Editor, Daily Nexus:

In the Tuesday, Nov. 28, issue of the Daily Nexus, an article was published about a presentation that Nina Hartley, a registered nurse and professional porn starlet, directed toward UC Berkeley students (UC Briefs). According to the commentary, Hartley’s speech focused on how women can increase the quality of their lives by overcoming sexual inhibitions. If this was the sole purpose of her speech and the ensuing publication, I could overlook the fact that the article put more effort into entertaining its readers with sexual references than exploring the social significance of female sexual expression. However, my central critique is that Hartley’s purpose in presenting was linked to Berkeley’s chapter of Take Back the Night, which speaks out against sexual assault.

The supposed connection between sexual liberation and sexual assault is the idea that self-awareness contributes to female empowerment, therefore, I conjecture, creating the message that a woman’s body is for her own enjoyment, rather than a target for another’s abuse. Why, then, did the author of this article quote Hartley’s light-hearted reference to anal gangbanging, and publish her comment that, “Women’s bodies are saying yes, but their words are saying no”? Remarks like these not only trivialize the experiences of sexual assault survivors, but they perpetuate the notion that all women want sex, they just need a little bit of coercion. What is this teaching men? How does this validate a woman’s right to her own feelings? Under what definition of the word is this an example of empowerment?

Because I did not hear the presentation, I am not in a position to comment on the message transmitted through Hartley’s speech. However, I do think that the author needed to thoroughly investigate and articulate the matter before mentioning Hartley’s affiliation with Take Back the Night. As a member of the Rape Prevention Education Program at UCSB, I would be sorely disappointed if anyone got the wrong message about what programs such as ours have to say about sexual assault. If there is one principle that I thought the past 30 years had driven home, it is that “no” means “no.” Always.

KATHERINE THOMSON