Raising Small Hands poses an interesting question:
How do you prevent American values (i.e. that beauty, wealth, and power are the keys to happiness and success) from taking hold in your children’s mind?
I actually reject the question, somewhat. Beauty , wealth and power are not American values. Hard work, self reliance and perseverance are American values. The values are founders held, which tamed the wilderness and sowed the prairie…I have no problem with American values. It is popular culture I am concerned about, and particularly a most detestable portion of it which has been on full display this week. And just a note: you may wish to exercise caution in following any links from here forward.
Yale, for example, has been celebrating “Sex Week,” described as “an exploration of love, sex, intimacy and relationships.” Looking at the schedule, I do not see where love, intimacy or relationships really have much to do with the line up of events, which includes discussions and presentations on topics such as “Seduction: How to get the girl you’ve always wanted” alongside its “who looks like a porn star” contests, and DVD and sex toy giveaways. This is not intimacy. It is not how relationships are formed. And it has nothing to do with love. More offensive than the program, conceived and carried out by a single student, however, is Yale’s defense of it (pdf) in response to the criticism received.
Sex Week is an educational endeavor that is meant to challenge and teach students by engaging them in lectures, talks, discussions, and seminars regarding the concepts of love, sex, and intimacy. The idea is to have interesting and well-recognized speakers or representatives from sex-related industries (entertainment and media in particular) engage students in conversation so that students can explore sex in a safe and open environment. This affords students the opportunity to better understand what sex is and allows them to define for themselves how sex relates to love and intimacy in their own lives.
In other words: We think that marketers of the sex trade are a better model for learning about sexuality than parental values. We have to break the hold of such values for students to learn “for themselves.” Never mind they represent no more than an expanding market to the presenters. Surely I am not the only one who would expect a university as prestigious as Yale to notice the inherent contradiction? Or do they also have Harrah’s come out to teach workshops on fiscal responsibility?
A similarly degenerate program is making its tour across America right now. The “Sex Workers Art Show” features strippers, prostitutes, film stars, phone sex operators, etc. in a stage performance which promises to “entertain, arouse, and amaze while simultaneously offering scathing and insightful commentary on notions of class, race, gender, labor and sexuality.” A look at the schedule reveals a rather large number of university and college campuses playing host. View from 1776 finds its recent performance at Duke particularly ironic given the university’s recent treatment of its LaCrosse players.
“There is an obvious difference,” Lange responded, “between strippers performing at a private party and a group of artists touring university campuses across the country to present a show with political discussion, musical theater, and displays of sexuality.”
Sure there is. We model the behavior and ostracize them when they copy it. You can read the “highlights” of the performance and decide for yourself how different the activities are. Maybe if there had been more political speech at the party in question, it would have adhered to university policies.
As C.S. Lewis wrote in The Abolition of Man (p. 25):
We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.
Why is it we send our children away to college, again?
Hat Tip: The Thinking Mother who shares her thoughts.
[tags]education, higher ed, higher education, college[/tags]
Dana, You forgot Jane Fonda’s class act this morning. If you don’t know what I am talking about Michelle Malkin has this entry.
I’m pretty sure I know what you’re talking about. Three hours in the waiting room showed me more of the V-Day celebrations than I cared to see.
I don’t want to watch the snip right now since my children are up and in the room but is this the bit where we learn about the V-Man? And the interesting description of “a moist wetland where people go to play?”
Yeah…that really gives women their dignity and independence.
To me, the most offensive word in the English language is one which reduces women to a slang term for their genitalia. And what are these people doing, really? Presenting that same sort of image, inviting women to willingly offer themselves in ways men have been attempting to force them?
That’s real progress. I wonder if they, too, were educated by Ron J.– about what sexuality and womanhood is supposed to be. (I can’t believe he is on the schedule for a school sponsored event!)
Now, about Yale. I would send my money there because…?
You started off with an important issue, “I actually reject the question, somewhat. Beauty , wealth and power are not American values”. I noticed a headline article on one of the news service websites where a minister urged his congregation of single males and females to abstain from sex for 30 days while urging the married couples to “partake” every day for 30 days.
