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The Show must go on

26 January 2008 | By Sarah Klotz, Flat Hat Staff Columnist | The Flat Hat » opinions

Are we free to talk about sex?

Sex. That’s right — go ahead, say it. See how it feels rolling off the tongue. Can you handle it? Of course you can.

Everybody at one time or another has talked about sex. So why is it that as soon as we try to bring the conversation into the public, it becomes a scandal that rocks the entire state of Virginia?

The time has come again for the Sex Workers’ Art Show to remind us just how uncomfortable the topic of sex can be, for some, and I want you to ask yourself, “Are we free to talk about sex?”

Many of the harshest critics of the Sex Workers’ Art Show have never actually seen the performance, so let me lay it out for you. A group of sex workers ranging from exotic dancers to phone sex operators travel the United States in a bus to tell people about their lives. They read memoirs and poetry, play music and showcase their performance art. In some cases, nudity is part of the performance, but the most shocking thing about the show is the political material.

The sex industry brings in billions of dollars a year, proving that Americans love to consume its products, but do we ever acknowledge that there are people behind the pornography? Do we ever stop to hear what it’s like to be a sex worker before we condemn those who choose this profession?

I cannot understand the claims of some, such as One in Four sponsor John Foubert ’90, that the Sex Workers’ Art Show could lead to rape. How can listening to the experiences of a marginalized group encourage men to sexually assault women? I give men a little more credit than that, and I hope you do, too.

The best way to reduce rape is to foster a positive dialogue about sex and, as the show depicts the threat of rape for sex workers, I cannot imagine a better forum to address these issues.

Even if you do not care to hear about the lives of sex workers, even if you never want to see this show, are you willing to censor a performance that brought in almost 1,000 audience members last year?

The entire University Center was packed with students trying to see the show, and over 400 people were turned away because the Commonwealth Auditorium was filled to capacity. The Student Assembly provided funding for the show last year, and student support was overwhelming.

Do you think that a show supported by so many members of our campus community should be blocked by the administration?

I, for one, am glad to attend an institution that values free speech regardless of how offensive that speech may be to some. It would be a tragedy for the College to betray our values of freedom of expression and student autonomy because we are scared to talk about sex.

So, give it a try, start a conversation about sex, or sex work or the show. You might learn something, and isn’t that why we came to the College in the first place?

Sarah Klotz is a senior at the College.

  1. Very well said, Sarah.


    — Devan Barber    Jan 26, 03:27 PM    #

  2. One of the great things about a university setting is that we have the opportunity to have discussions about controversial topics about many matters, including sex, sexual assault, and pornography. As one who has researched these matters for 15 years, I think that having discussions about them are quite valuable. However, I have never said that “listening to the experiences of a marginalized group” encourages men to sexually assault women. What I have noted is not my opinion devoid of research, like what is offered in this particular column, but rather an analysis of the research on the effects of pornography on men and women. The Sex Worker’s Art Show is not simply a discussion of porn. It includes stripping, last year including a woman dancing topless wearing nothing more than a vaginal pasty. That is one of the behaviors defined by research as the kind of behavior that experimental research has shown to cause — not correlate with but cause — sexually aggressive behavior among men, aggressive behavior in general, among other things. The author of this piece suggests that “The best way to reduce rape is to foster a positive dialogue about sex.” From what study do you draw this conclusion? If you were to read the research on sexual assault prevention you would be unlikely to make such an ill informed assertion. Discussions about sex are indeed valuable as sex is part of human behavior, and some such discussions can play a role in helping to address issues of sexual assault, however fostering a “positive dialogue about sex” is not the method shown by research to be the most effective at preventing rape. Speaking as a member of the faculty who specializes in the area of working to end men’s violence against women — and in no other capacity besides that — I find it deeply disturbing that anyone would try to turn this into a debate about free speech. This debate has nothing to do with free speech. If a prostituted woman or phone sex operator wanted to come to campus to tell their story with their clothes on, this wouldn’t even be an issue. What makes it an issue is that there is a campus policy against nudity, that making any educational point the group wants to make does not need to be made by being naked, and what they propose to do has been shown by research to lead to behaviors that will put you and other students at the college at risk.


