Duke Graduate Karen Owen Gives Women the Power to Point
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Tess Goodwin | October 10, 2010
Staff Reporter
Well-written and hilariously titled, "An Education Beyond The Classroom:
Excelling In The Realm Of Horizontal Academics,” is now the subject of a
media frenzy. Karen Owen, a recent graduate of Duke, made this powerpoint
presentation detailing her sexual conquests while she was a student and
since then, it has gone viral.
Duke University (Courtesy Creative Commons)
Duke University (Courtesy Creative Commons)
This so-called “sex-scandal” has led to many questions about internet
privacy and women’s general social conduct. The powerpoint was never meant
to go viral, but now that it has, should Owen be punished for the invasion
of privacy of 13 men? Or should she be praised for turning the tables on men
who have been bragging about their sexual conquests since the dawn of time?
"The Today Show" quickly demonized Owen, showing distain for her bar graph
ranking her subjects on sexual performance. Meredith Vieira made the point
that fraternity guys have been doing the same thing forever, only to have
her guest, Donna Rice Hughes (president of an internet safety group, respond
that “...there is lack of modesty in our girls.”
This comment is proof that there is a still a double standard in the social
norms that govern our nation: men can brag about sex but women can't. Women
must be “pure” and “modest.” This is a belief system that needs to be
shattered. If a guy slept with 13 girls in three years, he would be heralded
, not called a slut.
Fraternities have been making lists and posting photos of women they have
slept with on their basement walls since the beginning of the fraternity
system. And while those lists may not have gone viral, they were still
shown to people not involved in the intimate act. Sleeping with many
beautiful women has been a characteristic of a hero or action star. Take
James Bond. What would he be without his gorgeous conquests in each of his
films? Men have been bragging about their sexual conquests for years. But,
God forbid there be a woman who does the same.
But the female protagonist in most fiction is almost always “virtuous” and
“sexually pure.” Instead of giving into temptation or using her power as
a woman to sexually conquer men, the female character must resist men. Take
Bella Swan from Twilight as an example. She spends most of her time
resisting Edward Cullen, her vampire love. But, if this story were turned
around and the protagonist was a man, he would not be expected to resist but
be encouraged to sleep with the beautiful female vampire as soon as
possible.
We see this theme in literature, television and film all the time. Playboy
movies like “Alfie” and television shows like “Californication” in which
the plot surrounds the male character’s sexual conquests are deemed
acceptable. As a society, we not only seem to accept this behavior, we
valorize it. When men sleep with inordinate amounts of beautiful women, we
applaud. But somehow, when a woman is in that role, it becomes a sex
scandal.
Karen Owen’s powerpoint should not be treated as a sex scandal but rather
as a well-written and hilarious recounting of her sexual conquests. If men
can brag about and critique the women they sleep with across popular culture
, why can’t Owen?
She told Jezebel.com, “I regret it with all my heart. I would never
intentionally hurt the people that are mentioned on that." Maybe she should
regret sending it to her friends (did she really think it wasn’t going to
get out?), but she shouldn't regret the powerpoint itself. She should not
be ashamed of writing about men in an honest and direct manner. The only
men who were hurt by the presentation going viral were probably the one’s
who received poor rankings, but those men should toughen up. Now, they know
they have something to work on. Women were waiting for someone to finally
say that women can think and talk about sex the same way men do.
Frankly, Karen Owen should be proud of her compiled list. The notches on her
belt were worthy of praise. Was it an invasion of privacy? Technically, yes
. But it's not like people don't talk about their sex lives everyday. If she
had planned to leak this powerpoint, she probably wouldn’t have used real
names or pictures, but it got out and what’s done is done.
So far, no legal action has been taken against Owen and there probably won’
t be. The subjects likely to sue would have done so for an obvious reason, a
poor ranking. Those subjects would probably rather not draw any more
attention to their supposed poor performance in the bedroom.
In the Duke Chronicle, Alyssa Granacki asked, “...why should we
congratulate Karen Owen for subjecting men to the objectification,
embarrassment and harassment that women have fought against for years?"
Because Karen Owen gave the men of this nation a taste of their own medicine
and proved that women can be just as brutal and casual when it com
