SEX.
Are you still reading? I thought so. It’s a word that invokes curiosity above all others, and for good reason. Especially in college, sex and sexuality are hot (literally) topics.
I recently read College Sex: Philosophers with Benefits, part of the Philosophy for Everyone series, which includes topics like coffee, porn and motherhood (see the full list here).
This book had a textbook-like quality that at times was difficult to read (especially late at night…the only time I seemed to have free time – thus nodding-off ensued). My biggest critique of the book is that even though it’s supposedly “philosophy for everyone” sometimes the essays were a little over my head – I’ve never taken a philosophy class and mentions of allegedly great philosophers meant next to nothing to me. However, despite these (which I admittedly just glossed over to get to more juicy subject matter) I still enjoyed the majority of it.
For example, I loved the fun phrases and sentences that jolt you awake like a Red Bull for breakfast (speaking from experience) sprinkled throughout the text for added color. For example, in a discussion about the walk of shame, (pg. 53): “The clothes that a woman wears during the walk of shame fall into a particular category; they are generally more revealing, accentuating her body in such a way as to invite desire. The shoes are not the sensible shoes of the workplace, but rather the ‘hooker shoes’ or ‘f**k-me pumps’ of the club scene.” And yes, I censored this. College Sex definitely knows how to keep reader interest.
College Sex keeps you enticed with fantastic section titles such as “You Can Walk, But You Can’t Hide (The Shame)” or “The Dorm Porn Industry.” Just a little tease of what topics you can look forward to – see the full table of contents and book information here.
Structured to take you through college – beginning with freshman year (Hook-Up Culture), then sophomore year (Friends with Benefits), junior year (Ethics of College Sex) and finally senior year (Sex and Self-Respect) – College Sex breaks down the journey to sexual self-discovery for young adults, highlighting common sexual problems and analyzing current sexual behaviors and phenomena.
Why You Should Read It
It puts sex into a new perspective. Rather than being an argument of celibacy versus sexually active, it takes an academic approach to what is healthy, normal, abnormal, and destructive. It’s like having an intelligent conversation with a much wiser, sexually-experienced adult without it being the most awkward conversation you’ve ever had. One of the premises of the book is that sex gets better once you age a little – good and bad news for the average sexually active student in the mindset that sex in your early twenties is the best ever (translation: deflate your large ego a little about what a great lover you are *cough* guys *cough*).
It makes you think. One part that struck me was the discussion of sexual experimentation – aka heterosexual college students checking out homosexuality and vice-versa. The “vice-versa” part was the part that shocked me; I had never thought of lesbians or gay men doing straight experiments – I always assumed that would make them bisexual, which is not the case (one girl-on-girl make out session doesn’t make either girl a lesbian or bisexual necessarily). Huh!
It makes you think more. College Sex talks about ethics in professor-student relationships, the pros and cons of friends with benefits, dating in the age of technology, long-distance relationships and prostitution (and Girls Gone Wild).
You actually get something from it. Rather than a textbook in a class that you read and forget almost instantaneously, College Sex forces you to see sex from a more objective perspective – you’ll soon be asking questions regarding your own sex life and how good and healthy it actually is.
So, would you read it?