University students are changing how they regard sexual culture. Many feel conflicted about sexual experiences, which they see as potentially traumatising.
About Laura Kipnis
"I’m Professor emerita at Northwestern University, where I taught film.
I would call myself a cultural critic. I mostly write about cultural politics, sexual politics, aesthetics. I’m very interested in norms and their violation, transgression, people who get in trouble. I’m also interested in taboos and people who smash norms. So I like troublemakers, I guess."
A lighthearted essay
I was asked to write an essay about campus sexual politics, and I had no idea what a minefield I was entering. I wrote this ironic, lighthearted article. The article covered the policy prohibiting professor and student romantic relationships that was enacted on my own campus.
This policy came out of the blue. I compared it to my college experience where many students slept with their teachers, and nobody seemed to suffer too much. In this light, I wrote this essay, and it became incredibly controversial in ways I hadn’t anticipated.
Key Points
• University students are changing how they regard sexual culture. Many feel conflicted about sexual experiences, which they see as potentially traumatising.
• Changing attitudes and incidents surrounding alcohol are leading to “sexual paranoia” on campuses. The growing bureaucracy surrounding Title IX may also incentivise accusations and prosecutions.
• This culture is due to the rise of governance feminism, which originated from the anti-pornography movement. Governance feminism is largely paternalistic.

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