The horrible reactions merit some discussion though. Dr. Oeming (a good friend of mine irl) is a wonderful educator and scholar and it seems that her tweet gained traction with some conservative German folks, including someone called Beatrix von Storch (https://twitter.com/Beatrix_vStorch). The response has been vile. The "you're going to hell" comments do not sting. They're just silly. But suggestions that Dr. Oeming is harming children, perpetuating the abuse of women, is doing work that any teenage boy could conduct, etc etc are really telling as far as attitudes toward sex, academia/pedagogy, and women.

I suppose teaching and researching pornography merits discussion too. I just wanted to make clear that Dr. Oeming's course follows in the footsteps of many before her. Our work is misunderstood and derided and honestly it gets exhausting sometimes. I don't blame Dr. Oeming for taking a break from social media...

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