A New Battle of the Sexes

Despite the potential for hair-pulling, bitch-slapping, and various other forms of girl-on-girl entertainment at last Thursday’s heavily publicized debate “Lena Chen vs. True Love Revolution (TLR),” Lena Chen ’09, author of the blog “Sex and the Ivy,” and Janie M. Fredell ’09, co-president of the TLR, kept the arena chock-full of mutual respect. BORING! FM decided to talk to the debaters separately to find out the naked truth.

FM: Do you believe that there’s one true love for everyone?

LC: No, I think that that’s very absolute, and I’m not a very absolute person. I like to think of there being options. I think there can be multiple people.

JF: I feel like every person should eventually be with only one person and build a life and family with them. I think it’s more that I believe in monogamy than that there’s one true love for every person.

FM: What do you think about the different cultural expectations of men and women? Do you think it’s as important for men to be abstinent as women?

JF: Biologically, women are more likely to get attached after sexual intercourse, but it definitely goes both ways. Oxytocin is released, particularly in women, when they engage in sexual intercourse, and it’s a hormone that’s meant to bind you to your partner...I think the way to be an empowered woman is to realize that there’s a power in coming from saying no, as opposed to having to shut off some part of yourself and just have random sex.

LC: I think there’s definitely societal pressure on women to be abstinent. Or if not to be abstinent, then to be guarded about their sexuality. Just on the topic of masturbation, girls are not encouraged to discuss it. Just think of all the terms we have for jerking off that we don’t have for girls.



FM: If you had to give a piece of advice to Harvard students about their sex and love lives, what would it be?

JF: Obviously, I would encourage them to abstain until marriage.

LC: It would probably be to be as confident about their sexuality as they are about their intellect and other things that make them great. Start acknowledging it, and not being ashamed that we have sexual desires, and not treating sex as something we should be ashamed of. Janie can be a sexual person, she can masturbate, she can be comfortable with her body.