This link was going to be in today's Rise & Shine but we decided to elevate it into a regular post since talks of sex in DC, religious, assorted guilt and college students always seem to be a good idea for a regular size post.
Lets get in the mood:
First of all, are you all aware that it is IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND the original "Like a Prayer" video to embed? Impossible??????
Second of all, Amanda Hess who does the great and hilarious Sexist column for the Washington City Paper did this little expose of the sex life under the Catechism rules @ the Catholic university of America.
Here is the link to it:
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=37178
Its the cover story of the City paper you're holding in your hands right now (maybe) so lets talk about it via chosen excerpts:
THE RULES:
Premarital sex: “I can tell you right now that that is not allowed.”
Condoms: “Condoms are not allowed on the Catholic campus.”
Masturbation: “I don’t think that that’s a debatable issue. That’s something that would be clearly proscribed by Catholic teaching.”
Kissing: “I know of no restrictions on that.”
Men kissing: “That—I don’t know the answer to that. I’ve never seen anything about two men kissing. I’ll have to get back to you on that one. Of course, in different cultures, in other cultures, it is acceptable for men to kiss each other, as a greeting or what have you,” says Nakas. “It’s seen as something that’s very much within the cultural milieu.”
THE TRUTH:
How many Catholic students are getting screwed? In the 2006–2007 school year, CUA recorded 282 alcohol violations, 42 disorderly conduct violations, 14 drug violations, seven harassment violations, and zero violations of the sexual misconduct policy. (Catholic hasn’t released sexual misconduct tallies for any other year.)
THE CONSEQUENCES:
CUA’s anti-sex indoctrination begins at freshman orientation, where administrators inform incoming students that campus sex is punishable with penalties ranging from probation to expulsion. But the real education begins in the residence halls, where chastity protection is delegated to the most pious. “We had a name for them: the God squad,” says Peter, a recent alum who practiced premarital sex in the dorms for four semesters. “You know, the ones who came to Catholic because they want to go to church seven days a week and go to confession all the time and drink the blood of Christ on Sundays.”
PLUS:
The God Squad propaganda, the students blowing off confession en masse, punishment-with-a-wink, is there or isn't there a ‘No Masturbation Clause.’, the contraband contraception, men loving men in the time of Catholicism....
AND THIS LITTLE MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION:
Let’s play a little game of “one of these things is not like the other.” It’s a multiple choice. The “sexual misconduct” policy outlaws:
a. premarital sex
b. condoms
c. masturbation
d. rape
AND REMEMBER:
sex isn’t sex at the Catholic University of America if nobody knows about it
FINALLY:
you ARE reading this in 2009 and not in 1719.
Previously in I Heart DC:
- 2/10: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
- 2/9: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
- 2/8: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
- 2/8: Perfect Date Outfits + Outings
- 2/7: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
- 2/6: DC News You Can Maybe Use:
- 2/2: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use:
- 2/1: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use:
- 1/31: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
- 1/30: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
God loves a cheerful giver.
It's not that bad. I honestly prefer sex to be private than have it always in my face. From my experience at CUA there's no direct pressure either way, just advisement against. I think that (most of) the people on campus recognize others choices and don't judge, and that's all I ask for. Good article, but it has definitely not defined my experience at Catholic U.
I think that Catholic is kind of screwed no matter what their rules are.
it's pretty obvious to me that the University has to have rules based in (on?) catechism, and also that there is absolutely no real way or reason to enforce these rules when basically every other school in the country has no rules about sex whatsoever.
horrifying though about the lack of condoms on campus. I would think that student health services would be independent enough to carry them, since DC has an insanely high HIV rate.
Plenty of schools don't offer condoms on campus, especially Jesuit schools like Georgetown and Fordham. In fact, Georgetown's school clinic won't write prescriptions for contraceptives such as the Pill or (shudder to think) the Diaphragm, meaning students who use the school's clinic need to go somewhere else or pay for those things out of pocket.
Hell, even public, state-funded schools aren't immune to people trying to keep condoms and safe sex messages away from their defenseless, horny students. Anyone from JMU remember SexFest?
Becca - they tell themselves that the insanely high HIV rate is just drug using blacks, and there are none of those on campus so they're safe.
Catholics have a lot of problems, number one being that HUGE SHRINE right on their campus to the belief that Mary was born without SIN.
At my Catholic college, the health office wouldn't even tell you where you could go to get EC (this was a few years back). They would certainly never write birth control prescriptions, either.
"Let me just say that there are places in the area that carry it. *blank stare* I can't say anything more than that. Good luck."
While the response is not particularly shocking, it's still really sad.
I don't understand why people spend tens of thousands of dollars to be educated by people who believe in fairy tales.
Yeah, I hear you. I applied because the school had rolling admissions (great when you've missed the deadlines to other universities) and I was getting pressure from my parents to go to school right away. Really amazing financial aid and the intense urge to just FINISH college were the main reasons I ultimately stuck it out, as much as I hated it at times.
Surprisingly, my professors were pretty objective for the most part. The only time I felt that I was really getting a skewed perspective was in my mandatory religion class... taught by a priest with a pretty rad mullet.
I guess it's also kind of fun to experience life 'behind enemy lines' for a bit. For better or for worse, I feel like I learned a lot from the experience and met a lot of different people I otherwise would never have encountered in my liberal hometown. Also, when you have the opportunity to bring about change in some way, it makes the experience pretty worthwhile. A few students spearheaded a gay-straight alliance the last year I was there.
dude i went to catholic for 3 years and the only time i ever got shit about premarital sex was when i got tested for STI's at the on campus clinic.
anti catholic bashing is so passe. get over it.
bristol palin being the poster child for abstinence is much more current and news worthy .... running this article is like running a review on "RubberSoul" .... only the opposite (i guess)
personally, i think it's scary that in order to get tested for STIs on campus you first had to take a beating for having sex. condoms on campus = important.
you Catholics are so weird with your stuff that you believe. It's a private school. You pay to go there. You know what you're getting. It is what it is.
Way to go City Paper. Awesome investigative journalism. Looking forward to your piece on those freaks at the Mormon Temple.
did you all read til the end?? holy gangbang. i went there, graduated in 05, and can def say the school is def a drinking school. however, i didnt think shit like that was possible. makes me sick.