STORY
Northwestern University acknowledged that an unusual demonstration was held on campus last week in which students observed a naked woman being penetrated by a sex toy.
The sex act was performed in front of about 100 students in psychology professor John Michael Bailey’s human sexuality class. The demonstration occurred after class, and attendance was optional.
The university will pay several hundred dollars to guest lecturer Ken Melvoin-Berg, co-owner of Weird Chicago Tours. His Feb. 21 discussion of bondage, swinging and other sexual fetishes was arranged by Bailey, who gets extra funding from the university’s College of Arts & Sciences for lectures and other activities he routinely holds after class.
“The students find the events to be quite valuable, typically, because engaging real people in conversation provides useful examples and extensions of concepts students learn about in traditional academic ways,” Bailey said in a prepared statement Wednesday night
After an initial discussion at Ryan Family Auditorium, the class was told that a couple was going to demonstrate the use of a sex toy and female orgasm.
“Both Professor Bailey and myself gave them five or six warnings about what was about to happen and it would be graphic,” Melvoin-Berg said.
The woman undressed and got on stage with her male partner, who used a device that looks like a machine-powered saw with a phallic object instead of a blade. Melvoin-Berg said the couple are exhibitionists who enjoy having people watch them have sex, and they were not paid for the demonstration.
Jim Marcus said he and his fiancé hadn’t planned to show off the sex act at first, but decided to do so after the class watched a video on female orgasm that he thought was unrealistic. They already had brought the equipment to show as part of the discussion.
“It seems like a human sexuality class is a smart place to dispel some of the mistakes that we saw in the video,” said Marcus, a musician who also teaches sex education.
He said the demonstration with his fiancé, Faith Kroll, was different from a live sex show or pornography.
“I was more than happy to. We have fun with it,” Kroll said. “I’m an exhibitionist. I enjoy the attention, being seen by other people. It was entertaining because there were a lot of curious minds, so that was cool.”
“What we did was not designed to titillate people, but to educate people,” Marcus said. He said the demonstration was accompanied by a discussion about safety and consent, for example.
“I hope (Bailey) doesn’t take a lot of flak for this, but I suspect he will,” Marcus said.
“It is probably something I will remember for the rest of my life. I can’t say that about my Econ 202 class and the material that I learned there,” said Northwestern senior Justin Smith. Smith, 21, said students were told there would be a “sex tour operator” speaking about fetishes after class, but they didn’t initially know there would be a live demonstration.
“We were watching a video on sexual arousal. They thought, ‘Why not give a demonstration?,” Smith said. “The main guy, Ken, said, ‘Are you ready for the live sex show?’ We were like, ‘OK.’”
There were several warnings and some students trickled out, he said. He said most students were sitting in the auditorium’s balcony, including a student’s mom who attended class that day.
Once the demonstration began, Smith said, “there was a lot of covering of the mouth like ‘Oh my gosh.’ It was pretty quiet … I didn’t really see people take affront, but they were engaged with the experience.’”
Melvoin-Berg called it an educational experience for the students, and said it lasted about three minutes. “We wanted to share not only our lifestyles and talk about it, but demonstrate what we do in our personal lives,” he said. The students, he said, “seemed to be incredibly pleased. We had a number of them that got closer and closer.”
An Evanston police department spokesman said Northwestern police would be responsible for determining whether the demonstration violated any local ordinances. University spokesman Alan Cubbage said “the issue has not been raised,” and nobody had filed a complaint with the police department.
Bailey’s statement said it was too early to say whether he regretted the demonstration, but, “I certainly have no regrets concerning Northwestern students, who have demonstrated that they are open-minded grownups rather than fragile children.”
Melvoin-Berg said he typically earns $300 to $500 for an hour-long lecture, and that Northwestern had agreed to pay in that range.
“Northwestern University faculty members engage in teaching and research on a wide variety of topics, some of them controversial and at the leading edge of their respective disciplines,” Cubbage said in a prepared statement. “The university supports the efforts of its faculty to further the advancement of knowledge.”
There are 567 students registered for Bailey’s class, Cubbage said.
According to a description of Bailey’s class, it “will treat human sexuality as a subject for scientific inquiry,” with topics including human mating, sexual arousal and sexual jealousy.
Bailey is no stranger to controversy. In 2003, he was criticized by several transsexual women who said they did not give him permission to use their stories in his book, “The Man who Would be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism.”
On Wednesday, some Northwestern students questioned the necessity of last week’s demonstration, but said they weren’t bothered by it.
“I think it’s going a bit over the top, but because it was optional and the students were warned, it’s OK in that sense, said Tegan Reyes, 19, a freshman.
“Even though it’s controversial now … Over time people will become more liberal. I don’t think it will be an issue,” Lauren Matthew, 18, said. “There should be a line (on what is inappropriate) but I don’t know where it should be.”
Northwestern student Ryan Naylor, 18, is not enrolled in Bailey’s class but said he thought the demonstration “was really inappropriate.”
“I wouldn’t have been comfortable with it,” he said.
