Dear Editor:
There's Carrie Bradshaw and then there's Jenna Jameson.
Just like it happens in the best of families, you just need to say "I am proud of my kids" for them to screw up the picture-perfect image you have of them the very next day.
Earlier this week, I was overwhelmed by the nostalgia of my years at Tufts and regarded with pride my dear Jumbos. However, yesterday I woke up to read a note that made me think that perhaps life at Tufts had changed quite a bit.
Let's just say that I am still having trouble "swallowing" the subject of Lara Levi's Sept. 25 column entitled, "Just the Tip | Talent Shows."
I still can't believe how a piece that used phrases like "giving head," "go up and down and pretend to suck" and "swallow first, then talk" actually made it to the Daily's Features section.
I applaud Levi's interest in having a sex column; after all, this was a field I also wanted to pursue professionally. But unfortunately, Levi is far from being anything like the famous Ms. Bradshaw with what she just showed us.
Anyhow, as a "Sex and the City" fan and avid "Cosmopolitan" reader, I must say that Levi's piece really crossed the line from respected journalism to tasteless porn writing.
I don't know if Levi is currently a student of journalism at Tufts, and if this is the case, she's clearly not following what is being taught in class. Perhaps, she is too busy doing some "hands-on" research for her column? I would tell her to go grab a "Comsopolitan" magazine from the bookstore, rent out some "Sex and the City" DVDs and, like a good Tufts student, do some research on writing a sex column before letting that pen go wild.
In all honesty, the article looks more like Jenna Jameson's blog rather than the kind of column that our beloved Carrie Bradshaw would write. Believe me, Carrie would bury herself in an empty Manolo Blahnik shoebox before making public something of this caliber.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not the kind of girl who doesn't believe in sex talk, sex ed. or sex advice. I did "The Vagina Monologues," and I absolutely loved to moan my lungs out at Cohen Auditorium, but my characterization of "The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy" did have two things that Levi's writing style lacked: class and finesse. I bet Samantha Jones would agree with me on that one.
Practice freedom of speech, but also tailor your writing to the publication you're working for. And when writing as a Tufts student, please show some class, Lara. Write about sex, write about responsible sex, how to please your boy, the heavenly pleasure of an orgasm and how to get there.
Know your limits, elevate your language and never refer to your past as that time when "my friends and I weren't slutty yet." Celebrate your sexuality and indulge in it; encourage passion and sensuality, and gain the respect of your readers.
Like Levi said, oral sex (or should I say "giving head" in order to go down to the writer's level) is in fact the fine skill of "pleasuring your boy in a very special, intimate way." Therefore, let's keep the technicalities of what happens down in his privates, private.
Francheska M. Sánchez (LA '07)
