yay!
(how can we all send questions to your fabulous column?)

I disagree with your definition of fetish. If your fetish is, say, orgasm denial, then the fetish is defined as being necessary to "sexual satisfaction" but not necessarily orgasm.

Savage's second letter here http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=1097450 is good.

dear those I've shared this letter with before: hi.

Dear hi,

Whoops! You and our dear friend and intellectual crush Mr. Savage make an excellent point. Consider my elevator speech officially revised.

Thanks so much for writing to inform us and the community of this mistake. This is exactly the kind of dialogue Ginger and I hoped to foster with this column!

For anyone interested in exploring the idea of kink, fetish, or specifically orgasm denial further information is available through a variety of resources, especially online. For some basic, user friendly, introductory reading,"Wild Side Sex: The Book of Kink" by Midori and "Fetish Sex: An Erotic Guide for Couples" by Violet blue both come highly recommended. "When Someone You Love is Kinky" by Dossie Easton and Catherine A. Liszt can also be helpful for curious partners. If you have some other recommended reading, please write in!

Again, thanks for bringing this to our attention and for being a part of the conversation. Hope you keep reading and commenting!

OkTrends, my new favorite blog by OkCupid, presents an interesting way to represent "your 3 or 15 or 53 standards":

http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/2009/07/07/flowchart-to-my-heart/comment-page-2/

Poorly-written, superfluous language, *obvious* common-sense advice... Sorry I couldn't finish reading this to the end. You two are cute though for attempting something like this lol.

Hey Oscar,
I'm really glad that this sort of thing is common sense to you, but it may not be for everybody! The hope here is to spark a dialogue about something that maybe not everyone has thought deeply about. Maybe someday we'll write about something new to you.
Although, if you dislike alliteration and fun turns of phrase, this may not be your favorite column.

Adjective, adjective, *emphatic* adjective... Falsely apologetic laziness. Condescension dismissive positive adjective chatspeak.

Humans live to eat and to reproduce. As this column addresses the latter goal, I wholeheartedly look forward to more installments.

Hi again. First, congrats: a call to dialogue is probably the least controversial thing you can say at swat. Second, no thanks! This column was pretty pedantic. Your central point, that we should establish boundaries, is supersimple. The more difficult issue of how to establish them when someone's hand is in your pants, you unfortunately skirt. Also, about the fetish thing, come on: why didn't you just wikipedia it? Basically I don't trust either your expertise or wisdom.

However I haven't lost faith! I definitely think your next column can be better.

Also, not so keen on the new dg comment policy. It just seems like critical things get faded. what's the deal JK?

standards are bullshit. you set them in good times, only to break them in bad one's and feel bad about it afterwards. i declared myself as having no standards a while back, and life is great!

First of all, I like your column (though, I tend to like any column that talks openly about sex). The style is pretty fun 'cause it seems conversational. Also, I like how the introductions sound like they would be part of an awkward dating game.

Positives aside, i'd have to agree with "hi" on the one point of:
"The more difficult issue of how to establish them when someone's hand is in your pants, you unfortunately skirt."

Looking forward to the rest of your column!

"Also, not so keen on the new dg comment policy. It just seems like critical things get faded. what's the deal JK? "

Hi-- that's not part of the new comment policy, that's always been the case. Everyone is free to vote up or down any comment they dislike/find inappropriate or one they particularly enjoy or agree with. When comments get enough negative comments, they get "faded." If you see a comment that's been hidden, and feel that it should show up like a normal comment, you can feel free to vote it up.

If every sex column at this school is going to be the same (not humorous, poorly written, pretentious, wooden and with very little variation in advice and topics), maybe we as a student body should consider simply giving up on the idea of a Swarthmore sex column altogether. Just saying...

Yawn.
Oscar's note that this column is very poorly written seconded.
Eloquence is sexy. If you never mentioned sex but came off as hyper-literate and capable of stringing words together, it'd be sexy. Here, you can say "in my pants" any number of times, without any such effect.

Another tip - discuss something interesting.

This is really blood interesting, Will. Keep it up!

Poor Benjamin Hallowell. His name has been so besmirched...

Odd to think some of the greatest musicians of all time wouldn't have been allowed to apply to this college at one time...

Hi Will,

Not sure if you can confirm this, but I heard from a professor that the first black student admitted to Swarthmore College was actually a mistake--admissions did not realize he was black until he arrived on campus. Apparently, after a minor freak out, the college administration offered to pay for him to leave and attend Dartmouth instead, the only other college to which he was admitted. Racial justice at Swarthmore College has some shameful beginnings it seems.

Great writing!

Whoaa!

Miss Martha, I heart you.

Seconded.

Dear David,
We completely understand your concerns about engaging in uninformed political decisions. We feel that having a political component to our campaigns is important to make our Minus Malaria Initiative as effective as possible. Congress has much more tangible power over malaria intervention programs than do student organizations—power that can be directly influenced by the voices of students who care, as long as we make enough noise. However, we definitely do not want any students to feel that they are blindly signing letters for random legislation. To prevent this from happening, we made a poster with the details of each bill that we are supporting that we had on display at the Variety Show and at the poster session in Science Center. However, we would appreciate any ideas you have about how to improve this campaign.
Thanks,
Global Health Forum