Hannah Halphen/Senior Editor

Relationships by themselves can be the most difficult things to handle without the disapproval of your peers and family. There is a sense of almost losing your true self being involved with someone else that is scary and unstable—you can go into a relationship one way, and come out a completely different person. This scares a lot of us, but what about the relationships that get unwanted attention from your family? What if you find love, or infatuation, in someone that your friends disapprove of? 
 
Same-Sex Relationships

Without completely getting engulfed in the politics of these types of relationships, these are a good place to start. The first time I came out as bisexual to my parent, the initial shock-and-awe was only for the safety of my sexual health—not of who I was, why I was doing these things, and if I was “broken”.

My best friend, Brandon, was unfortunately the recipient of the classic kicking-out and excommunication often associated with coming out to family. Upon sitting down and discussing his initial reactions to himself when he found out he was gay, and what it meant to him in familial context, his mother began to see that it was indeed a very difficult decision to make for him to tell her.

Musicians are about as prevalent as bold statement jewelry and dark eye shadow these days. This is a testament to the power that music has over the emotions of those involved. This week’s Campus Celeb, however, is a unique musician that has a soaring passion for what she does. Caitlin Nance is a Freshman Music Education major at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Originally from Pocahontas, Illinois, she is a multi-talented young woman who has a passion that is often the cause of double takes--the harp. She plays flute, piccolo, and piano as well, but the harp is what everyone asks about and recognizes her for. 

“I actually wanted to start playing the harp in fifth grade, but it wouldn’t fit in my mom’s car,” describes Nance. The full-size western harp (yes, there is more than one style and more than one size) often stands around six feet tall.

My friend walks into my dorm room, plops down on the couch, and sighs. “Ugh, I’ve just hit twelve. Twelve! I’ve slept with TWELVE people,” she says. The rate at which I hear similar exclamations from my girlfriends is astounding. However, when asked about their “number”, my guy friends simply shrug it off and guess how many they’ve been with.  Why is it that we have such a double standard set up for women and men? When it gets down to it, it’s dangerous--double standards not only alienate but also suppress women into thinking they cannot be themselves.
 
When it comes to names, the ones women are used to being called can make a list a mile long. If you, the reader, are someone who has been around for more than ten years there is a high probability that you have heard at least a couple of those words used either against you or against a friend or loved one. Ask yourself this: have you ever heard a man being called a derogatory term when referring to his sexual prowess?

If you answered “No”, you would be among the many to notice this. Men aren’t penalized in society as much as women are for their sexual promiscuity. Women, on the other hand, seem to garner much ridicule simply for what they wear on occasion!
 
Jane*, an IUP Collegiette, says, “I have only slept with four people in my entire sexual history, and when I tell people that I still receive weird looks.” She says her frustrations lie in it being unfair that men seem to be encouraged to go around and accumulate partners, whereas women “aren’t even taught to think about having sex.”