Letter from the Editors
In 2005 Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson released a children’s book titled And Tango Makes Three. This picture book is based on a true story of two male penguins, Roy and Silo who have a “different kind of relationship” than the other penguins. They’re two penguins in love, and the zookeeper gives them an egg to raise together. The story ends with people cheering and celebrating their love and success.
A beautiful children’s book, And Tango Makes Three is commonly featured on banned book lists. Banned because of its depictions of homosexuality and adoption by homosexual couples, many parents and individuals have fought to keep the book out of schools and libraries. However, when we ban books that expose complex, real-world situations to children, we are in a way prescribing what is right and wrong in society. By showing only straight couples at a young age and by shoving media down people’s throats that only exposes children to a gender binary or a straight mentality, we are immediately perpetuating a culture that only upholds the cis-gendered, straight, white narrative that infects the world.
Sexuality, gender and sex are inherently related, and when we are stifled from learning about those topics, not only is a toxic culture perpetuated, we are also creating serious consequences. Parents, schools, churches and institutions create a narrative around sex that can be quite dangerous. Abstinence is preached, birth control is deemed a sin and anything outside of straight, cis narrative is rejected. Just to name a few consequences, this lack of conversation causes unwanted pregnancies, higher suicide rates among LGBTQ+ youth and a feeling of shame around sex. Perhaps if we talked about sex more, if we exposed people to sex more, and if we unpacked what sex is, we could form a more sex-positive society that goes against the grain and brings important voices into the conversation that is currently controlled by individuals with dominant identities.
The Sex Issue hopes to do just that. We hope that by exposing the campus to various takes on sex, it will start a conversation about how to create a sex-positive society. In the Sex Issue, we are looking through five lenses: Learned, Performance, Love, Pain & Liberation. While realizing that sex frequently breaks out of those labels, we find that viewing from those perspectives allows people to view different facets of sex, facets that are not always discussed. Whether it be through a case study on how sex education is taught in schools by Ashley Capoot, a conversation on a non-binary actor’s struggles in theatre by Staff Writer Jude Cramer or a piece on the objectification of Asian women in the porn industry by Print Editor Chloe Law, the word sex is rich with meaning, meaning that needs to be unpacked. Many writers wrote very personal pieces for this issue as well, as sex is an incredibly personal topic for many. Staff Writer Eli Gordon wrote a reflection on coming to terms with his bisexual identity, Editor in Chief Samuel Maude wrote a piece on his first time and various writers wrote poems throughout the issue on their experiences with sex.
Throughout the Sex Issue, we hope you get a well-rounded view of sex, begin to understand how sex, sexuality and gender are related and continue the conversation among your friends and in your circles. When we talk about sex more and embrace difficult topics, we create a healthier, more positive society.
Samuel Maude & Nina Wescott