy in front of dozens of students, and he is calling for an investigation.

Hours after accounts of the Feb. 21 class appeared in local newspapers -- including the university's defense of Professor John Michael Bailey's decision to allow students to witness the act -- Northwestern President Morton Schapiro strongly criticized the lecturer.

"I feel it represented extremely poor judgment on the part of our faculty member," Schapiro said a statement issued by the Evanston university.

A guest lecturer had been discussing bondage and sexual fetishes during Bailey's human sexuality class. According to published reports, a couple at the lecture decided that a video the students were watching on the female orgasm was not realistic and gave a live presentation involving the sex toy.

<snip>

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/03/03/nu_to_investigate_sex_toy_demonstration/?rss_id=Top+Stories

[damntexdem]

1. Hey, it's orgasmic.

;-)

(And, woohoo, my alma mater! But not my major.)

[RC]

2. What? No pictures?

How about at least a wordy description of the action. :evilgrin:

[frazzled]

3. Here you go,

They seem to have taken down the HuffPo Chicago article from this morning that had a picture of the woman (though you couldn't see the action). But here's the link to show the equipment used.

http://chicagoist.com/2011/03/02/nu_professor_causes_minor_uproar_wi.php

[cali]

4. fucksaw, people.

[lumberjack_jeff]

58. Jesus. I guess that makes 101 uses for a cheap chinese sawzall. n/t

[Baclava]

18. strictly educational

it sawz it all

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

28. Being diddled with a Sawzall is not my idea of erotic.

[Baclava]

39. Erotic is using a feather, kinky is using a whole chicken

or so I've been told

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

47. Ultra-kinky is using power tools.

I don't want to have to buy my erotica and fetish gear at Home Depot.

[Baclava]

50. back in the olde timey days it was up to them steam-powered machines

nothing new, really

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

54. Now, that's scary.

Ka-CHUNK. Ka-CHUNK. Ka-CHUNK. Ooohh. Ka-CHUNK. OOOHH! OOOHH!! Ka-CHUNK. Ka-CHUNK. YES! YES! Ka-CHUNK. Oh, YES! Ka-CHUNK. OH, GOD! YES! YES! YESSS!! Ka-CHUNK. Ka-CHUNK. Ka-CHUNK. Wheeeeeeze. Thunk.

[Baclava]

67. I think I can...I think I can...I think I can

choo-choo

[truebrit71]

5. Ah, I knew the prudes would come home to roost at some point...

...This is the 21st century, shouldn't we be past the "sex is taboo" bullshit by now?...especially on a supposedly "liberal" website...The University's VP of UNiveresity Relations has a different opinion, "Northwestern University faculty members engage in teaching and research on a wide variety of topics, some of them controversial and at the leading edge of their respective disciplines the University supports the efforts of its faculty to further the advancement of knowledge.”

I think the President is a little out of step with what the rest of the faculty does, and not surprising for figure-head/administrators...

[seabeyond]

7. the taboo seems to be the male dropping his pants and jacking off for others entertainment

or injecting a butt plug. a girl doing it is nothing new.

[SidDithers]

10. +1...nt

Sid

[cali]

11. what the fuckity fuck does this being the 21st century have to do

with this? Nothing really. And no one is saying sex is taboo. But passing this off as educational is bullshit.

[truebrit71]

15. It was a human sexuality class discussing fetishes...this was a demonstration...

...how is that NOT educational?

Dear Dog, at first you were up in arms because it was "sexist" (which is bullshit) and now it's because it was not educational.

This is 2011, two consenting adults demonstrated a sex-toy at a human sexuality class covering fetishes...just what is the big fuckity fuck deal with it for you?

GET OVER IT.

[leftstreet]

26. What if they decide to demonstrate sexual assault? Pedophilia?

:shrug:

Why is everyone turning this into a prude/not prude argument?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

31. Yeah, and what if people marry box turtles like Rick Santorum warned us? -nt

[leftstreet]

37. As long as the box turtles aren't gay

lol did he really warn about that?

:rofl:

Yeah, I know so many people just waiting for legislation to change so they can marry their box turtles

[truebrit71]

40. Yeah because those are aspects of human sexuality and not crimes, right?

:sarcasm:

Getting all pissed off about what took place between two consenting adults in a setting where other adults were watching is really not worth getting that worked up about in 2011...1811, maybe, but surely not now..

[leftstreet]

43. If this took place on a public street corner, it would be a 'crime.'

This subject just makes people nutty

[truebrit71]

45. Yeah, and if I had a 12 foot dick i'd be in the Guiness book of records...so what?

That ISN'T where it took place so your point is moot...

