College Media Matters

Disappearing chivalry.  Twenty-first century virgins.  Girl flirting.  Lesbian chic. Hairy faces.  Lust at first sight.  Internet porn.  Two “Fifty Shades of Grey” smackdowns.  And one very expensive condom.

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Below is a sampling of recent– or at least recently spotted– top-notch student press columns and features on sex, love, and other undergrad socialization tendencies.

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Please email or tweet me to add your sex & love story to the mix.

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The Golden Gate Xpress, San Francisco State University

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“Is chivalry dead? Maybe not, but it’s certainly on its deathbed. . . . It has been my observation in my years at SF State as a college student that this concept has skipped the latter of my generation. The act of holding doors open, pulling out chairs or buying one of those adorable vodka cranberries that girls love doesn’t seem to be important anymore.  Now, I don’t know if this is due to our interpersonal communication skills being jaded by advancements in technology where we can’t communicate without an ‘OMG,’ or if it is just how we grew up.”

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The Daily Californian, University of California, Berkeley

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“This column is not about ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ because, frankly, reading that book pissed me off. Reading about how undeserving a woman thinks she is of a prototypical alpha-male is not sexually arousing. ‘Fifty Shades’ did not provide any of the provocative mind-fucks I was anticipating. This column is about BDSM and the wonders of bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, sadism and masochism, which ‘Fifty Shades’ failed to mention.”

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The Mooring Mast, Pacific Lutheran University

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“My main criticism of the novel, besides James’s apparent inability to write– don’t get me started on the ‘inner goddess’ thing– is her misrepresentation of the BDSM lifestyle and members of the community.  Grey frequently blames his need for dominance on an abusive childhood, referring to himself as ‘fifty shades of f—ed up.’  A 2002 study of 132 members of the BDSM community by The Guardian writer Pamela Stephenson, showed that only a few cases of adult BDSM practice were related to childhood abuse and participants in the study were generally not mentally unhealthy.”

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State Press Magazine, Arizona State University

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“Compliments are the universal language of females. As long as they are genuine, we melt in their presence, automatically intrigued by the girl who has graced us with such a beautiful gift.  Use and abuse this power to your advantage. Instead of getting jealous of that super- cool girl on the street with impeccable style, walk up to her and ask her where she acquired her taste.”

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State Press Magazine, Arizona State University

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The Daily Trojan, University of Southern California

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“[I]t’s impossible to ignore the strange backlash that many virgins receive.  But that would only be an issue if today’s virgin didn’t go through such a dramatic transformation. Say goodbye to the diminutive, austere virgin of yesteryear — the 21st century virgin is a force to be reckoned with. Though some still fit the stereotype of a Bible-wielding puritan, there has been a rise of young girls and guys who are in no rush to get between the sheets, yet also have no problem having the time of their lives.”

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The Massachusetts Daily Collegian, UMass

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“According to Style.com, ‘lesbian chic’ is in vogue right now. By making lesbianism a fashion statement of wearing Doc Martens and having a pixie cut, it is reducing the choice of sexuality to a passing fad. In reviewing ‘lesbian chic,’ Style.com reported women preferring to wear flats and sneakers instead of high heels and the incorporation of baseball caps into everyday outfits for women.  Citing the beginning of a sexual revolution as the moment women choose not to subject themselves to a night on the town in four-inch stiletto heels seems a bit egregious to me.”

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The Connection, Cosumnes River College

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“[M]arket branding everything has reached a new all-time height with the Luis Vuitton condom, yes I shall repeat myself Luis Vuitton has a condom line.  At $68 per condom, yes folks per condom, it is the most expensive condom currently in the world beating out channel 21’s condom line which sold at $279 a dozen.”

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The Daily Nexus, University of California, Santa Barbara

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“In sex, there is virtually always an active role and a passive role. . . . In normal, coital sex, the active role is assumed to be the male and the passive role by the female. And thus in a single sentence I have managed to identify exactly what is problematic in our contemporary formulation of sexual power– that the passive role is passive, and the active role is active. In this terminology, power is inherently unbalanced, and it casts the woman in an immediately weaker light.”

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The Towerlight, Towson University

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“Alright, so picture this: you’re a guy.  You’re hanging out with your girlfriend, drinking peppermint coffee and snuggling under blankets staying warm from the crisp November weather.  Your snuggle time is escalating when suddenly you realize-she didn’t shave her legs.  Well, you wanted to cuddle with your girlfriend, not the enchanted forest.”

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The Daily Toreador, Texas Tech University

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“[M]ost college women don’t know what they want, just like most college men don’t know what they want.  Actually, let me revise this further to say that we may know what we want, but we just don’t know how to get it. Most women want someone who reminds them of their father in regards to how they treat them. They want someone who is masculine, financially secure and who will take care of them and secure a future for them.  Most men want a respectable woman who may remind them of their mother, though it should be noted that most men would not want to see their mother in a club dancing on the stage every weekend. Neither gender, however, seem to be chasing these types of people.”

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The Middlebury Campus, Middlebury College

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“I turn off the lights and open my laptop. I begin browsing. What will it be this time. Amateur? Three-way? Anal? It hardly matters. Women scream. Men grunt. Cum sprays across stomachs, backs and faces. Everyone looks miserable. They even cry out in semi-erotic shrieks, as if to indicate their torture.  Don’t get me wrong, the nudity and the visual impact arouse me, but my repulsion supersedes my lust. . . . A major change has occurred recently, however the advent of the internet, which has increased the pervasiveness of pornography exponentially, affects our communal sexual psyche.”

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The Spartan Daily, San Jose State University

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“It is said to be ‘love at first sight.’  But is it really love in that moment of first laying eyes on someone?  I like to call it ‘lust at first sight,’ only because if you love someone the instant you meet them, you are probably just as creepy as Robin Williams’ character in ‘One Hour Photo.’”

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