Sex columns must be responsible

The Yale Daily News is a college newspaper. It is published – appropriately – daily at Yale… The Yale Daily News is a college newspaper. It is published – appropriately – daily at Yale University. But this paper features at least one aspect that few consider “everyday,” and many are slow to call appropriate. The controversy illustrates an often-asked question regarding what is acceptable in print, and it represents an interesting issue in modern media as a whole.

Natalie Krinsky writes a weekly sex column for The Yale Daily News. Her column, Sex and the (Elm) City, appears every Friday and pushed YaleDailyNews.com to more than 200,000 hits last year. Krinsky is known for candor in her columns, and her material ranges from male commitment issues to the intimate details of oral sex.

Her critics argue that she is simply out to make people blush, while her supporters claim that she is reporting on a topic that affects college students directly.

The New York Times recently documented a rise in the number of college sex columns across the country. The titles include New York University’s “Sexpert Tells All” and the University of California at Berkeley’s “Sex on Tuesdays” in addition to Krinsky’s column.

The criticisms of such writing are summarized in remarks made by Meghan Clyne, a senior at Yale and one of Krinsky’s fellow columnists. She finds it offensive that Krinsky discusses “various sexual behaviors as if she were talking about decorating your living room.” In other words, she thinks sex is not something to be treated lightly.

In newspapers as in magazines, movies and commercials, sex sells. When a college paper starts running a sex column, its integrity immediately comes into question. Critics begin wondering if the paper is making an effort to address an issue that students value or simply pandering to those who won’t turn the pages unless they plan on finding something risque inside.

The rise or fall of a sex column depends almost solely on the approach. If the writer can be entertaining and informative without sacrificing responsibility and good taste, it is possible for a respectable paper to talk taboos without being sensationalist.

Each individual publication must decide how important sexy content is to its readers and its advancement. Many people will continue to turn a cold shoulder to media outlets that like to address sexual topics, but there are many others who will welcome them warmly. For Natalie Krinsky and The Yale Daily News, 200,000 is a number that proves people are interested.