"It was about sex, you moron!"

[Vern5]

I'm taking a creative poetry class this semester. I'm doing this because:

1) I know the teacher and his classes are fun or at least allow for the use of humor.
B) I needed an extra elective
III) Why the hell not?

One day, the class was tasked to make a "collage" poem. A "collage" poem is basically a poem that is either constructed from things other people have said or constructed from newspaper headlines. Naturally, I took the more interesting option and looked up funny newspaper headlines to make into a 3 line poem. Here's what I came up with. (Keep in mind, each line is an actual, unedited Newspaper headline)

Prostitutes Appeal to Pope
Stud Tires Out
Soviet Virgin Lands Short of Goal Again

Usually, we go through a class by analyzing everyone's various poems in turn, looking for things we liked and things we thought needed improvement. When we got to my tiny poem, the professor paused the discussion to ask everyone what they thought the poem was about.

I sat there for about fifteen minutes as people talked about the Pope trying to sanctify young prostitutes to save their souls or about how the Soviet regime fell apart. Finally, the professor just cracked and exclaimed, "it's about sex!"

He beat me to it. I thought I had created a barely veiled allusion to the idea of prostitutes trying to chat up the pope but everyone gracefully tried to skirt around it.

Why? Maybe I'm just insane but I thought we lived in a day and age where people could talk about sex openly without fear of persecution. Maybe my class is genuinely prudish. Still, I can't help but feel like this is not the first time I've seen or heard of people trying to desperately evade sexual imagery or references. The whole idea baffles me. Why are there those who live in fear of sexual references? What is there to be afraid of?

 

[Lionsfan]

I don't think it's about sex being a persecution worthy topic, but it's still kind of uncomfortable for some people to talk about. You know, the sweet innocent girl doesn't want to reveal she's hornier than a spike, or something like that

Or it could just be that everyone was being really pretentious about it and over analyzing it[footnote]For this specific example[/footnote]

 

[krazykidd]

Some people don't like it . For some as myself , sex is a private thing that i dislike speaking about to people other than my companion . Other are more liberal about it and there is nothin wrong with that . It's all about the individual , some people consider certain things unappropriate and others don't see the big deal .

I personally don't really discuss sex in a public setting , as i personally find it to be inappropriate , depending on the circumstances .

 

[Vault101]

I dont know..I figured people assumed there was some kind of "meaning" to it, judging by the class and all

as for discussing sex...well that depends on the situation..usually I find it to be a private thing

you know...not that I have much to contribute on that topic

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

Hell... when I was with my ex, I would get embarressed talking about sex with her... it was always an unspoken agreement...

 

[DanielBrown]

Obviously you don't know your own poems. Clearly it's about fans(prostitutes) whining to Bioware(the Pope) about the ending to ME3(tires out = cum = end!). The last part tells us that it's not going to happen.

I amaze myself sometimes.

OT: Personally I don't mind talking about sex, but it's still nothing I'd like to bring up into an every day conversation.

 

[Risingblade]

Maybe they though sex was too obvious, that you put a deeper meaning behind you work.

 

[Nouw]

Obviously you don't know your own poems. Clearly it's about fans(prostitutes) whining to Bioware(the Pope) about the ending to ME3(tires out = cum = end!). The last part tells us that it's not going to happen.

I amaze myself sometimes.

That...that was brilliant.

 

[Iron Lightning]

We, as a species, have somehow become afraid of our genitals.

Humans are fucking silly creatures.

 

[Verzin]

snip

What do you expect from humanity? a culture where things that have been taboo subjects off and on throughout history, even the functions of the human body can be comfortably and freely discussed?

Thing is....From what I've seen in myself, and the people around me, we have this way of letting our subconscious attach a sort of...repressed shame and/or disgust to things like eating certain foods, bodily functions (sex included), religious taboos..really anything that we feel isn't spoken of in public or that just 'isn't done'.

It seems like that sort of shame/disgust kind of...builds up the longer you don't genuinely try to break its hold on you.
It's something I think every human being has in common from birth: creating a social and cultural normality and before we realize how disgustingly flawed the idea of 'normal' and 'different' are, our subconscious starts identifying things outside of it to be shameful or disgusting.

