Well, Dawn, it's something that needs to be commented on, and as such I"m glad you've done it.

But it does nothing to help me climb out of the swirling eddy of despair I've been in. (The "So what -- Tiller killed some retard. As if there aren't already too many of them" attitude the press is drifting toward in the Christin Gilbert story is a biggie, as is the whole, "Oh, I'll open my very own abortion clinic!" response to South Dakota.

Sigh. I need a morale boost, and there's nothing in this wretched world that's gonna provide it:

Nothing ever grows in this rotten old hole
And everything is stunted and lost
And nothing really rocks
And nothing really rolls
And nothing's ever worth the cost
Christina | Homepage | 04.10.06 - 2:59 am | #

Praying for God to send you His comfort, Christina.
Dawn Eden | Homepage | 04.10.06 - 3:05 am | #

Christina, how can this depress you? I mean, isn't it part of the AMerican dream? "A car in every garage, a chicken in every pot, and a orgasm on every T-shirt?"

Oh, wait, maybe that is depressing.

And as for "Radiation of Beauty": Is this student really meaning to imply that the orgasm is the source of female beauty? Talk about reducing women to their genitals. Way to be complicit in the all-too-common male objectification of women:
"Here, you don't even HAVE to look at my face. Look instead at the glittery genitals I've displayed proudly on my eye-catching breasts."

Brava, dear.
Kate B. | 04.10.06 - 8:36 am | #

Can I make a t-shirt that says "My orgasm is holy"?
John J. Simmins | Homepage | 04.10.06 - 9:38 am | #

Um, call me dense but how are they painting this exactly? Are they taking an MRI of brainwave activity during the event? Only way of 'painting' this that springs to mind. Sounds like they are simply adding some random body part or a picture thereof after the phrase "My Orgasm is..." Kind of like some twisted version of Madlibs.
I take comfort from this as it's further proof that not only do liberals lack taste, they also aren't very bright. Moreover if they think THAT's what an Orgasm is, they obviously aren't experiencing the joy that God intended for us inside of lawful committed relationships. But then that dosen't surprise me either.
Richard J. Stuart | Homepage | 04.10.06 - 9:54 am | #

Yeah, I had the same question, Richard J.

But whatever: Elizabeth Anscombe's term "shallow" doesn't begin to do justice to the collapse of reason involved in this sort of thing. That to me is the most disturbing aspect of it. As Mark Shea is always saying, "Sin makes you stupid," but I would've thought one would have to visit Hell to see the sort of disintegration of the human intellect that's often on display in the cult of sex.

There's a Pentecostal church in my area which is currently fixated on a supposed image of Jesus formed by a series of bulges and cracks in a sheetrock wall. But outside of this one factual error they're on far more solid intellectual ground than the "Pride Student Union," who probably consider themselves intellectuals.
Maclin Horton | Homepage | 04.10.06 - 10:59 am | #

You have to give it to Planned Parenthood. Every time you say, "They can't possibly sink any farther," they do so.
C.J. | 04.10.06 - 11:39 am | #

as it was said, "Is there no end to evil?"
mia | 04.10.06 - 12:00 pm | #

Mia - there is, eventually, an end to evil because evil is a parasite. You have to start with the good (in this case, sex) and twist it around. Get too far away and the game is up - there's nothing left to sustain the activity any longer. "The problem with describing hell is that it is next-to-nothing," as George MacDonald said in Lewis' "The Great Divorce."

Of course, anyone married to such a diminishing source of nourishment becomes stunted and distorted as a result, which is where Mark Shea's observation comes in.

Part of the tough work in evangelizing the world is in encouraging people to turn back around and follow the path back up and out of the swamps. One's steps seem to fade from view the deeper one gets in, and it's hard to track back in the right direction. In this case, it's hard to make people see that the thing they rightly love and enjoy needs its taboos in order to remain lovable and enjoyable. The slogan ought to be, "My orgasm is none of your business."
Nightfly | Homepage | 04.10.06 - 12:12 pm | #

John J., brilliant!

Your comment reminds me of something surprisingly refreshing that I read in the New York Post yesterday (we get it for free at my work). It was on a graphic within an article about the so-called "Gospel of Judas" that contrasted Gnostic and Catholic beliefs.

Under "Gnostics believe," it said something like, "The body is evil and must be overcome." Under "Catholics believe," it said something like, "The body is holy and must be cherished."