Jeebus, at least TRY and argue sensibly..

[leftstreet]

46. So...if the class demonstrated sexual assault....

Jeebus, talk about not arguing sensibly

[truebrit71]

68. But the classes didn't did it? Sorry, who isn't being sensible?

Two consenting adults. Private institution. Adult audience free to leave if they chose? What the hell is the problem?

[cali]

27. really? you need a live sex show to discuss sexual fetishes

yes, it's sexist. and it's not educational- which by the way was my first comment on this. Guess what? both can be true simultaneously.

and asshole prof is fuckity fucked. what a shame.

I don't need to get over it. It's bullshit. And I call bullshit when I see it.

[truebrit71]

34. Care to wager on whether the prof is 'fuckity fucked'? $10 donation to DU if he's canned..

..if he isn't, YOU donate the tenner?

Fair deal?

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

61. Rejecting degeneracy isn't prudish

I'm unclear as to how the "further advancement of knowledge" was promoted with a pair of swinger weirdos masturbating with power tools for an audience.

There is a big difference at somebody clutching their pearls at the sight of a human breast and objecting to whatever the fuck the Illinois Criminal Code would call this demonstration.

[truebrit71]

69. "Pair of swinger weirdos"..no judgement there then...

:eyes:

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

71. When your sex life involves power tools and a gawking audience...

this is probably the only person in America who isn't in a position to be judgmental: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/dead-reverends-rubber-fetish

[Bunny]

6. Sounds like the university president is a fellow prude.

Welcome to the club, President Schapiro. :thumbsup: It's nice to see that someone at the school has a brain.

[On the Road]

8. I Hate to Think of What Would Happen to John Cleese

if he were to try his version of sex education:

[lumberjack_jeff]

59. Listen up! I'm not here for my own benefit! n/t

[Moondog]

9. Sheesh

A dildo fitted to the business end of a reciprocal saw. It's certainly industrial strength . . . .

[frazzled]

21. Since I posted the picture, I'm no prude ... BUT

As a feminist I find the combination of a power saw with a dildo to be an extremely aggressive representation of female sexual gratification. It's a male-dominated, agressive idea, and I disapprove of it. I also think it was a very stupid thing for the professor to do. However, I will support his right to teach his class however he wants. No one was unconsenting, everyone was warned, and he is tenured. I just hope they have a discussion of violence against women with this imagery and paraphernalia.

[sarcasmo]

12. Are they all not of age and adults? Such a prudish country we live in.

[seabeyond]

13. would the male teacher let a guy jack off in front of class cause it was a fantasy of his? nt

[truebrit71]

17. Was that the topic of the lecture? No? Then your point falls rather flat then, yes?

:eyes:

[seabeyond]

19. and this proved what? nothing. she could have easily faked it. was there anyone testing her durin

the orgasm to make sure she was really getting off. did anybody measure the ejactulation that they were proving she had?

what exactly, beside a voyeristic show, did this prove?

[truebrit71]

20. What did it prove? I have no idea, i wasn't there...and NEITHER were you...

...save your outrage for something more deserving, yes?

[seabeyond]

33. yes. you do have an idea as i do. since they described it. she stripped down

her dude played with a fucksaw on her and supposedly she got off.

tht is it

that is all that happened

absolutely nothing academic or scientific. voyerism at its best. as the very dude said... ready for a sex show. ergo.... performance

[truebrit71]

..between two consenting adults, in a room full of adults, at a private institution...

..again..what is your hang-up here?

[seabeyond]

41. the woman wanted to play. the students wanted to watch. the teacher ok'ed. if a man pulled dick

out and stood in front of class and masturbated his ass would be in jail. the teacher would not allow. the male students would revolt. because it is a female, it is expected for her to perform for men. that is sexist.

that is reinforcement of patriarchal heirarchy. that is my issue

[truebrit71]

44. Complete and total bollocks.

How do you KNOW that would be the case? Why get mad at something that DIDN'T happen?

SHE CONSENTED TO PERFORM. WHAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT THAT?