    — John Foubert    Jan 26, 05:19 PM    #

  3. “Discussions about sex are indeed valuable as sex is part of human behavior, and some such discussions can play a role in helping to address issues of sexual assault, however fostering a “positive dialogue about sex” is not the method shown by research to be the most effective at preventing rape.”
    It is beyond comprehension that one who studies sexual assault for a living can downplay the importance of creating a positive dialogue about sex. If we as a society were to discuss sex openly and honestly from an early age, we would unquestionably become more aware of issues of gender and power imbalance and grow up with a different ideology; a sex-positive dialogue has the power to make sexual practices more pleasurable for both genders and, most importantly, more egalitarian. I doubt you would dare deny that sexual assault is founded in an unequal distribution of power between men and women. That in mind, Sarah is entirely right about creating a positive dialogue — by altering the conversations we have regarding sex (amongst multitudinous other things), we can become aware of our culture’s gendered distribution of power. Once more aware of gender inequality, we can begin working towards better gender balance and, in turn, reduce sexual assault.
    John, you are quick to namedrop yourself as a researcher and you are also quick to undermine Sarah’s experiences and opinions. Your attempts to invalidate her based on her supposed lack of command of the studies surrounding sexual assault are hypocritical; you ask her what studies she is referring to, but you cite no studies yourself. Are we to assume that we are to believe everything you say because you are one researcher of many in this field? Though you officially cite no studies, it is implied that you are offhandedly referring to your own studies, which is more than insufficient; it is bad science. Naturally your studies will be in accord with your opinions. In practice, you are effectively using yourself to back yourself up, which is just preposterous.
    Additionally, you make it clear that what most bothers you about the Sex Workers’ Art Show is the nudity it sometimes involves. If nudity and stripping is, as you boldly and irresponsibly claim, evocative of sexually-aggressive behavior in men, then what do you propose as a solution? Shall we come up with a way to procreate with our clothes on? Or perhaps you’re only offended by stripping — maybe if men and women undress in separate rooms and then fumble towards one another in utter darkness they can engage in sex without worrying about rousing any male aggression. Does that work for you? By these absurd examples I aim to display that the assertion that nudity and stripping provoke rape is not only, as Sarah noted, a discredit to men but is simply ridiculous.
    I’d like to close with a final note that seems often to be overlooked in the ongoing controversy surrounding this show: if you remove “Sex Workers’” from the title, you are left with “Art Show.” It is a performance art show. Certainly some might say the material is “edgy,” but what art isn’t edgy? John, I suppose you would be in favor of removing Edouard Manet’s masterpiece “Olympia” from the Musee d’Orsay; it depicts a nude, unrepentant prostitute reclining on a sofa bed. By your definition, “Olympia” is a cause of male sexual aggression. I assure you that the curator at the Musee d’Orsay would have a hearty laugh were he or she to hear your plea for censorship.


    — Cait Smith    Jan 26, 11:44 PM    #

  4. John, if you had actually proved causation between male viewership of naked (!!!) women and male sexual aggression, something tells me that you wouldn’t have to post your arguments/findings on a Flat Hat article.


    — MKM    Jan 27, 02:39 AM    #

  5. Very well said, Sarah.

    John, I echo everything Cait said and I too am HIGHLY skeptical that that a few minutes of partial nudity will lead to sexual aggression and rape among the men at our college. No, I don’t have any studies to back myself up, but I have sat in several movie theaters with more than a few men in attendance where female nudity was shown on screen. I left there rather unscathed. I’ve also attuned art museums with men where nudity was prominently displayed. I also walked away unharmed.

    If what you say where true though, I think we’ve got much bigger problems on our hands than the sex workers art show. If the image of the female body alone is enough to drive respectable well educated men to sexual violence than we need to be talking very seriously about gendered power dynamics and patriarchal systems, which you seem hesitant to do. You believe female nudity by itself causes men to act out in sexual aggression, but your solution is to tell women to keep their clothes on? To me, that shows an incredible lack of respect for the women you are claiming to “protect,” and is unbelievably misogynistic and patronizing, in addition to not actually being a solution to the problem at hand. So if you believe so passionately in your studies, why don’t you work to get at the root cause of why the simple image of the female body would make men violent, instead of silencing women’s expression and experiences.

    I can think of plenty of things in our society that lead to violence; inadequate gun control laws, poverty, and racism, not to mention sending our young men to war for the purpose of inflicting violence and then expecting them to readjust to society normally. The image of the female body and the free expression of a group of women and men who have long been silenced does not appear anywhere on this list. I can think of much more effective ways for you to prevent violence against women than protesting an art show on a college campus.


