Sex wars at Penn State

TownHall.com ^ | Thursday, October 18, 2001 | by Brent Bozell

[JohnHuang2]

TownHall.com: Conservative Columnists: Brent Bozell

QUICK LINKS: HOME | NEWS | OPINION | RIGHTPAGES | CHAT | WHAT'S NEW

townhall.com

Brent Bozell (back to story)

October 18, 2001

Sex wars at Penn State

Life at Penn State University is in sad shape, most noticeably the fabled Joe Paterno's team's attempt at playing the game of football. But off the field, matters are even worse. Take a look at this educational institution's sense of sexual morality, assuming it can even be said to have one.

In the fall of 2000, Penn State hosted a gathering with two names -- one being Womyn's Concerns, the other being unprintable because it contains a vulgar synonym for the vagina. The event received more than $9,500 in PSU funding. Thus far in 2001, the campus has hosted two more exceptionally distasteful sex-related events. Penn State is really into this stuff, it seems.

The Allentown, Pa., newspaper the Morning Call reported that the attractions at February's Sex Faire, which wasn't university-funded but was held at a PSU dormitory, included one game called Orgasm Bingo, another called Pin the Clitoris on the Vulva, and anatomically correct gingerbread men and women accompanied by an "Eat Me" sign.

Then, earlier this month, that shining star of American liberty, Hustler magazine's Larry Flynt, spoke at Penn State under the auspices of the university's Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment. The center's co-director described Flynt to CNSNews.com as "an exceedingly complex man who can't be easily categorized into black or white." Translation: If you think he's disgusting, you're just not enlightened enough to understand him.

In the account of the Penn State campus paper, some of what Flynt said at PSU dealt with the skin-magazine trade (he accused Hugh Hefner of "very much still living in the '50s," presumably because Playboy is more restrained than Hustler.) A lot of it didn't (he called President Bush an "idiot.")

But Flynt's remarks, no matter the topic, were sex-related for these simple reasons: Ultimately, he was invited to appear at Penn State (SET ITAL) only (END ITAL) because he is a public figure, and he is a public figure (SET ITAL) only (END ITAL) because he's an accomplished pornographer, and a trailblazer of a breathtakingly crude form of porn at that. If Flynt were an orthodontist, an insurance salesman or a bartender, no one would be interested in his political blatherings. The Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment certainly wouldn't be.

Penn State would surely tell us that to welcome Flynt is not to fully endorse what he represents, but what this taxpayer-funded institution is doing is to confer credibility on him, and respectability on the profession he champions. It explains why, as CNSNews.com reports, one result of Flynt's appearance may be that university representatives will face a grilling early next year when the state legislature holds appropriations hearings.

It's just another step in pornography's long march through the institutions.

The Comedy Central cable network runs a considerable amount of ultra-raunchy programming, so it's no surprise that the network's first original film, which goes into production early next year, will be called "Porn 'n' Chicken." The movie has a connection to the world of higher learning, since it's based, notes the entertainment Web site Zap2it.com, "on the true story of Yale's Porn 'n' Chicken Club ... an underground group that gathers weekly to eat fried chicken and watch pornography."

And the other day, a piece in the Sunday Times of London stated that "an estimated one in seven British teenagers are registered to check into the virtual Habbo hotel." And what happens at the Habbo? The teens "simulat(e) adult affairs by checking in ... under assumed names ... Girls using the site ... routinely offer strangers sexual favors, which they describe in lurid detail." The paper added, "Predatory adults appear to use the site to try to contact teenage girls."

Few in the entertainment community have done more in their careers to promote the culture of sexual permissiveness than has the performer Madonna. From the glorification of her erotic lifestyle to the bashing of religion in general, and the Catholic Church in particular, she has influenced an entire generation of youngsters to accept the lewd as normal.

There's a body count to quantify the consequences of Madonna's sexual promiscuity, though obviously it must not bother her one bit. The New York Post reports that a new biography of her reveals that she's had eleven abortions.

Ah, consequences. It often seems that there's nothing the makers of modern popular culture would rather do than portray sex, and that there's nothing that would bother them more than to talk about its consequences.

