Sexual behavior

In a letter dated November 4, 1919, President Morgan writes to Dean Meredith regarding the rules of conduct for women at Metzger Hall after viewing them in a copy of the yearbook. Morgan argues that the present system of self-governance among the women is most desireable. However, he is concernd that the rules in place are lax and "too loosely drawn." This is particularly evident in reference to the rules regarding Hall absences.

Dr. Drew Pinsky, the "love doctor" came to Dickinson to answer relationship questions. He discusses issues like masturbation, pornography, birth control, prostitutes/strippers. In conclusion, Dr. Drew wanted his audience to know that "sex is a wonderful and beautiful thing in the right context and at the right time. But if sex is abused or done in the wrong way or at the wrong time, then it can lead to serious and painful problems."  He also addressed cheating- men cheat beacuse they can. But women do because they are looking for a remedy for their emotional needs.

Singer, a male student, is reprimanded by his professor for trying to make "himself agreeable to the coeds" which is recorded in the 1892 April Dickinsonian. Professor Himes calls out Singer on his flirtatious actions asking him that when he is finished talking to the ladies, "the lecture will be continued...Please don't sit so close to them in the future."

The Women’s Newsletter reports that Dickinson women have contributed in all three roles of patient, volunteer and staff, at the Family Planning Service in Carlisle.  Doneby Smith and Elizabeth Rice report on Dickinson’s involvement with the clinic and describe the unique services that practitioners at Family Planning provide, including pelvic and breast examinations, treatment of infections, if needed, information on birth control methods and the birth control of their choice.  Women who come to the clinic are entering a secure environment, where in addition to the services mentioned alread

In a letter to the editor for The Dickinsonian, David I. Thompson, M.D. discussed the availability of the Pill as the reason for greater "indulgence" in premarital intercourse but explained that most local physicians would not prescribe the Pill to unmarried women. Thompson claimed that "bastardy with its many ramifications of mother, father and grandparent agitation frequently gives the child a hard start in life and a hard start in emotional aspects...." He also reported a serious problem with venereal disease.

Many of the Letters to the Editor in an issue of The Dickinsonian addressed the censorship that the president of the college practiced by preventing publication of the newspaper in response to the cartoon on "The New Morality." Susan Jagielio complained of the outright censorship the president had practiced, and John Exdell called the action the "height of bureaucratic callousness."

A one-page article advertising the upcoming Public Affairs Symposium in The Dickinsonian featured brief glimpses at the views of the symposium's speakers on "New Morality" and included a cartoon that was intended to capture some of the issues under discussion. In the cartoon, a man approaches a woman, saying, "Look baby, you are living during the modern Sex-u-al Revolution. This is the New Morality! So take of fyoru dress and smile, sweetheart, you're in the Pepsi generation!" The woman counters the man, explaining that women have needs as well.

The 1966 Public Affairs Symposium, writes Barry Rascover in an article in The Dickinsonian, would investigate the "rapidly changing value system of today's generation" from February 6-9. Rascover emphasized Betty Friedan and Evelyn Duvall's dialogue on "Feminine Fulfillment in a Changing Morality" as the highlight of the symposium. While Friedan wrote The Feminine Mystique in order to critique the myth of marital bliss, Dr. Duvall defended premarital chastity and consulted to social and religious agencies.

The Dickinsonian reported that the upcoming symposium would address the topic of "The New Morality" and would feature Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique, among other speakers. The symposium was designed "to allow the student to come to grips with himself...."Betty Friedan would partner with Dr. Evelyn Duvall in order to discuss "Feminine Fulfillment in a Changing Morality." The article calls Friedan's book a "controversial bestseller."

The report of the Student Senate Committee on Social Rules to the Faculty Committee on Social Rules was published in The Dickinsonian. The report addresses social rules that pertained to drinking downstairs in fraternities while female students were upstairs, privacy (or, as the reported defined it, the the separation of two persons of the opposite sexes from others), and what other college policies were regarding visiting hours for women. The report listed rules at other colleges, including Swarthmore, Stanford, Reed, Oberlin, Yale, and Haverford.