<p>That was us! I saw a picture of your daughter’s blue cello on the YPMB photo website–awesome.</p>
<p>Well we really enjoyed talking to you and your wife. You are as quick-witted in person as you are on these threads. As we walked away, we were wishing we had been parked close to you for tailgating. We had such a great day, despite the heartbreaking, baffling finish to The Game. </p>
<p>DD enjoys the YPMB, although she is not as involved as she was freshman year. At some point she realized she needed to limit her EC’s! </p>
<p>Hope to see you again - maybe at parent’s weekend or The Game @ Harvard next year.</p>
<p>Bumping this up due to the title change and move to the main Y forum.</p>
<p>entomom…made my day that this thread may live on beyond the Parents of 2013…there’s a lot of useful stuff in here! :)</p>
<p>Sex Week at Yale. I am a believer in free speech. I think that sex education in schools is OK. I am not sticking my head in the sand…I know that sex happens at Yale (a lot.) Here is my question. Sex Week at Yale is a student run event, held almost entirely in Yale University buildings. I am attaching the link to the web page for this “traditional” Valentine’s week of activities. My personal feeling is that many of these events cross over MY personal line of appropriate offerings on a college campus (demonstration on how to perform oral sex, sex toy company main sponsor with demonstrations…and there are more.) Is there no oversite? or advisor approval?or am I just a “prude”? I would think that President Levin and Dean Miller would be embarrassed that this is happening on their watch. Again I will say I am not opposed to discussions about sexuality, realistic approaches to STDs…lots of it is OK…but I think that perhaps each year the students push it a little closer to a “porn week” and administration lets the inmates run the asylum on this one. Is there no line that should be drawn?</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.sexweekatyale.com/schedule/[/url]”>http://www.sexweekatyale.com/schedule/</a></p>
<p>I have been uncomfortable reading the YDN this week. I figure my discomfort is generational, and I leave it at that. I discussed Sex Week briefly (verrry briefly) with my son, who made two points. First, he agrees that the various surveys are subject to selection bias. But second, he says that yes, there is a predominant “hookup” culture at Yale.</p>
<p>BHM - I agree. I am not a prude. I am not uninformed, but I don’t think these events are really helpful to our kids and they certainly don’t put them in the best light to future employers.</p>
<p>WJB - had a long talk with daughter about this the other day. She is now a junior and is more open to talking about her feelings about this. We wouldn’t have had the same talk when she was a freshman. </p>
<p>She confirmed that the surveys are indeed subject to selective bias. The kids who are not hooking up, especially those who are just quietly following their own morality, are often not answering the surveys.</p>
<p>I wish I could say more. I am grateful that she talked about the subject in a mature manner so I want to respect her privacy in a seemingly anonymous forum such as this. I do think, as our kids get older, they see beyond the bubble and are not overly appreciative of this kind of publicity.</p>
<p>Wnp – Yes, freshman + boy = taciturn. Our conversation was brief indeed. But while my kid is no saint, I do know that he is not part of a casual hookup culture, and he’s fine with marching to his own beat. One of the best things about Yale, from my vantage point, is that kids who, in your words, follow their own morality, or do things differently from the dominant culture, are not held in contempt or spurned in any way. There seems to be a culture of respect for differences. At least that’s been my son’s experience. </p>
<p>That said, it’s disturbing to read that potential employers may look askance at the YDN’s coverage of Sex Week.</p>
<p>Thanks…wbj and worknprogress. I “found out” about sex week because my usually over involved daughter was in her room skyping me a lot this week. She told me she was “hiding” as she had no interest in attending these events. So kids do follow their own morality HOWEVER…does anyone think that the University has any role here? I am so disappointed really…how can this be held with the “blessing” of Yale:</p>
<p>7:00pm – SSS 114</p>
<p>Babeland’s Lip Tricks: Blowjobs and Going Down</p>
<p>Babeland, America’s popular purveyor of sex toys, shares tips and techniques on all things oral from our new book, Moregasm: Babeland’s Guide to Mind-Blowing Sex. From kissing to blowjobs and cunnilingus, become an oral expert and have new, more satisfying adventures. Learn how to find the sweet spots, get never-fail oral sex tips and hand and tongue techniques and discover the perfect toys to complement your efforts.</p>