Brent Bozell is President of Media Research Center, a TownHall.com member group. Contact Brent Bozell

©2001 Creators Syndicate, Inc.

townhall.com

QUICK LINKS: HOME | NEWS | OPINION | RIGHTPAGES | CHAT | WHAT'S NEW

For Education And Discussion Only. Not For Commercial Use.

[Don Myers]

"You must have incredible patience. "

It gets a little thin at times.

We will just have to see if things do get better. Right now, things are pretty screwed up.

[JMJ333]

bttt

[Mind-numbed Robot]

The rules are not because God is anal retentive.

The rules are for our Joy. The Designer knows how we are made and how we are best thrilled.

Thanks for taking the time to post. There are so many things which seem to be paradoxes that are simply conflictsbetween our natural (physical) inclinations and spiritual truths. Many are amazed, once they experience them, of the subtlety and sophistication hidden in the "Thou Shalt Not"s in the Bible. They are guides to joy, not prohibitions of it.

[Caleb1411]

Now how can we get that win for Joe?

Play Rutgers.

Or Minnesota. Since my 1-4 Golden Gophers don't appear to be bowl-bound this year, we'd probably be happy to accommodate Joe if only we were on the PSU schedule.

[1Old Pro]

Penn State continues to trailblaze the P.C. Highway to hell

[Quix]

CONCUR.

THANKS for your kind comments.

[ArGee]

Ah, consequences. It often seems that there's nothing the makers of modern popular culture would rather do than portray sex, and that there's nothing that would bother them more than to talk about its consequences.

There is nothing quite as wonderful as money! There is nothing like the newly minted pound! All the world must hanker for the butchness of a banker. It's accountancy that makes the world go 'round. - Monty Python.

One of the fastest and easiest ways to get rich is to get into the sex trade. And if you question anything about it you are in for trouble. If I didn't have principles I'd be rich today.

A few years back I picked up a Wired magazine to flip through. The cover story was on the Internet sex trade - specifically camera enabled chat systems. Part of the article discussed how the workers who displayed themselves had to be stoned all the time to do their jobs. The author of the article couldn't even condemn the fact that the jobs turned the workers into junkies. Everything must be OK and nothing can be questioned.

Oh, yeah. The article also talked about how much money the owners made and how little it cost them to start and keep their businesses. Making money - good. Destroying people's lives - well, we don't talk about that.

Shalom.

[Quix]

ACTUALLY, I'd forgotten, solid research has consistently shown that monogomous married couples--and especially believers who have a consistent spiritual life--report quite significantly above average sexual satisfaction, fun etc.

[ArGee]

and the Pied Piper's song SEEMS interesting enough

Outstanding post.

One of the best movies I have ever seen is "Bedazzled." I'm talking about the original Dudley Moore and Peter Cooke film. I haven't seen the remake with Elizabeth Hurley and I don't plan to. The premise of the original was that Dudley Moore sold his soul to the devil (Peter Cooke) for seven wishes. The point of the movie was that each wish would be slightly skewed by Satan so that it never brought the fulfillment that was promised. It always ended in frustration and pain.

That's what sin is about. It looks like life, but it is really death. It looks sweet, but it is really sour. As a very wise man said once, "There is a way that seems righ to a man, but the end thereof is death."

Shalom.

[StoneColdGOP]

When you're right, you're right.

[Quix]

For sure.

And our arrogance is that we can out bargain, out negotiate, out fox and if necessary out run the fellow who attempted to take God's place.

THANKS for your kind comments.

[NYpeanut]

Women's Unrestricted Freedom = Moral Debauchery

Not to defy your stunning "logic" Achille, but can you tell me why the prisons are full of MEN? Must be they have too little freedom, by your reasoning.

Seriously, are you married? Are you just totally frustrated from lack of female attention? You hate women so much (except the "good" ones who shut up, sit down and give up their rights). How come, honey? Inquiring minds want to know. I can't chase you around every day, I have a job (I know, I know, another faux pas).

[Caleb1411]

Now how can we get that win for Joe?

Play Rutgers

Just in: Northwestern 35, PSU 38!! Hello, Bear.

[Revelation 911]

and you ask for evidence of a declining moral standard?.