Northwestern University acknowledged that an unusual demonstration was held on campus last week in which students observed a naked woman being penetrated by a sex toy.
The sex act was performed in front of about 100 students in psychology professor John Michael Bailey’s human sexuality class. The demonstration occurred after class, and attendance was optional.
The university will pay several hundred dollars to guest lecturer Ken Melvoin-Berg, co-owner of Weird Chicago Tours. His Feb. 21 discussion of bondage, swinging and other sexual fetishes was arranged by Bailey, who gets extra funding from the university’s College of Arts & Sciences for lectures and other activities he routinely holds after class.
“The students find the events to be quite valuable, typically, because engaging real people in conversation provides useful examples and extensions of concepts students learn about in traditional academic ways,” Bailey said in a prepared statement Wednesday night
After an initial discussion at Ryan Family Auditorium, the class was told that a couple was going to demonstrate the use of a sex toy and female orgasm.
“Both Professor Bailey and myself gave them five or six warnings about what was about to happen and it would be graphic,” Melvoin-Berg said.
The woman undressed and got on stage with her male partner, who used a device that looks like a machine-powered saw with a phallic object instead of a blade. Melvoin-Berg said the couple are exhibitionists who enjoy having people watch them have sex, and they were not paid for the demonstration.
Jim Marcus said he and his fiancé hadn’t planned to show off the sex act at first, but decided to do so after the class watched a video on female orgasm that he thought was unrealistic. They already had brought the equipment to show as part of the discussion.
“It seems like a human sexuality class is a smart place to dispel some of the mistakes that we saw in the video,” said Marcus, a musician who also teaches sex education.
He said the demonstration with his fiancé, Faith Kroll, was different from a live sex show or pornography.
“I was more than happy to. We have fun with it,” Kroll said. “I’m an exhibitionist. I enjoy the attention, being seen by other people. It was entertaining because there were a lot of curious minds, so that was cool.”
“What we did was not designed to titillate people, but to educate people,” Marcus said. He said the demonstration was accompanied by a discussion about safety and consent, for example.
“I hope (Bailey) doesn’t take a lot of flak for this, but I suspect he will,” Marcus said.
“It is probably something I will remember for the rest of my life. I can’t say that about my Econ 202 class and the material that I learned there,” said Northwestern senior Justin Smith. Smith, 21, said students were told there would be a “sex tour operator” speaking about fetishes after class, but they didn’t initially know there would be a live demonstration.
“We were watching a video on sexual arousal. They thought, ‘Why not give a demonstration?,” Smith said. “The main guy, Ken, said, ‘Are you ready for the live sex show?’ We were like, ‘OK.’”
There were several warnings and some students trickled out, he said. He said most students were sitting in the auditorium’s balcony, including a student’s mom who attended class that day.
Once the demonstration began, Smith said, “there was a lot of covering of the mouth like ‘Oh my gosh.’ It was pretty quiet … I didn’t really see people take affront, but they were engaged with the experience.’”
Melvoin-Berg called it an educational experience for the students, and said it lasted about three minutes. “We wanted to share not only our lifestyles and talk about it, but demonstrate what we do in our personal lives,” he said. The students, he said, “seemed to be incredibly pleased. We had a number of them that got closer and closer.”
An Evanston police department spokesman said Northwestern police would be responsible for determining whether the demonstration violated any local ordinances. University spokesman Alan Cubbage said “the issue has not been raised,” and nobody had filed a complaint with the police department.
Bailey’s statement said it was too early to say whether he regretted the demonstration, but, “I certainly have no regrets concerning Northwestern students, who have demonstrated that they are open-minded grownups rather than fragile children.”
Melvoin-Berg said he typically earns $300 to $500 for an hour-long lecture, and that Northwestern had agreed to pay in that range.
“Northwestern University faculty members engage in teaching and research on a wide variety of topics, some of them controversial and at the leading edge of their respective disciplines,” Cubbage said in a prepared statement. “The university supports the efforts of its faculty to further the advancement of knowledge.”
There are 567 students registered for Bailey’s class, Cubbage said.
According to a description of Bailey’s class, it “will treat human sexuality as a subject for scientific inquiry,” with topics including human mating, sexual arousal and sexual jealousy.
Bailey is no stranger to controversy. In 2003, he was criticized by several transsexual women who said they did not give him permission to use their stories in his book, “The Man who Would be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism.”
On Wednesday, some Northwestern students questioned the necessity of last week’s demonstration, but said they weren’t bothered by it.
“I think it’s going a bit over the top, but because it was optional and the students were warned, it’s OK in that sense, said Tegan Reyes, 19, a freshman.
“Even though it’s controversial now … Over time people will become more liberal. I don’t think it will be an issue,” Lauren Matthew, 18, said. “There should be a line (on what is inappropriate) but I don’t know where it should be.”
Northwestern student Ryan Naylor, 18, is not enrolled in Bailey’s class but said he thought the demonstration “was really inappropriate.”
“I wouldn’t have been comfortable with it,” he said.