[Liquorice]

65. I agree completely. nt

[TorchTheWitch]

56. the topic of the lecture was sexual fetishes

Nothing about the demo was any demonstration of any sexual fetish. The woman requested to do the demo in order to satisfy her fetish of public sex, but there is nothing that could be OBSERVED by the demo that showed her fetish. The prof had been discussing the g-spot and female ejaculation neither of which has anything whatsoever to do with any sexual fetish and claimed that using toys for sexual gratification is a fetish when it clearly is not and never has been... masturbating with inanimate objects whether male or female or electronic or not is not a fetish since it is something that the vast majority of humans do and have always done. There was no educational value to the demo whatsoever as nothing about any fetish could be observed by it, female ejaculation is well known, has been occurring since the dawn of mankind, and doesn't require any demo to be "proven". The prof also took no health considerations or health ordinances into consideration whatsoever. Bodily fluids are a biohazard and must be treated as such yet this didn't even enter the prof's mind when he allowed this woman to be stimulated to apparently several ejaculating orgasms with absolutely no health protections whatsoever.

The demo had no educational value whatsoever, didn't square with the topic of the lecture, the only reason the woman requested that she be allowed to do it was to fulfill her own sexual fetish of public sex that could not even BE observed by the demo, and no health concerns even entered the prof's mind.

[seabeyond]

57. and again, i see no difference from if a young man stood up and said i want to jack off in front of

class. and the teacher said ok.

do you?

do you see that the teacher would allow?

do you think the kid would be arrested if he did?

i really see no difference.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

62. Better check the syllabus

That very well may be next weeks class,

When I was in university a million years ago I didn't think the gender and sexuality studies people could possibly get any weirder or alienating than they already were. How naive...

[Upton]

14. Not another prude thread...

:wtf:

[truebrit71]

16. Yup. As though the others weren't enough...

...

[joshcryer]

24. Welcome to DU.

DU is amazing.

[cali]

36. yeah, if one doesn't embrace this idiocy, one's a prude.

:wtf:

[madinmaryland]

49. Is that what the "ace reporter" told you to say???

:wtf:

[Hannah Bell]

63. right. it's all about prudes. standard reply to anyone who resists the intrusion of explicit

sex into any sphere of human existence.

let's turn it around & i'll call people who want explicit sex acts in classrooms pervs & obsessives.

[joshcryer]

64. Do you have any reports of students feeling "intruded upon"?

[Hannah Bell]

70. it's not about the students' precious little "feelings".

[Teaser]

22. delete

.

[Teaser]

23. delete

.

[Teaser]

25. I taught a neurobiology of sex class

Man, you wanna freak people out, tell them about the hyena clitoris.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

29. So what about it?

[Teaser]

35. First off, it is as big as a penis and

the female hyena gives birth *through* it (ouch). Frequently this shreds the poor clitoris and the female dies from blood loss.

Those that don't die, the clitoris heals, and becomes central to dominance within the pack.

Subservient females lick the clitoris of the dominant females.

Males are subservient to all females, and must lick the clitoris of any female.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

48. Well. That's different.

Maybe I'll rethink my reincarnation plans.

[Moondog]

38. Here =>

http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-Largest-Clitoris-in-the-World-45527.shtml

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

30. When you take into account it was a college (i.e. all adults) class on Human Sexuality...

...it starts making sense. Some.

[cali]

32. why? Is it necessary to watch a live sex show to openly discuss

sexual fetishes?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

42. I did say "some".

Also, you don't have to go into a lab and mix liquids and watch them change color to learn Chemistry -- but it helps.

[cali]

51. actually, you do need to go into a lab to learn chemistry

not exactly a good parallel.

[joshcryer]

52. Uh, I doubt anyone expected it to be a "live sex show."

I think the girl said she had a fetish for BSDM shit, said she loved public sexual stuff, and then was pressured into proving it, probably through teasing or joking about her "unproven" fetish. (She could've been an actor who was there just to tell people about a potential fetish for example.)

[walldude]

53. It's not "necessary" it was optional.

No one had to attend it didn't affect anyones grade, no one was forced to stay and people were warned beforehand.


Frankly I think we need more openness about sex. We are one of the most sexually repressive societies there is.

[RC]

55. Pictures

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1362646/Students-watch-woman-pleasured-machine-powered-saw-phallic-object-instead-blade-class-university.html

Students watch a woman being pleasured by a sex toy as part of class at Northwestern University

[Liquorice]

60. In college I had a human sexuality professor who liked to

"push the envelope." At the time it was kind of embarrassing, but if anyone let on that they were embarrassed by his demonstrations and videos, etc., they were labeled prudish in a "lighthearted" way. In retrospect, he was a pervert who was actually kind of stupid when it came to human sexuality.

I think this professor went too far, either to get attention or for other more prurient reasons. There's no educational reason to have a public demonstration of sex toys or the sex act itself. It's not prudish to believe so either.

[cecilfirefox]

66. Good!

I hope they can his stupid ass. This is a stunt, plain and simple, and has no academic merit at all.