To the Editor:
Women are sexual! And while it's difficult to balance sexual needs and the worries of being labeled a "slut," we should focus more on getting pleasure out of what we're doing. It's appalling that most men don't know much about the clitoris, as women's orgasms stem from the clitoris. Yet, women need to be more comfortable and knowledgeable about the female body before we can expect men to be. I don't think many men would have a problem telling a woman she is doing something wrong, while I often hear women talking about bad experiences that they didn't correct. I suggest that women be careful, but let go of what other people think, and even what the guy might think. Tell him what you want. You will be happier. Sex that is consensual and mutually satisfying is a beautiful thing. And even though Kim fears his column will produce a negative response, it's great that someone finally wrote about women's sexuality in an open way. He'll be sought out by women on this campus.
Nicole Plumez College '01 STAAR member
To the Editor:
In regards to David Kim's article, "In praise of 'sluts': the female orgasm": Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Jen Lentini College '01
But why is it wrong?
To the Editor:
Molly Seltzer's column about the fire-and-brimstone evangelist now appearing on campus ("The lure of gospel on the Green," DP, 9/23/98) sets out to knock over a straw man: Nobody likes a raving moralist with marginal religious views. What she unwittingly exposes is the fundamental inability of most Penn students to confront a dogmatic philosophy of any kind. It's wrong, it's got to be wrong, but why? Seltzer doesn't know: "We have no way of knowing what we approve of until we see something that we don't approve of first." The case can be made, and I would be happy to make it, that in a generation trained in moral relativism (a phrase that I admit has been abused and misapplied perhaps beyond recognition) it is hard to come up with reasons why someone else's moral or religious claims are unreasonable or wrong. Seltzer just knows that "we don't like being told what to do or how to run our lives." I do hope that Seltzer is right in that confronting people like this will help students turn their reason and rationalism back on themselves. For those of you I see pondering the insights of The Celestine Prophecy in our ugly new book-selling trinket store: shame on you, too.
Christopher Dacus College '00
'We' as U. community
To the Editor:
I would like to clarify my statements in the article that discussed the hospitalization of a student last Thursday ("Freshman lands in hospital with alcohol poisoning," DP, 9/21/98). I believe my statements were taken out of context and misrepresented. The article reads: "InterFraternity Council President Josh Belinfante said he does not think that fraternities should be blamed for problems resulting from binge drinking. 'Social organizations in this country use alcohol,' he explained. 'To say that we as a system could eliminate hospitalization is ridiculous. We are trying to educate our members, which is more than anyone else is doing.' " I did say that fraternities should not bear the entire brunt of what is really a societal problem. Clearly the hospitalization two weekends ago would prove that students will drink themselves into the hospital without attending a Greek function. I did not say, nor would I ever, that chapters should not be penalized for excessive actions that make an event unsafe. We have created the Judicial Inquiry Board specifically for this purpose, and it will be investigating the discussed event. On my statement concerning hospitalizations, what I said was that "to think that we (notice not 'as a system') could eliminate hospitalizations is ridiculous." The "we" I was referring to was the University community. I believe that students will drink to excess; we can educate, we can attempt to control their ability to do so, but ultimately they will find a way. The best we can do is to minimize the numbers, which is what occurred last semester. As I see it, the problem is that first semester freshmen are still unaware of the dangers of alcohol, and have received the necessary education. As a Greek system, we are doing what we can, but rush rules prevent us from mandating education in the first semester. Therefore, please understand that I was referring to the Penn community at large, and not just the Greek system.
Josh Belinfante College '99 IFC President
