Daniel Flynn

Numerous Dartmouth students have complained about sexually graphic e-mails and posters promoting a university-funded campus visit by Inga Muscio, author of Cunt: A Declaration of Independence. Junior Shelley Sandell labeled the material "lewd," "offensive," and "very crude."

In addition to e-mail messages that contained profane language, the event was promoted through posters featuring a graphic display of the lecturer's genital area. Although Dartmouth banned a group from giving Christmas presents through the campus mail in 1998—an action deemed "offensive"—the university took no action against the Women's Resource Center.

Many questioned the educational value of Muscio's visit and wondered if such base promotional methods were resorted to in order to mask the lack of intellectual depth of her talk. Muscio lectured several times on campus, including addresses to a sorority, a women's studies class, and an open forum. Her visit was part of Dartmouth's month-long "Sex Series."

"The language Muscio uses to describe herself and her work is both purposefully shocking and carefully considered," Dartmouth's Women's Resource Center Director Giavanna Munafo insisted. "Because we are aware that some members of the community would not be comfortable with that language, we have tried to be intentional in the ways we have advertised her presentation."

The purpose of the series, according to the Women's Resource Center, is to "resist and counter culturally prevalent attitudes and behaviors that denigrate female sexuality and sexual determination." Many would argue that by promoting a lecture entitled "Cunt" with sexually explicit photos of the featured speaker, Dartmouth's Women's Resource Center has done more to "denigrate female sexuality" than anyone on the Hanover, New Hampshire campus.