<p>Oh please, does anyone think college kids need to have their minds opened to sexuality? You gotta be kidding. This guy was a paid lecturer. I would hope colleges would not throw money away.</p>
<p>Oh man, even in grad school, all we got to see were videos of drosophilae and… I think hamsters or something. Even in my sex therapy class, no demonstrations of any kind. But, we had homework ;)</p>
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<p>I, like most, am aware that some people like to have sex with live (or dead) animals. Would this be worthy subject matter for a live demonstration at a university?</p>
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<p>Apparently the prof claimed it was accompanied by a discussion of safety and consent. Huh?</p>
<p>I guess I am thinking about the bodily fluids aspect- did they clean up after themselves? Were the custodians expected to do the cleaning? 
I think the whole thing is serving a prurient interest- not intelligent discourse.</p>
<p>I also immediately thought of Monty Python. Nor do I not see how a <em>live</em> demonstration would be necessary and I also have questions about hygiene and sanitation. It would be one thing if fluids just stayed there, but… ick.</p>
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<p>Didn’t the students (or their parents, or the taxpayers) pay to be in this class?</p>
<p>How about doing this with a high school class, only students over 17, and after class (voluntary)?</p>
<p>“One of the reasons for classes on such things is to help people understand that even if they aren’t into it, things they aren’t into aren’t necessarily ‘bad’.”</p>
<p>I fail to see how a live demonstration of sex with a sex toy can further enlighten young students, who are not in that relationship, to its ethical consequences. Surely, having the person come in and discuss the way in which s/he consents, the emotions connected with it, etc. would be much better.</p>
<p>I personally have never seen a demonstration of bdsm sex, on film or in person. I still think, having talked about it with someone who is in such a relationship, that I understand why she enjoys what she does, and that I have an idea about how her consent is expressed. I’m pretty glad I didn’t have to see it happen!</p>
<p>I agree that this should not have taken place on campus. The students could have been told that if they wanted further information on the subject, they could contact Boy/Girl at XX Club. I don’t believe that it was necessary to have them perform the act of the orgasm live right there on campus. But, these are young curious adults and most of them probably stayed just for the “Holy crap, are they really going to do this” event. </p>
<p>My son goes to Northwestern - he loves it there and we’ve been happy with NU - this one single episode does not in any way change my opinion of Northwestern.</p>
<p>No GTalum, not the morality police, but the real police. They fine, and haul performers off to jail for less than this.</p>
<p>legitamate - Are there really legal issues here - none of the articles seem to mention them.</p>
<p>As far as I know, there is no minimum age requirement to attend most Us, as long as the student is admitted. There ARE 17 year olds on many campuses. Unless their IDs are checked before they enter, there may have been 18 year-olds present during this controversial class as well. As to these students at a minimum in most states, it would definitely NOT have been legal to have live sex acts performed in front of them.</p>
<p>It is certainly wins the award for the the most creative use of a reciprocating saw. (the story I read had a photo of the saw)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/03/03/northwestern-university-professor-defends-explicit-sex-toy-demonstration/[/url]”>http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/03/03/northwestern-university-professor-defends-explicit-sex-toy-demonstration/</a></p>
<p>^See, I already knew about these types of machines and the user community 
by reading boingboing. 
Reading about them and seeing stills of the machines was educational enough. Watching the videos, let alone watching them live, wouldn’t have added any educational value. Which isn’t to say that someone researching in the field shouldn’t or wouldn’t do a Kinsey-like study.</p>
<p>Another thought: universities are very careful to get signed consent forms from study participants for drug trials, psych studies, what have you. Wouldn’t this type of demo fall under the same rules?</p>
<p>I may never be able to go to Home Depot again! :eek:</p>
<p>Was this class taught in the engineering department?? ;)</p>
<p>I think people were assuming I was defending having a live sex act in the class when I said that classes like this do have value in teaching about things, I said pretty specifically that I thought a live sex act was over the top and unneeded.</p>
<p>I think there are values to things like this in college, simply because sex and sexuality is one of those things where there are so many misconceptions and half truths and such floating around (like kids who thing certain forms of sex aren’t having sex, or safe…). Among other things, kids in college experiment with a lot more then alchohol and drugs, and with that it is better to be informed, plus it doesn’t hurt to understand what is out there, either <em>shrug</em>. Given we have states where it is illegal for adults to buy or have sex toys, it says a lot for the need for classes like this IMO. </p>
<p>I don’t think any laws apply here, because this wasn’t a public facility or a commercial sex establishment, because it happened in a classroom I don’t think there is anything the law can do about it, because it was ostensibly about education, not ‘lewd’ entertainment. The age laws apply to adult entertainment or clubs and I don’t think apply to a class setting, the law makes distinctions between adult entertainment and education.</p>
<p>jym-</p>
<p>If they did, it would definitely go a long way to making engineering ‘cool’ to study <em>lol</em>.</p>
<p>I, too, would like to hear an informed lawyer’s opinion. Speculative comparisons to sex clubs is not equivalent or accurate.</p>
<p>Regardless of whether the sex demonstration was appropriate, I am honestly surprised that anyone would question the woman’s consent. The news coverage, at least, makes it seem like her and her partner made the decision to go this far, not the professor. The professor is responsible for appropriateness, but the demonstrator is responsible for her own “willingness”–and I see absolutely no evidence that she was unwilling, other than people’s assumptions that her choice was immoral.</p>
<p>EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern University’s president said Thursday that he is “troubled and disappointed” that a psychology professor allowed a couple to engage in a sex act involving a motorized sex toy in front of dozens of students, and is calling for an investigation.</p>
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True. I know someone graduating high school early; she’ll be 17 for most of her freshman year in college. So I suppose that it’s possible (though not extremely likely) that there were underage students in the room.</p>
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Huh, that’s quite the about-face.</p>