Recently at Penn State University, one sociology professor expressed during a class that the straight students in attendance should go out and watch gay porn in order to open up about their sexuality.
As part of a Sociology 119 course lecture from the tail end of this past fall semester, Penn State Sociology professor Sam Richards publically pressed his students to engage with same-sex pornography and deal with the fact they could be aroused by it. Richards also made the claim that each and every person has bisexual feelings and that everyone might end up being far more comfortable just being bisexual.
“If you’re straight, watch gay or lesbian porn and see how quickly you feel aroused,” he expressed in the lecture, which was held back on the 6th of December, as reported by Fox News. “And how you can’t control that. You’ll realize that, ‘Oh, d***, I could be sexualized by people who are like me.’”
“We are all at some level nonbinary,” expressed Richards, as part of what he labeled as a summary of the views of many sociologists. “We’re all, very much, easily bisexual.” It is not entirely clear what research the professor was making reference to, but a 2015 study carried out by a number of researchers at Cornell University who claimed that both women and men became aroused when they watched explicit images of the same sex. The research team made the claim that this was prime evidence that sexuality was not limited much at all.
“I might have hit a nerve there. Did I hit a nerve?” questioned the professor when the class ended up going silent in response.
Richards then chose to double down on his challenge, specifically spotlighting a number of straight students, especially the men of the class.
“Watch gay porn,” he claimed once again, which sparked a bout of laughter from the class. “See if you feel that feeling. If you feel that feeling, look in a mirror, and say huh, maybe I’m just feeling some things that I’m just afraid to release. And maybe you release that and maybe you’d be surprised that maybe you actually are fine being more bisexual.”
A video of the incident was quickly posted to the SOC 119 YouTube page, but Richards quickly petitioned to have the videos made private in the wake of a number of news reports.
As part of an interview with Campus reform this week, Richards chose to double down and defend his statements. “When I discuss these issues, I generally do so as a sociologist, since that shapes how I see the world,” he stated. “From this perspective, ‘sexuality’ is actually quite complex.”
“I have friends/acquaintances who’ve spent a long time in prison and they have homosexual sex,” he went on. “They’re ‘straight’ until they need or want intimacy and then they have homosexual sex.”
As expressed on the faculty web page for Richards, the SOC 119 course is quite popular, pulling in well over 725 students each semester. The course allows students the “opportunity to re-examine the world and challenge what they believe to be their place in it from a new perspective,” reads the summary. The page makes the claim that the course is “the largest race and ethnic relations course in the country,” and heaped praise on both faculty and students on both sides of the political aisle.
Officials with the college also chose to defend the course when questioned by Fox News. “Professor Richards purposefully teaches in a manner designed to promote discussion across a spectrum of opinions,” expressed Penn State in a release. “His class is not mandatory but is a popular elective that students choose to join. Dr. Richards and his course colleagues take time to discuss opinions from many perspectives — from liberal to conservative — and delve into topics from different viewpoints to create conversation, challenge beliefs and encourage students to explore uncomfortable and complex topics.”