Then these taboos are passed from generation to generation. without us even thinking about it we brand our children with our own inhibitions. it's sad. Terribly sad.

Even sadder is the fact that while we can often confront the lesser of these inhibitions and conquer them, the truly deep ones that have been engraved on our minds can be so brutally debilitating that years of therapy cannot undo them.

 

[Zen Toombs]

We, as a species, have somehow become afraid of our genitals.

Have you LOOKED at a vagina? Or a penis for that matter? They look all sorts of freaky!

[small]they're a ton of fun to play with, but still. freaky lookin.[/small]

 

[artanis_neravar]

We, as a species, have somehow become afraid of our genitals.

Have you LOOKED at a vagina? Or a penis for that matter? They look all sorts of freaky!

[small]they're a ton of fun to play with, but still. freaky lookin.[/small]

To quote Waiting...
"It's so angry!, Oh GOD does that thing have its shots? Put it away! Just put it away!"

OT: I have no idea why people don't like talking about sex, I mean I won't talk about my personal sex life, but I have no problem talking about sex in classes or something like that.

 

[The .50 Caliber Cow]

Why? Maybe I'm just insane but I thought we lived in a day and age where people could talk about sex openly without fear of persecution. Maybe my class is genuinely prudish. Still, I can't help but feel like this is not the first time I've seen or heard of people trying to desperately evade sexual imagery or references. The whole idea baffles me. Why are there those who live in fear of sexual references? What is there to be afraid of?

I made a thread about sex recently. I think it is unhealthy to shove such an important aspect of humanity into the closet and to say 'we'll talk about that when it comes up'. I am kind of glad the Escapist is open enough to talk about the subject. Of course, its the only thing the guys back in my hometown would talk about...

[sub][sub]Moo! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9iIgQN5uZE][/sub][/sub]

 

[trooper6]

I'm a professor of Musicology at a university. I do popular music studies. Regularly the songs we talk about in class deal with sex--either explicitly or through metaphor.

After we listen to a song in class, I open up the conversation by asking, "What is this song about? What are you hearing?"

I find, at least for the first month or so, my students are really shy about talking about sex in class. For example take the song by Mae West, "I Like a Guy What Takes His Time"

Lyrics (Note: Mae West moans quite a lot while singing this song, and the trombone is positively filthy)
A guy what takes his time, I'll go for any time
I'm a fast movin' gal who likes them slow
Got no use for fancy drivin', want to see a guy arrivin' in low.
I'd be satisfied, electrified to know a guy what takes his time

A hurry-up affair, I always give the air
Wouldn't give any rushin' gent a smile.
I would go for any singer who would condescend to linger awhile
What a lullaby would be supplied to have a guy what takes his time

A guy what takes his time, I'd go for any time
A hasty job really spoils a master's touch
I don't like a big commotion, I'm a demon for slow motion or such
Why should I deny that I would die to know a guy who takes his time

There isn't any fun in getting something done
If you're rushed when you have to make the grade
I can spot an amateur, appreciate a connesseur in his trade
Who would qualify, no alibi, to be the guy who takes his time

So I ask, what is this song about? No one seems to have anything to say. Until I finally get them to open up.
Is it because my students are prudes? No. These are students who listen to crazy sexually explicit music and who run doing whatever. The hesitation--my best guess--is that while they feel comfortable talking about sex amongst themselves, they feel uncomfortable talking about sex, drugs, etc while in class in front of a professor.

They get over it. Because we are talking about the historical the in sexual attitudes during the 1920s and 1930s using Mae West (and many others) as a sonic example...so there is an academic reason why we are talking about sexual attitudes.

TLR -- I'd say your fellow students aren't prudes, they just don't want to talk about sex in front of their professor.

 

[Rangerboy87]

To be honest with you, I didn't really catch it the first time through. The first line made me laugh, but I didn't connect the dots until you told me and I went back to look. So I could see misreading the poem being the reason they couldn't figure it out. That was really creative though! I liked it!

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Literature students reading too much into something. Well bugger me sideways...