My memory's a little off, but I remember reading the word "cherished" and thinking, "WOW!" And, "Will the Post remember this the next time it regurgitates a wire story about the Pope's supposedly 'speaking out against sex'?" Probably not.
Dawn Eden | Homepage | 04.10.06 - 1:01 pm | #

Did they actually find 150 students stupid enough to participate?

Seems all the comments are directed to this degrading women. From the article it looks like all sexes were invited to play.

From an srtistic point of view, it might be interesting to see how different people visualize something that isn't visible. Like getting kids to draw a picture of God.
Chesher Cat | Homepage | 04.10.06 - 1:27 pm | #

I like your last point, Chesher. Thing is, when a culture that worships the body asks people to draw their orgasm, it's kind of like a Communist culture asking people to draw God. The drawings aren't going to express anything like what John J. suggested above.

An orgasm has no mystical meaning if its sole purpose is to give ephemeral pleasure. The truly mystical lasts forever.
Dawn Eden | Homepage | 04.10.06 - 1:38 pm | #

Can you sexually harass someone who wears a shirt like that? What about the pretty teenager I saw wearing a T-shirt that said "How do you want me?"

I can't even find my teenager an Easter dress, a church dress that covers the bosom and the shoulders. Not black. Six hours shopping and there were sleazy outfits aplenty.

When clothes already offer girls' bodies for public consumption, it's hard for me to get bothered over the orgasm shirts. My daughter doesn't have to wear those - she does have to wear something.
Lisa | 04.10.06 - 2:10 pm | #

Ah yes. The all important orgasm. Without it life is so meaningless. It is of no importance of course that if we live to the average life expectancy we spend most of our lives without having one, which begs the question, if orgasm isn't the greatest good of all, what is? Am I throwing the best things in my life away for a pleasure which is transient and fleeting at best?
angelic doctor | 04.10.06 - 2:33 pm | #

John J., brilliant!

You made my day!
John J. Simmins | Homepage | 04.10.06 - 3:55 pm | #

Can I make a t-shirt that says "My orgasm is holy"?

John J., you beat me to it! I was going to have a picture of the hand of God from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel on my shirt :)
Tony | Homepage | 04.10.06 - 4:23 pm | #

Thanks for linking to the Anscombe article Dawn - another version of it (in Anscombe's collected papers) was responsible for changing my mind about the Church's teaching on contraception. God bless you as you prepare for your first confession - I had my first confession as an adult convert as well,it wasn't as bad as I expected! Holy Thursday is a good time for a first confession
John Lamont | 04.10.06 - 8:20 pm | #

this just sounds like something you are forced to do, that is supose to be educational but just ends up being horribly embarassing.
lar | Homepage | 04.11.06 - 12:52 am | #

This can only happen in a contracepting culture. What sustains the population? A woman screaming in orgasmic pleasure, or one who is pregnant?

this stuff needs to be criminalized.
Biddy | 04.11.06 - 9:27 am | #

Actually, the medievals (I've heard) believed that conception was only possible with orgasm. If we look at this correctly, both female orgasm and childbearing sustain the population. Much like the necessity of both the unitive and procreative aspects of sex, orgasm and childbearing are both necessary, and most both be sought as part of sex. IMO.
Kate B. | 04.11.06 - 9:48 am | #

As Florida alum we joyfully chanted "It's great to be a Florida Gator!" following the Gator basketball team's NCAA championship last week, but after reading this, I'd rather not admit we even know them! Blecch is right!
Patricia | Homepage | 04.11.06 - 3:56 pm | #

Can I have a T-Shirt that says:

"My orgasm is worth a heckuva lot less than my horse's!

"Charger's happy moments go for $7,000 a pop at the local stud farm.

I should be so lucky!"

Do you think all that would fit?
Marion (Mael Muire) | 04.11.06 - 4:16 pm | #

The part I find incredibly sad is that they will never know the difference between making love and having sex. What a waste of a beautiful gift from a loving God.
KAJ | 04.11.06 - 4:26 pm | #

Hello Dawn,

Since Roe vs. Wade the sanctaury of the womb is voided. If that sacred domain is subject to invasion then everything is permitted.

Sal
Sal Ciccio | 04.11.06 - 5:00 pm | #

The next time you see some girl wearing a "How do you want me" T-shirt, just stare at her until she gets creeped out, and then explain that you were imagining how you wanted her, LIKE THE SHIRT SAID.

