VOYEUR
THE
Febuary 14, 2019 VOLUME XXXVI, SPECIAL ISSUE
www.fordhamobserver.com
Editor’s Note: While we don’t often think of Valentine’s Day as a serious topic, the issues of love, sex and relationships can have serious consequences on our sexual and mental health. We want to celebrate this holiday, but we also seek to spread information on sexual health resources, to validate the Fordham community’s diverse opinions and to shed light on these topics around our campus. We aim to provide engaging content while highlighting the many dimensions of love, sex and relationships at Fordham Lincoln Center.
Are you currently sexually active?
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY CARLA DE MIRANDA
Yes 62.8%
Your significant other’s a couple hundred miles from the city? They’re also one phone call away.
FROM OPINIONS
Going the Distance
Swipe Right – The Dating App Experience By MARIELLE SARMIENTO Arts & Culture Editor
<10 miles and my age range from 19 to 23. Tinder reminded me to swipe left for “NOPE” and right for “NICE.”
are just there looking for hookups, but they will either state it in their bio (“message for hookups only pls”) or ask straightaway once you match. Besides weeding through profiles of “DTF only,” I stumbled across another issue — matching with someone from Fordham. With my distance setting set to <10 miles, it was inevitable that I would come across everyone I knew at Lincoln Center. I once matched with a guy while he was sitting across from me in Quinn Library, yikes. My biggest issue with Tinder, just like our traditional rom-com backdrop of New York City, is all the tourists. Many times I matched with someone and had a really great conversation, but the next day their profile stated they were 9,000 miles away. Thanks for telling me you were just visiting from London for the weekend, Daniel. I enabled the Tinder U feature — which filters the profiles of university students — to find more people similar to me, but my distance settings were disregarded. My closest matches were hundreds of miles away. I felt a little nauseated making see SWIPE RIGHT pg. 11 snap judgments
No 20.2% Never been sexually active 17.0%
Have you ever used the SAGES “Condom Fairy” hotline?
I am more familiar with the McMahon B stairwell than most who live on the 10th floor. The dusty, lumpy maroon coverings that grace each flight are actually a welcome sight after a long day of work and classes. The echo-filled, maroon-tiled liminal space filled with people simply passing through is my favorite place to stop and live in the moment. An odd choice of hangout spot, no? It may surprise you to learn that I don’t all that much relish sitting down on the top step outside the 10th-floor exit, resting my head awkwardly against the cold railing. When I position and reposition myself in the clinically-lit, altogether uninteresting B stairwell, I wouldn’t blame you if you judged a little. see DISTANCE pg. 5
In every classic romantic comedy, all you needed for a successful romance was a job in journalism, to own a bookstore or to live in New York City. As an editor and a McMahon Hall resident, I have two of the tropes locked down, so where is my fairytale directed by Nora Ephron? It seems everyone in a relationship these days met on a dating app, a world I’ve never ventured into before. So I set out on my own “How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days” experience for the modern era, downloaded three different dating apps and started swiping. The first app was, of course, Tinder — the pioneer of swipe culture. With a panel of my best friends, we meticulously chose the five best photos that made me look adventurous and attractive. Creating a compelling bio was difficult, but I settled on a Harry Potter reference. Others supplement their bios by connecting their Spotify profiles, but I opted out. (Tinder doesn’t need to know how often I listen to One Direction.) I set my preferences to a woman interested in men, lowered my distance settings to
NEWS
OPINIONS
ARTS & CULTURE
FEATURES
SPORTS & HEALTH
‘Monologue Q’
Compability Kills
Pining 101
Empowering Erotica
Contraceptives
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OWEN ROCHE
Opinions Editor
New play inspires inclusivity
Imagine dating yourself
To All t he Boys I’ve Matched Before I had nervously swiped left on dozens of people before deciding I was being too picky, and took a chance and swiped right on a guy who looked like Blake from the Bachelorette and had an obscure bio. My first match was exhilarating. I remember staying up the first night I downloaded the app, addicted to matching with people like it was a game. I must admit, most guys on Tinder
Tunes that make you swoon
Fordham alum promotes advocacy
THE STUDENT VOICE OF FORDHAM LINCOLN CENTER
Yes 7.8% No 63.5% I was not aware it existed 28.7%
Have you ever been tested for STIs?
Yes 40.2% No 59.8% Check out the centerfold for more stats about sex at Fordham! See Page 3 for a breakdown of the data
The myths and the facts