December 9, 2003

THE SQUARE PEG:

Mansfield Decries Harvard's Sex Scene (JOSHUA P. ROGERS, 12/04/03, Harvard Crimson)

Students in Eliot House said they were offended when Kenan Professor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield ’53 critiqued sex at Harvard during a keynote speech at a faculty dinner Tuesday.

Many students, who had been expecting a talk on student-faculty relations, were shocked when Mansfield said that he wanted to speak about something “very uncontroversial”—sex among undergraduates—according to House Committee (HoCo) secretary Anna R. Himmelrich ’05.

“I don’t think anyone was expecting to hear anything so opinionated,” Himmelrich said.

Students said they were offended when Mansfield said the only gentlemen left were either gay or conservative.

“If I was a gay man I’d be offended,” said Rebecca Goetz, a fourth year graduate student in history who attended the speech as a guest of an Eliot undergraduate.


Why is that offensive to gay men? It seems a compliment.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 9, 2003 12:05 AM
Comments

And why would anyone bother to go to a speech expecting it not to be opinionated?

Posted by: Harry Eagar at December 9, 2003 12:24 AM

Opinionated is always O.K. Stupidity is just...stupid.

Posted by: Tom C., Stamford,Ct. at December 9, 2003 12:34 AM

Apparently, "opinionated" means views different than her own, at least to Ms. Himmelrich.

Posted by: at December 9, 2003 6:46 AM

Oops! Comment #3 was mine.

Posted by: Bruce Cleaver at December 9, 2003 6:48 AM

It's amzing when college students are so "well programmed" that "opinionated" becomes an all purpose out down. I think this speech could have let many down, but probably (I was not there) more for simply being banal and about twenty years late.

Posted by: MG at December 9, 2003 7:21 AM

oj - Clearly, she finds it offensive to be grouped with conservatives.

Posted by: pj at December 9, 2003 8:19 AM

pj:

Ah, I get it.

Posted by: oj at December 9, 2003 8:28 AM

As a graduate student, Ms. Goetz needs to use how to use the subjunctive case.

Posted by: jim hamlen at December 9, 2003 9:14 AM

P'raps, but she's a graduate student in *history*, after all.

And she does study at Harvard.

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