Hopefully after that she never thinks it's cute again.
Michael Andreyakovich | Homepage | 04.11.06 - 5:15 pm | #

I haven't seen any pictures of the perpetrators of this trash, but I would speculate that T-shirt orgasms are the only ones for which many of these women have opportunity.

chsw10605

Have a happy Easter.
chsw10605 | Homepage | 04.11.06 - 5:24 pm | #

Michael,

A better response would be to tell the girl: "I don't."
Sydney Carton | 04.11.06 - 5:26 pm | #

What about just calling her "over easy"?

"Sunny side up"?

What?
Kate B. | 04.11.06 - 5:37 pm | #

So:

People who discuss or like orgasms don't know the difference between making love and having sex.

People, particularly women, must choose between having a screaming orgasm and procreating. (By the way, it takes an average of 12 instances of intercourse for a woman to get pregnant, so there better be some fun in it.)

Orgasms that are displayed or visaualized are no longer personal or holy.

People are displaying their genitals, and not a conceptual representation of an beautiful and function physical and emotion process.

Folks, the problem isn't the people who want to draw their orgasms on t-shirts. The problem is all you people who judge them and stereotype their sexuality, their spirituality, their intellect, and their politics based on their participation in this event. You don't know anything about these people, so stop guessing. Instead, why don't you go join the event and draw a picture on a t-shirt for yourself of God or "my orgasm is holy" or "my orgasm is none of your business."
Daniel | 04.11.06 - 6:45 pm | #

I don't understand what the big deal is here. Who cares? If you're going to start documenting every instance of a college student doing something you think is stupid, you're going to get awfully, awfully tired.

It seems there are plenty of other things to be worried about besides this...
zoot suit | 04.11.06 - 6:58 pm | #

Well, zoot suit, if you don't live in Florida and you're not paying for this, I can understand why it wouldn't matter to you. Poor people in Florida lost meals because some coed had to display her "Radiance of Beauty."
Dawn Eden | Homepage | 04.11.06 - 7:02 pm | #

Until I read the article, I was concerned it was going to be a Clinton/Lewinsky/dress kinda thing...
LittleSquirt | 04.11.06 - 8:05 pm | #

That was taxpayer-funded as well, sadly ...
Dawn Eden | Homepage | 04.11.06 - 8:08 pm | #

Daniel wrote:
"(By the way, it takes an average of 12 instances of intercourse for a woman to get pregnant, so there better be some fun in it.)"

You're wrong. It takes only ONE SPERM CELL to fertleise an egg cell. Next you'll tell us that a woman can't get pregnant the "first time", or "in the back of a '57 Chevy", or "while bitting her lip", ect.
KHarn | 04.11.06 - 10:15 pm | #

I don't know the specifics here, but generally, student body fees pay for activities like this, not taxpayers.

Also, why does Elizabeth Anscombe get the last word? And who said these people are using sex as only casual enjoyment? They're emphasizing the physical aspect, but you have no idea who these people are, or whether they're in deeply emotional committed relationships and happen to really enjoy the physical component of sex.
Evan | 04.12.06 - 12:46 am | #

Evan, the event was not about "deeply emotional committed relationships."

"Of course it's not just physical. I deeply respect you as a human being." — Gen. Buck Turgidson, on the phone in the War Room, "Dr. Strangelove"
Dawn Eden | Homepage | 04.12.06 - 12:53 am | #

1. Why does the depiction of an orgasam equate with the depiction of ones 'privates? I don't see the connection. I believe this to be pure conjecture on your part. Am I wrong?

2. where is the connection of 'our tax dollars' with this event?
snake charmer | 04.12.06 - 11:48 am | #

Did you know Michelle Malkin linked to this blog entry:

http://michellemalkin.com/archiv...ives/ 004969.htm
Tom | Homepage | 04.12.06 - 12:12 pm | #

Talking about sex is a Taboo?? What taboos!

Every single time I turn on a television I see sex. Commercials, programs, movies, billboards, magazines, music,etc. We can't escape it!

The result has been a cheapening and degradation of an experiance that is one of the most beautiful gifts God has given us!

I see young women nowadays treating themselves as if they have no self-worth. They offer themselves up as usable "goods" because they have been told that is what makes them desirable. How terribly sad.

