[lbo-talk] Oberlin College: Hell on Earth

Brian Siano siano at mail.med.upenn.edu
Mon Nov 10 09:20:33 PST 2003


Doug Henwood wrote:


> mike larkin wrote:
>
>> Hilarious.
>>
>>
>> <http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=10633>http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=10633
>>
>>
>> "....Oberlin embodies a far-Left paradise of agitation, Marxist
>> activism and sexual licentiousness. It is, in short, a model of the
>> Leftís paradise. It is specifically for this reason that it resembles
>> most traditional Americansí version of Hell....
>>
>> "In April, Carmen Vazquez, a self-avowed butch lesbian socialist,
>> gave a lecture in which she reproached the queer movement for
>> avoiding larger public policy issues. She enjoined queer activists to
>> battle neo-conservative American leaders in a quest to prevent a new
>> fascist American state. Then she encouraged students to have sex.
>>
>> "So did author and poet Nikki Giovanni, another campus speaker. Not
>> to be outdone, Joani Blank, owner of the Good Vibrations sex
>> superstore in San Francisco and Down There Press, a publisher of
>> erotica, not only encouraged students to have sex when she spoke at
>> Oberlin in 2000, but discussed her businesses role in providing sex
>> toys to the customers the world over. Apparently, she is the only
>> capitalist Oberlin could appreciate."
>
Just where the _hell_ are Frontpage finding these "traditional Americans?" I mean, everywhere I go, it's sort of a truism that straight men usually _like_ the idea of women making love to one another. I like to think of this as a gallant gesture on the part of us hets; while many of us try our best, we have to face the regrettable fact that many of our sex aren't very good at pleasuring women. So the thought of women turning to each other fills many of us with a warm, indulgent, "we understand" sort of feeling. In fact, I'd go far as to say that we actually _enjoy_ the thought of women turning to one another, and finding that loving, sympathetic, and above all _understanding_ love that we've been seeking in our own lives. "Good for them," we think. Especially when it involves baby oil.

But here are the _Frontpage_ people, asserting that a college where women are finding this wonderful, picturesque, and frequently-well-photographed love is regarded as a "version of Hell" by "most traditional Americans." What are they talking about? Have we men been missing something? Are there truly men out there so hateful, so sadistic, so hating of women that they would regard the beautiful spectacle of women loving women as "hell?" Are there truly men who, when presented with a photo essay on two innocent cheerleaders discovering a mutual love far deeper than they'd previously suspected, would react with screams of psychic torment? Are there truly men who psychologically crippled that, when shown a film of Lucy and Katy and Brooke breaking out the sex toys and K-Y jelly while their husbands are away, they clutch their hands over their eyes and wail their spiritual desolation to the skies? Are there truly men for whom the spectacle of a double-ended-dildo thrusting in and out of the hot, dewy regions of Cynthia and Kaylee and the twins Naoko and Kiuchi inspires the despair of a Godless universe?

No, I'm afraid, I cannot bring myself to think that such men are truly representative of "most traditional Americans." After all, Americans are a traditionally friendly and generous people, welcoming of immigration and sharing of our opportunities. In fact, to say that "traditional Americans" would find such evils in hot girl-on-girl action amounts to a grave and spiteful _insult_ against many of our hallowed and well-loved traditions. No, this isn't just the wild speculation of a clearly deranged individual. This article is, in fact, a monumental _insult_ against all that is great and good about America.



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