<p>Wow. OR</p>
<p>2:30 pm – WLH 208</p>
<p>Madison Young – BDSM 101</p>
<p>Are you curious about kink? Learn the basics of how to spice up your sex life adding sensation play, energy/power exchange, bondage, and fetishism to your play. Learn how to play safe,sane and consensual, negotiate play, how to talk to your lover about your kinky desires, and how to build new levels of intimacy, trust and connection with your partner/s.</p>
<p>This is just WRONG. And I have at least 3 more I could cut and paste but you get the idea.</p>
<p>BHM – I find it embarrassing even to read about this stuff, but I just assume that’s because I’m too old to get it. I don’t fault the administration unless, as wnp mentioned, this stuff is offensive to potential employers. If that’s the case, then I think both the administration and student organizers need to rethink it.</p>
<p>Just read the blog where they relayed the actual summary of the “lip tricks” lecture. It was worst than I thought. I am so disappointed and so sad right now. I am not going to read any more of this. Shame on you President Levin.</p>
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<p>Yes. This is one of the things that D (who is a senior, didn’t drink her freshman year, and is not part of the hook-up culture) really, really appreciates about Yale.</p>
<p>I checked in with my soph daughter today on this subject. She said she didn’t attend any of the “events” but said some of the more racy-sounding seminars were interpreted as “entertainment” by students who considered going. She said the YDN coverage sparked a lot of conversation. Topics like why some people choose abstinence, religious motivation for sexual choices and practices, and “norms” among Yale students. Maybe she was trying to keep me from “freaking out” but she made it sound like simply an intellectually stimulating week, and was not offended in the least by campus goings-on. She also said this is an event on a two-year cycle, and that next year will be much tamer, followed by a year of resurgance. I’m with most of you parents- the whole thing seemed kind of tasteless and over the top to me, and not a good representation of what Yale’s all about. But I’m pretty old and out of touch, of course.</p>
<p>Haven’t talked to D1 about this, and she hasn’t mentioned it, although I doubt she would :rolleyes:. I know she’s been very busy this weekend with a fundraiser and a hike today with the Y outdoor club.</p>
<p>I haven’t talked with my D about this either, although she does say, regularly, that the YDN stories aren’t often very accurate. I know she was away (off campus) with Yale-supported, campus-related groups both this weekend and last…</p>
<p>I imagine that a lot of “sex week” is actually about cabin fever.</p>
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<p>So are a lot of employers. :)</p>
<p>I texted D, a sophomore, and her response was the same as riverrunners D. She was actually unaware that this years events were different from last year (so she says). She was surprised when I emailed her BHMs post #430, saying no one she knows would go to something like that. She was trying to get her weekend reading out of the way, inorder to watch her friends sister in the Olympics. </p>
<p>Like many of you I dont think these events put Yale students in the best light …but heck Im old and like wjb was embarrassed just to read the event descriptions. :eek:</p>
<p>D tells me that “sex week” is held in alternate years with “text week” in the “off” (or is it “on” years). Is this true, or is she humoring her EngProfMom?</p>
<p>Come on! On the whole, it was a pretty balanced schedule, with some legitimate academic presentations, and even some conservative viewpoints. The raunchiest stuff seemed to have been slotted for Saturday, not a work day, and that seemed clearly to be offered as fun-and-laughs entertainment.</p>
<p>Sex week postdates my time at Yale, but I think it has been around for a good long while – like maybe 20 years, or close to it. Haven’t heard about “text week”. And even back in the Jurassic Period, the Law School film society used to program porn films during reading period. Real porn, not X-rated arty movies like Midnight Cowboy.</p>
<p>If it helps any, my daughter spent every Valentine’s Day at the University of Chicago selling vagina-shaped cookies in public (with exactly the sales pitch you can probably guess) to raise money for a feminist student organization she was part of. (And every pre-Valentine’s Day baking said cookies.)</p>