Duke Student Powerpoint: The New Exhibitionism?
(CBS) Is online exhibitionism endangering the psychological well-being of flesh-and-blood people? Sure seems to be.
Consider the firestorm that arose when a mock thesis by recent Duke grad Karen Owenwent viral. Her no-holds-barred rankings of the physical and sexual attributes of 13 men she claims to have bedded exposed them to unexpected scrutiny and - at least for the guys whose sexual technique or "equipment" wasn't up to snuff - shame.
Owen apologized for the stunt. But is she really sorry for sharing intimate details and exposing the names of men with whom she had sexual relationships?
Sex therapist Dr. Ian Kerner, for one, isn't so sure. He told CBS News that young people today tend to have a pretty good sense of the damage that can be done when private information finds its way online. And, in the age of the Internet, private information has a friction-free way of getting online.
"I don't know what her plans were for distributing the thesis," which bears the subtitle "Excelling in the Realm of Horizontal Academics." He speculated that Owen may have been happy for the notoriety that came when her PowerPoint presentation became a viral sensation. He likened the online distribution of her "thesis" to a Paris Hilton sex tape or the way Heidi Montag "always seems to be getting herself photographed with her bathing suit top falling off."
Dr. Kerner noted that a double standard may be at play.
Male college students have a long history of sharing intimate details with each other about their sexual exploits, he said. In this case, a woman was the source of the information, which ended up circulating across the Internet.
What lesson can be learned from Owen's use of real names and intimate details in her "thesis," and then emailing it to a few friends?
Simple, says Dr. Kerner. "Don't put anything up on the web unless you intend for it to be distributed, perhaps on a massive scale."
Dr. Kerner is the author of "She Comes First: The Thinking Man's Guide to Pleasuring a Woman."
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