Esquire Investigates Harvard's Sex Politics

Esquire magazine has experience in arousing interest. But when the magazine tackled the subject of "How to Make Love to a Harvard Woman" in its April issue, it failed to deliver.

Those looking for a definitive guide to sexual success at Harvard will be disappointed, since the article addresses the sexual politics of relationships at the University.

Nonetheless, sales of the magazine, which hit the newsstands March 21, have been "brisk," according to an Out of Town News employee.

The article's author, Lynn M. Darling '72, traces the changes that have occurred in the sexual climate since she attended the College, arguing that nowadays, confusion and fears of violence threaten to overtake curiosity and naivete when it comes to sex and love.

"We took sex seriously," she writes of the first women to live on the Harvard campus. "We were pioneers, we told ourselves, forging a path for the next generation of women." She writes that things have changed drastically since then.

The article tells the story of Larry J. Sprung '92 and Eleanor Stafford '92--students who had "given up on the idea of love" at Harvard.

While relating the problems that the "feminist ice princess" Stafford faced in coming to terms with the idea of falling romantically in love, Darling describes other Dunster House residents in a case study of the "sexual wrath heating up so many campuses now."

One hero of the article is Sandi L. DuBowski '92, co-chair of the Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Students Association. Darling portrays DuBowski as an assertive rebel and writes about his coming out, his experiences with Queer Nation in San Francisco and his decision to sleep with men he knew had AIDS.

"It was a political statement," Darling explains.

Darling also explores widespread fears of sexual violence, which for women, become "a metaphor for their own confusion over what is permitted and what is not." She offers quotations from Allison H. Mnookin '92, former Crimson President Rebecca L. Walkowitz '92 and Kathryn I. Frucher '93 to illustrate this atmosphere of fear and confusion.

Frucher and Stafford were co-chairs of the Radcliffe Union of Students last year.

Despite all the confusion surrounding sex, the article ends on a hopeful note. Stafford realizes that though being in a relationship means she will lose some power, that is not the only thing that matters to her.

"Maybe we were wrong, she thought. Maybe it is possible to be happy," Darling writes.