I thought one of America’s values had to do with keeping the commandments, living according to the way our God would have us live. When a minister’s remarks along those lines makes the headlines there is a problem.
Dana, I absolutely agree that the situation at Yale is discouraging. But not all higher education experiences have to be like this. Take for example this news item from my alma mater. It’s a few years out of date, but I think the contrast with Yale’s sex week is refreshing.
http://www.acu.edu/events/news/archives2004/040129_relationship.html
I appreciate your blog and check for updates often!
Wow!
I have to say that I agree with you on this. These are pop culture values and trends!
I can see exploring love, sexuality, intimacy and relationship at these prestigious universities–I am not a complete prude, but NOT by dedication a week to it, not by having marketers involved. Offer a class that allows dialogue and exploration in an academic manner, but to make it a carnival like event is degrading.
And at Duke, the whole subject should be handled with extreme care considering their recent issues.
And I won’t even broach the Sex Workers Art Show… as the idea of a sex worker is a bit appalling to me.
I should have realized that my comment blacklist key words would kill conversation on this entry! All approved now. : )
Shawna, I so agree with you. I don’t mind people talking about sex…it is part of the human experience. I actually think it is a wonderful, beautiful gift from God…and maybe we’d all be a bit better off if we talked about it more. I don’t know.
But right now, the conversation seems to degrade it and demean women especially.
When I was growing up, we were upset about the way women were portrayed in media. I remember an interesting discussion in a high school class as we looked at the subtle sexual references in advertising.
Then, it was a bad thing. Now, women present themselves that way. Sex sells, and we are selling ourselves.
I bet those “socially inept” homeschoolers would be wise enough not to participate in such pagan rituals. Whadda ya think?
It is really scary what is going on in colleges, but also our local schools. I live in the western part of the state…ie…small town. The kids in the middle school try sneaking in sex toys and condoms ande drugs in the bouqets they brought for their special friends on Valentine’s Day. Seriously, the school has to search all bouquets!! I am stunned. THIS IS MIDDLE SCHOOL!!!
You may have heard of this, but referring to “social ineptitude,” here in Omaha some kids were caught doing cocaine in school. IN CLASS! They weren’t even caught by their teacher, but by someone walking by who happened to look in the room!
I don’t know that anything would surprise me anymore…sex is all too commercialized now. And that is why I find Yale’s little party all the more disgusting. They are bringing in those marketing sex as experts to teach about sexuality. It is beyond reasonable.
If it didn’t involve sex, I am almost positive they would be getting complaints about being beholden to corporate interests.
“If it didn’t involve sex, I am almost positive they would be getting complaints about being beholden to corporate interests.”
It reminds me of the documentary about ‘MTV.’ The main jist was, ‘MTV would host some show featuring a concert by ’said band’ and sponsored by ’said company.’ Without even noticing it the audience is bombarded with corporate interests and as the TV bypasses the conscience mind youths are lulled into both the immoral behavior while at the same time supporting the ones who are bringing their on their destruction.
What I find most disturbing is the deliberate exclusion of abstinence. It’s like the organizers think there’s something wrong with deciding not to have sex. Feminism was supposed to be about allowing women to make their own decisions for themselves- NOT about imposing a “male” model of sexual promiscuity on women.
The good news is that the tide seems to be turning at last. Pro-abstinence student organizations have been formed at Harvard, Princeton, MIT, and even Arizona State in the past couple of years. Hopefully, this trend will continue gaining strength.
I agree, Crimson Wife…that and the constant dismissal of Christian concerns with sex ed. How many times have I read that we want to reduce sex ed to discussions of garden wildlife, as if “the birds and the bees” is seriously all we ever tell our kids.
I’ve always thought that people who elevate sex into a philosophy and a social science are either stupid or intellectually lazy. Their understanding of all things sexual is at about the same level as my dogs’ understanding. They also manage to destroy the joy of sex in the process. Maybe that’s their real plan.