I just returned from Sex Week at the University of Tennessee, and all I can say is: wow. Before I arrived, I knew all about last year’s de-funding debacle and this year’s continued controversy, which included the state legislature passing an official resolution that condemned Sex Week’s student organizers for organizing the event as well as further threats to cut university funding if Sex Week went on. In one poll, 59% of people said Sex Week should be cancelled. I read the Concerned Women of America’s terrifying press release (favorite quote: “The F.B.I. field office has been notified of planned illegal distribution of pornographic material to minors on campus”) and knew that there wasn’t exactly going to be a marching band to celebrate my arrival. I’ve had students and community members protest my college appearances before, so I was ready for whatever push-back might come my way. I wasn’t prepared for what I discovered: a sexual culture so steeped in shame and stigma that students are afraid to be seen at Sex Week events.
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