One of the many aspects Colgate University prides itself in is the intellectual vigor of its student body. The Maroon News claims to be one of the oldest running college publications in the country. Keeping this in mind, try reading the “Minus the City” column within the commentary section of our newspaper. Every issue I wait to see the titles of the writers’ new articles. With titles like “Sex Olympics” and “Ladies First” I often wonder how far the two writers will take their column. I was especially surprised when I came across an article titled “BJ 101.” Before I even started reading their article, I was convinced that finally they had gone too far. Not only is the article distasteful, it also demonstrates and perpetuates the patriarchal society that still exists today.
The article begins with a story about Buttercup, a sophomore in high school, and Prince Charming, a senior. Prince Charming asks Buttercup to perform oral sex on him and despite the fact that she has never done it before she complies. The writers suggest that performing oral sex can “kill time between your 8:30 and 9:45”. They give tips on how to achieve the maximum oral workout, using foods that resemble penises. With enough practice, “you will be blowing your friends away in no time,” pun intended I’m sure. The article closes with a reminder to have “fun” while performing oral sex.
Although it is quite easy to sense the sarcasm running through the piece, the article itself is offensive. What is an article like this doing in our school publication? There are several ways sex can be discussed tastefully, but the boys who wrote this article have certainly not fulfilled it in a tasteful manner. The joke in this case, is on Buttercup, the young inexperienced sophomore who leaves with “frosting on her nose and a smile on her face.” The implications behind this article feed into many of the dilemmas feminists face, most importantly the sexual objectification of women and the perpetuation of a patriarchal society.
Reading “BJ 101” through Levy’s lens, it is easy to detect the issues with the article. The most blatant offense is the fact that women are expected to perform these oral sexual behaviors without an understanding of why they are doing them, and without any notion of reciprocation. The writers never mention the involvement of intimacy and reciprocation is barely mentioned. Buttercup’s willingness to perform oral sex on Prince Charming feeds into Levy’s theory of women engaging in highly sexualized behavior in order to “prove” themselves. To assume that Buttercup would leave with a smile on her face, despite the fact that she had no clue what she was doing, is to assume that she received some sort of pleasure from this one sided sex act. The article closes, advising readers “an earnest (or even feigned) excitement and passion is crucial for the experience.” Suggesting that women fake their excitement is reminiscent of the fact that many women participate in pornography or videos like Girls Gone Wild without receiving any real pleasure, all the while putting on acts of pleasure. These acts are a result of the fact that women think they have to act this way to fulfill masculine fantasies.
Underneath its layer of sarcasm are ideologies of patriarchy. The underlying message of the article is that women will perform these acts because we will fall to a man’s charm, or in Buttercup’s case, “Prince Charming’s imploring green eyes.” The article portrays young women as “easy” and eager to participate in sexual acts that carry the minimum amount of intimacy. It characterizes men as the ones who carry a general detachment from sex with no obvious emotional engagement.
It is interesting to note the reactions of the online edition of the article. The comments range from praise of the article to downright bashing of the article. The comments are anonymous, but it would be interesting to discover the genders behind the comments. The fact that some people labeled this article as “hilarious” and “perhaps the most entertaining and perhaps informative article in the Maroon News” demonstrates that traces of patriarchy exist here within the walls of Colgate. One commenter suggested that “being male helps in appreciating the humor.” This comment points out the blatant sexism of this article, as it would be hard to find a handful of women who find this piece humorous. On the other hand, it could be argued that the people behind these posts are fulfilling social engraining on the other end of the spectrum. Johnson uses this argument in his discussion of patriarchy, explaining “the path of least resistance is to go along, and unless [the man] is willing to deal with greater resistance, that’s the choice he’s most likely to make.” Johnson’s reasoning could explain why some readers praised this article instead of calling it out on its distasteful manner.
Regardless of the fact of whether or not this article is humorous, its attempts to be humorous play into the patriarchal system of power. In the situations described in the piece, men are clearly the figures of power and women are expected to heed their desires with smiles and enthusiasm. Even if women are not truly enthusiastic about the prospect of performing oral sex, they are instructed to fake this enthusiasm to make the experience more pleasurable. There is a total disregard for the pleasures of women and Levy would agree that this is one of the fundamental issues. The fact that this article was printed demonstrates that some are still on the path of least resistance, and until the path is less traveled, change will be hard to come by.
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