By Professor Doom
I can’t believe I
have the phrase “anal sex” in a title of a blog posting about higher education,
especially since I’m not talking about Penn State…but this is seriously what’s
going on at college now.
College isn’t
all classes, there are quite a few opportunities to learn in “short courses”
called seminars or workshops. Seminars are usually research oriented, where
like-minded individuals would gather to learn and discuss the results of a recent
paper or result.
Workshops, on the
other hand, are, well, more administratively-inspired, and unfortunates can go
to workshops to learn the latest new definitions of sexual harassment, or new
techniques in stress management, or the like.
I don’t know
what the minimum standard is for the subject matter of a workshop, but, surely,
this falls below it:
I’m no prude, and
I try to keep an open mind about things, I really do, but…this is Harvard. One would think that Harvard,
at least, would try to keep some decorum to higher education. Harvard acknowledges
that this isn’t a serious topic, to judge by the title “What What in the Butt:
Anal Sex 101″…but I’m not sure such low humor is becoming of one of our
supposedly top tier institutions.
““after looking at the schedule of events,
though, I do question the amount of time and resources that went into planning
and funding these events, some of which are downright vulgar, at a place like
Harvard.”
I’m glad I’m not
alone, and I totally respect that Harvard is a private institution (although
they nevertheless get plenty of moolah from the government) so they can do
whatever they want, but this is just wrong.
Even if “how to
best have anal sex” was a legitimate research topic, a workshop on such a
topic, at a place like Harvard, should be done by legitimate researchers. Who
is going to run this workshop?
“So-called sex experts from a local
adult store will lead the Tuesday talk, which seeks to “dispel myths about anal
sex and give you insight into why people do it and how to do it well,”
What’s next?
Local fast food managers come in and run workshops on “how to dip French fries
in boiling oil”? Actually, that’s the kind of talk that SHOULD be given, at
least at the local community college. Well, it should if community colleges
were even a little serious about giving their students relevant job skills, but
I digress.
Back to the
point, higher education has travelled way too far away from being even remotely
relevant to what’s going on in the world today. I’ve qualified my rants about
how “most” higher education is a joke today, and by “most” I meant that top
schools like Harvard were still generally legit, at least with respect to the
money they charge. Tuition at Harvard runs over $40,000 a year, and if the workshops
are any indication of what that money is buying for students, I may have to
reconsider using the word “most” in front of “higher education is a joke”.
So, apologies
for the short post, but I’m simply at a loss for words when it comes to top schools
now giving workshops on optimizing anal sex practices.
I like it! For a long time have wondered when it will be that public education becomes a whore factory for students to enjoy sexual 'empowerment training' which involves children engaging in what would now be consider illegal activity. The State sure wants it! This is one step closer. Sexual Education is not a joke butt Harvard...Harvard students probably will want to learn about 'anal'. The biggest thing not to underestimate is a) sexual power b) college students like sex. It's a natural to be part of future education. A higher educational facility dedicated just to adult entertainment is 'coming'.
ReplyDeleteLet me be clear that I don't want the State pushing it on kids but it's inevitable in college and I like that sexual freedom is part of that.
DeleteYou know, if an administrator sees that "faculty dedicated to adult entertainment" line and voila! The Department of Adult Entertainment is formed. I can see lots and lots of adjuncts for it, maybe strippers could be faculty. Admin would just award them Master's Degrees in Adult Entertainment, so they'd be qualified to teach in the eyes of accreditation.
DeleteI can totally see it...as long student loan money could be spent on it. The other faculty would be forced to keep their mouths shut, in the name of "collegiality."
It wouldn't work because any time spent in such institutions would be time one is not earning money in the industry. Or, for biological reasons, the "best" part of a career in that field is very short and the duration is further reduced by legal requirements (the minimum legally permissible age). By the time one is in the late 20s, the higher echelons in this line of work are no longer an option because the clients who are paying a lot expect younger women. If a stripper is older than 28 or so, the customer will think that he might as well stay home with his wife. That's why those who want to do this kind of work won't get such degrees. As for those who don't, of course, they have no need for such degrees and probably wouldn't want any reference to such training or occupation to appear on their diploma or transcript. In fact, for practical reasons, those who work in the business may not want such "credentials" either in case they need to start over in a more mainstream occupation some day. Some are even planning on this from the start, using their occupation as a way to finance a conventional degree or to have a part-time job that pays well for few hours of work.
DeleteOuch!
DeleteSorry. Can you explain that?
Delete