    — Danielle    Jan 27, 02:18 PM    #

  6. If you are interested in reading research on this topic, here is a summary. I reiterate, my opinions about the issues we are discussing are informed by research. Though your instincts or suppositions may conflict with this — which is your right — this is what the research says. There are many people who believe that smoking does not cause cancer, that eating herbs will cure a disease better than taking an antibiotic, or that the world is flat. There are others who trust science. This is from the science available. There is much more that comes to the same conclusions. You are free to believe what you would like.

    Men’s use of pornography, defined as “sexually explicit media that primarily is intended to arouse the viewer sexually” (Malamuth & Huppin; 2005 p. 315)” significantly predicts sexual violence against women. Specifically, men who view pornographic magazines, websites, videos, or who go to strip clubs are more likely to commit sexual violence than those who do not (Carr & VanDeusen, 2004).

    The most powerful research available on non-violent pornography has shown that when viewers are shown consensual sexual activity, they experience a significant increase in their attitudes supporting sexual aggression. When shown violent, nonconsensual pornography, attitudes supporting sexual aggression increases by an even greater amount. In short, non-violent pornography does harm to people’s attitudes. The relationship is cause and effect, not correlational. Violent pornography does even more harm. These results were discovered by combining the results of 16 studies of over 2,000 people (Malamuth, Addison & Koss, 2000).

    Seeing pornography causes men to behave aggressively toward other people, according to the results of 33 experimental studies of violent and non-violent pornography (Malamuth, Addison & Koss, 2000).

    As men’s frequency of using pornography increases and as the violence in that pornography increases, these men rape more women (Malamuth, Addison & Koss, 2000).
    Specifically, 13.8% of “high exposure” men report behavior that meets the legal definition of rape compared to 2.4% of “low exposure” men (Boeringer, 1994).

    Two out of three workers in the sex industry suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (Farley, Cotton, Lynne, Zumbeck, & Spiwak, 2003). This compares to one out of three Veterans who suffered from PTSD after serving in the Vietnam war. Every time a person buys a pornographic magazine, pays a cover charge to enter a strip club, visits a porn website, they financially support a business in which research shows that two out of three employees suffer from post traumatic stress disorder.


    — Dr. John Foubert    Feb 1, 11:54 PM    #

  7. I’ve stumbled upon this debate as a complete outsider, an epidemiologist who has spent several years working to track and reduce HIV infection among male, female and transgendered sex workers, drug injectors and others at high risk in the populous countries of Asia. I’ve also just written a book about the AIDS industry, called The Wisdom of Whores. I blog about science and sex (http://www.wisdomofwhores.com) and I’m fascinated by the reactions I get from different countries. Americans seem universally more prudish about sex than people in other nations (even the world’s largest predominantly Moslem nation, Indonesia.)

    Men want to buy sex. Therefore women (and men, and transgenders) want to sell it. Some of those people also have artistic talents, just as some epidemiologists, supermarket check-out clerks and even university professors do. If they want to make art, and other people want to view that art, so be it. What’s the big deal?

    In my experience, the prostitution = exploitation point of view espoused by the current administration in the US (and the restrictions on effective HIV prevention that it fosters) is extremely damaging to very large numbers of women who see selling sex as a viable way to a better life. Sex workers in Asia earn about 17 times more on average selling sex than they do flipping burgers at some US-headquartered fast food chain, they have more control over their working hours, and more flexibility to care for their families. Since they work three days a week on average, they may even find time to make art.


    — Elizabeth Pisani    Feb 20, 01:26 PM    #

  8. “Men want to buy sex. Therefore women…want to sell it. “ Lizzie, Prof of Whore Studies

    Does that account for my wife’s diamond ring? Damn, I thought it was love. Excuse me, how much did you say you cost and what services do you offer? (Forget the “art”, just list the sex prices, thank you.)

    Although your prejudices would most likely preclude an honest answer, do you think the spread of AIDS and STDs has been increased or hindered by “prudish” views of sex? Also, if one dies of AIDS, is that worth a 17X increase in income and a three-day work week? (By the way, flipping burgers is NOT the only alternative, dear professor.) And how about the children and families of those now dead sex workers? Would they have preferred Mommy alive or the cash? I guess if they’re little girls, then by your theory they’d take the cash over the love.

    Thanks very much for your input. I’m sure you’ll make a fine addition to the W&M faculty. You should be put in charge of new co-ed indoctrination (the guys will thank you!). But let’s not be old-fashioned and sexist: Please, by all means, apply for the now-vacant job of esteemed President. We could hardly go lower than the last occupant. At least that’s what I thought until now.


    — horndog    Feb 20, 01:47 PM    #