Feminism has failed horribly!
Saddened | 04.12.06 - 12:21 pm | #

I was going to attempt something semi-profound, but this posting, combined with Rhys' link on the kiss item ... I can only think of the prophetic genius of Woody Allen's Sleeper.


Sorry...
C.J. | 04.12.06 - 1:56 pm | #

Step 1: Remove stick

Step 2: Realize these students are celebrating in a nontraditional way one of God's gifts to us.

Step 3: Realize "Wow, isn't it great that college students, the ones most prone to sexual risks, are talking about sexual safety?"

Step 4: Happyness!
Proto | 04.12.06 - 6:21 pm | #

Step 5 (for women): Visit Memorial Sloan-Kettering for treatment of HPV-fueled cervical cancer brought about by condom-"protected" sex.

Step 5 (for men): After increasing your sexual profligacy thanks to a false assumption of "safety," visit St. Vincent's Hospital for treatment of AIDS virus brought about by condoms' 15% failure rate.
Dawn Eden | Homepage | 04.12.06 - 6:32 pm | #

How is Elizabeth Anscombe an authority on how Christians do or do not prepare themselves for sexual intercourse? Making the sexual organs "objects of cultic veneration" is different from acknowledging that the sexual organs exist and that they may deserve concentrated attention from time to time.

The T-shirts may be in poor taste, and they sure sound like bad art, but the cognitive leaps made in this post are highly unwarranted. The religious right have made a cottage industry out of sexual shame, and some of their leaders have been exposed as rather depraved individuals. What were the thoughts of conservative babes in 1977 on those topics?
Mr Blifil | 04.12.06 - 11:25 pm | #

KHarn:

"You're wrong. It takes only ONE SPERM CELL to fertleise an egg cell. Next you'll tell us that a woman can't get pregnant the "first time", or "in the back of a '57 Chevy", or "while bitting her lip", ect."

Don't purposively misread my point. Obviously it only takes one sperm cell or fertilize and egg. Nor was I remotely saying that unprotected sex is safe or doesn't lead to pregnancy. My point was simply that most couples trying to get pregnant have to have sex multiple times to achieve fertilization. Given that FACT, it's essential for the maintenance of the species that sex feels good.

Dawn --
On HPV and condoms, check this link:
http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.p...&lng=en& nrm=iso

Irregardless, can I assume from your concern about HPV transmission and cervical cancer that you support wide distribution of the new HPV vaccine that is close ot FDA approval?
Daniel | 04.13.06 - 6:39 am | #

Why is it always assumed that a woman who enjoys sex is a slut? You talk like a woman who enjoys and celebrates having orgasms has only gotten them by sleeping with every single man she comes in contact with. Is it possible that this woman has her "Radiance of Beauty" orgasms with a committed and loving partner? Or, for that matter, by herself?

Sex is not inherently harmful. Lovemaking is not inherently harmful. Condoms are not inherently harmful. Irresponsible sexual practices can be harmful, but there's no evidence in the entire story that that's what the women are engaging in. You're just making the assumption that they're slutting around because that makes it easier to demonize the shameful activities of loose women.

[Ad hominem deleted -- read Harris Protocol. - Ed.]

Edited By Siteowner
ACG | Homepage | 04.13.06 - 10:24 am | #

Irresponsible sexual practices are indeed harmful, ACG. Sex outside marriage harms individuals and society.
Dawn Eden | Homepage | 04.13.06 - 10:30 am | #

But you're making the assumption that all of these women are having sex outside of marriage, where there was no indication in the article that they were. You were judging them based on an assumption you made, and that assumption was based on the fact that they enjoyed sex and celebrated their ability to have an orgasm.

And I didn't make any ad hominems in my above comment. I made the comment that women are capable of having orgasms by themselves, to directly refute the claim by a commenter that some women must go half their lives (presumably until marriage) to have orgasms. Many women - even those who remain virgins until marriage - begin having them during puberty or younger.
ACG | Homepage | 04.13.06 - 11:37 am | #

I posted some information from a recent New Scientist article regarding brain activity as measured by PET scans during female orgasm (most parts shut down, exccept for the cerebellum, where activity increases), but siteowner removed it. Why?

It would seem to me that any reasonably intelligent person should be able to grasp the connection between visual depictions of neurological phenomenon and brain ascans showing the activity itself - or is the brain now considered "Blech" by religious people too?

Wait, don't answer that...
Rev. Illuminatus Maximus | Homepage | 04.13.06 - 1:13 pm | #