Last week while teaching I was interrupted twice in two separate classes by an outsider walking into our safe little cocoon of discussion. In general, I don’t care if my class is interrupted. Please walk in, distractions can be fun. But for some reason last week turned into “Let’s Talk About Sex” week in two of my classroom and each interruption brought with it a moment of sudden silence and sustained snickering from my students — as if we were caught in some form of communal naughtiness
In my graduate level course, we are discussing The Secret Garden, a delightful romp where the transformation of the boy becomes the focus of the novel even though the initial protagonist is a girl. Before the boy is physically transformed, he throws himself into tantrums that are brought on by “hysterics.” Since hysterics is generally associated with women during the Victorian period, we talked about the feminization of his character and the history of “hysteria” as a medical condition. This discussion led to the history of the vibrator because the vibrator was developed by doctors as a way to cure a woman of hysteria. Pretty neat, eh? If you want to know more, I highly recommend reading The Technology of the Orgasm.
In my freshman/sophomore class we were discussing Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Of course, we were interrupted right at the moment when we were discussing whether or not Bridget and Eric had actual intercourse. Since the text never specifically states, we were discussing the connotations of specific words combined with how our own experience as readers influences how we fill in that blank. A reader who has not fully engaged in sex may assume that going to far equals under the bra and down the pants. We had a great discussion about the varying degrees of interpretation.
Can’t wait to see what this week brings.
