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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1994)
OPINION Believe it or not, sex and sexuality are not the same Lia Sauk(ia Spring is here, and it's about time for magazines to do feature articles on sex. Looking hack to last spring. -I recall Details. Spin and even the University's School of Jour nalisin mag. Flux, bunny-hop ping on the old "Sex in the '90s" Jmndwagon Too bad sex gets so much attention, while sexuality gets next to none. Three things that everyone should be aware of regarding sexuality in this day and age are it's changing, it frightens us; and we don't talk about it much. There's a difference between sex and sexuality. Sex is a bodi ly function, and sexuality is more like a state of being — a way of seeing. Both, obviously, are important aspects of being alive, but sexuality can keep someone feeling alive when there is no sex in their life. loo many people don't know the difference between the two. and as a result we let dominant forces like advertising define sexuality in terms of products. We let movies put silly ideas into our heads regarding ideal romantic relationships anti then wonder why we aren't having as much fun as the people in the movie. So what7 Not everybody is such a sheep as to let movies and magazines dictate rules gov erning the ideal man. woman, relationship and sexual encounter. Though that’s true, when it comes to how we feel about AIDS, we let the media yank us all over the place You can tell me that all the stuff writ ten about AIDS hasn't affected your sexuality, but I wouldn't believe you. If anything will change our sexuality it will bo AIDS As ii strikes more heterosexuals, homosexuals bet ome less vili fied. Each new risk group and <n tiv it v that we.discover is sus ceptible to the syndrome, the more we cringe Each new bit of information is one more hit of freedom taken nwav. It's enough to kill sexuality off altogether, but sexuality may yet save us in the f.u e of the AIDS nightmare, and the wav that it will survive ami evolve For instance, people who define sex as sexual intercourse only will be forced to reevaluate the term And, as dental dams, rubber gloves and condoms become standard procedure for those who want to have oral, hand and intercourse sex society will just have to find a way to eroticize those items Changes in sexuality are si ary to fathom. Hell, sexuality itself is sc ary. That's why it's easier to talk about sex. Thai's why it’s easier for television to portray sexuality in terms of Kelly Bundy bending over an toe chest amid a chorus of canned cheers The power of sexuality itself comes in as many forms as peo .pie do It's highly Individual, and that’s another reason why it is kept under wraps. Not every one likes to talk about personal stuff and those w ho do inav not want to bring up anything that makes them sound like a per vert But, perverted or not. sexu ality is beautiful in its individu alism — m the fn< t that it < an let triggered by anything from the sight of Roseanne Arnold to the brush of a dandelion fluff against the cheek And. sexuality is what gels It’s easier for television to portray sexuality in terms of Kelly Bundy bending over an ice chest amid a chorus of canned cheers. neglected when we are too i aught up in the media's defini tion of sex We end up with a warped view of how we as sexu al i features art? to interm t with mu h other Imagine that you are on .1 mission from Mars in order to study sexual behavior on harth, hut instead of observing real humans, all you did was watch {Vfefro.se Wor e. All the hype about sex can lead to a lai k of awareness that seeps into our everyday i Oliver sutions Our i oilure eiu ourages men to brag about sexual encounters, but wouldn't you drop dead from surprise if one said. "It felt so good. So und No massaged my foi e for a half .in hour" or "I just love it when women Sneeze " ’ I surewnuldn ! want to define your sexuality for you And I'm not suggesting we all embark on .1 cheesy confess fest uIhiiiI what sexuality means to our lives (hut the Generation X hypesquad sure would love it if we did.) However, we could all afford to be more open and more open minded regarding issues of sex and sexuality. (We'd probably have butter sex, too.) Cwentysoinethings, as many of us are. iHtlong to the first gen eration that doesn't have tin excuse of not knowing better l nlike those of our parents' era. we are quite aware of what is had for us as we do it anyway We have learned how to adapt toward political apathy, rising i osts of living and a culture that disi riminates against people in a million ways Adapting toward a new. healthy, open and safe vision of sexuality may well be our saving grai e Anil if it doesn't save us from the world, surely it will distract us from it Liu Salcicnn is n columnist for the l.mernld LETTERS Butt Shark! Who I am is not important. Hut you can call me Butt Shark. Only people who saw the show or have heard about it will know what I’m talking about. After seeing Madonna on David Let terman's show on Thursday, March 31, I have developed .1 new level of respect for her. I dislike her even more now Scott Klemp English Worthless At the end of winter term, one of my professors made a particu larly disturbing remark. As she prepared to hand out student evaluation forms, she haughtily !-1 onnouni ed to the class that since siie had tenure, slit* had little reason to pay attention to student evaluations. Of what value is a professor who is unwilling to learn from student feed bin k' This Univer sity is an educational com muni tv. Ideally, education should be a multilateral pro< ess. with both students and professors learning from in i lass and out-of-class interactions. The class I took from tins pro fessor had many positive aspects, but I cannot overlook the sentiment that inspired her to publicize her willful negli gence of her students’ appraisals of her work I will not embarrass her fur ther by printing her name, hut 1 hope she and other professors who read this will critique their own attitudes toward student feedbat k Inspired and responsive pro fessors are invaluable A com plat enl and unresponsive pro fessor is worthless to students, i ol leagues and the University' til general Peter Schwaru Economics We, the undersigned graduate teac hing fellows, are upset with a particular aspect of the CITE Federation's implementation of its new insurance program We were insufficiently noti fied of the arbitrary Jan tit dead line to waive this new polii y for those (.TFs who are already i in ered hy other t omprehensive health msuraiu e We now find ourselves losing $ 1 HO in UK ome in lieu of coverage from the recently negotiated health care benefit Despite many attempts to resolve tins problem, the IITKK and its representative. Diane Ran. have been entirely inflexible about providing tins rebate fur (ITf's who were unaware or did not understand the waiver procedure Every month we pay our fair share to the union, who Ii is solely responsible for adnuins taring the insurance plan The union lias taken away our opportunity to receive the rebate There is no mention of a deadline for the waiver form in the collective bargaining agree ment. Although it letter | tost marked March 11 from the union stated that wo wdl not l«* enrolled nor will we have coverage if we fail to i omplete. sign and return the a pplicat ion/enrollment form, the union still insisted verlmlly that we are automate ally cov ered by this health plan. While it was still possible to enroll in the insurance plan retroactively to (an I. wo were not permitted to waive it at that time. The union may bo covered legally by providing minimal notification, we don’t believe its a< lions are proper Wo find it difficult to understand why it will not admit its mistake and provide us with the rebate. Ll-Chen Chin Chi-Jiung Cheng Jill Cosari and Nine Co-Signers all day TUESDAY i ALL I YOU r CAN EAT EVERY TUES! includes Garlic Bread 11:30 am-10 pm pizza ITALIAN KITCHEN 2673 Willamette • 484-0996 Why would an international wood products manufacturer be looking for Ducks instead of Beavers? Well lor one, we don’t want our future exeeutives ehew- M mg on our produc t s. but m" most mmortantlv, we are m looking for the qualities ■ fl that a degree from the ■ J I amersih of ()regon en- H sures. I he qualities that ^B would not onh eontribute to ^ our business but thrive m an international eoinpam that is ) constants grow mg. I hat s win we an looking foi a few good 1 )ueks with degrees in Business or Forest Produets We will he here on campus April I 5th So. if sou are interested in scheduling an inters tew, just call the (.'areel Placement (icntei < -W H Manufacturers of (Jnalits \\ ihk! \\ indntvs, I Millwnrk and ( Him liuildini; Materials
