Equal Writes

by Richard Gadsden

House decided to tackle asexuals in a recent episode. It didn’t do a very good job.

So, I have to admit, I don’t actually watch House. I used to be a big fan, but Dr. House’s constant jackassery eventually became too much for me and I had to stop. And, while I am an avid TV-watcher, once I drop a show, it’s pretty much dead to me. So, by now, I’ve missed a solid two seasons of the show. But when I heard they’d done an asexuality episode, I decided to drop in at Princeton-Plainsboro (the fictional hospital where the show is set) to see just what was going on.

The asexual storyline is the B-plot of episode 9 of season 8, entitled “Better Half.” We’re introduced to a woman being examined by Dr. Wilson, House’s heterosexual life partner best friend, who assures the doctor that she can’t be pregnant because her form of birth control is infallible. Wilson asks if she and her husband are celibate, to which the woman responds, “Celibacy’s a choice, this is our orientation. We’re both asexual.” Confused, Wilson stares at the forms in his hand and says, “I’m not sure what box to check here…”

So far, so good. The episode successfully introduced asexuality as a sexual orientation, differentiated it from celibacy, and portrayed the confusion most people experience when first exposed to the identity. As an introduction to this little known identity, the first few minutes of the episode actually do a great job establishing what asexuality is.

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From Arlyn:

“If you are: feminist, feminist-leaning, feminist-questioning, queer, homosex, interested in watching an amazing strip tease, curious about creative imaginings of Genesis, wondering what Eden might look like without Adam, a fan of jazz standards, super impressed when people can improv entire plays (or if you simply love Elizabeth Swanson and want to see something she’s created and directed)… GO. WATCH. EDEN. Last show: tomorrow 8-9:30pm.”

by David Walters

Last night, Twitter and various blogs lit up in response to the way Vogue Italia has chosen to title a certain style of earring. (The commotion is a bit belated; it seems the earrings have been online for over two weeks, but comments on the article have more than doubled in the last 24 hours.) The set of women’s earrings are called “Slave Earrings,” which, as you’re probably thinking, is just plain old racist. But as I read people’s responses to the articles, I found plenty of racist assumptions going around not just from Vogue, but from the people upset with them as well.

In many of the complaints, users write that the title is racist against African Americans (and African American women more specifically), but that’s only half the picture–if that. Maybe Vogue could defend the title if the earrings were the same design worn by “women of colour who were brought to the southern United States,” but they’re not. It comes as no surprise that American slaves didn’t wear jewelry and certainly not enough to yield a reproducible style. Thus, the style has no basis in American slavery, so to say it’s an affront to African Americans in particular misses the point (and, as you’ll see, is probably racist itself).

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by Lydia Dallett

The White House reported today that a compromise on the debt ceiling seems to be within reach, hopefully bringing to an end the drawn-out bickering that left us all feeling a bit disgusted and disappointed with the state of our government. Elsewhere in the country, hundreds of other debt deals were negotiated this past school year that also involved uncomfortable compromises–albeit over much smaller sums of money.

The Huffington Post recently reported on Huffpost Women that a surprising number of college students–mostly women but some men as well–are turning to “sugar daddies” to help pay off hefty student loans. Using websites such as SeekingArrangement.com, students with insurmountable debt can find wealthy older men (usually much older) who are willing to help pay off loans in exchange for sex, companionship, or both. The site isn’t limited to college students, but the site’s creator estimates that of the approximately 800,000 people signed up for exchanges, 35% are students. To bring that number a bit closer to home, Harvard has 231 registered sugar babies. The article doesn’t give a number for Princeton but it sure raises an uncomfortable question: would you become a temporary prostitute to go to college?

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