Let’s talk about sex...

Masturbation, pre-marital sex, contraception, gay sex, and abortion. These campus taboos serve as the subject content that spurs conversation and debate in Vincent Genovesi’s, S.J., “Sexuality and Catholic Morality” class.

The class calls students to examine each issue and come to a conclusion about the morality of each act.

“What you find out in the majority of cases, it isn’t that they think it’s [acceptable], it’s that they haven’t given it much thought,” said Genovesi.

The general consensus from students in regards to discussing these topics with a Jesuit? Things are pretty comfortable.

“I also teach a course in marriages,” said Genovesi. “And I often ask the students, ‘Don’t you think it’s odd that you’re in a class on marriages, being taught by a celibate?’”

According to Genovesi, students are typically of the opinion that Genovesi’s position presents them with an advantage that other professors simply could not offer. Rebecca Groeschen, ’10, a student in Genovesi’s “Sexuality” class, agreed with the common consensus and said that the opportunity was valuable.

“I think it’s kind of good. When else would I be able to talk about stuff like this with a priest? I think it’s pretty cool. It was just kind of luck of the draw that I landed with Sexuality and Morality,” she said. “But the real reason besides the GER is that it’s being taught by a priest, so there is a different perspective there and just the age generation, like a different generation’s perspective, so I thought it would be really fascinating.”

The class, currently pushing its capacity, is consistently a popular course selection each spring.

“By and large, you don’t get students at 8:30 a.m. unless there is some level of interest. It’s always full, so it’s very popular. Mostly women take it, not many guys take it,” Genovesi said.

Although Genovesi does not believe that his religious beliefs inhibit class discussion, he insists on dressing casually during lessons and regards his traditional clerical garb as another barrier between himself and his students.

“I told the students years ago, because of experiences they may have had between with priests or sisters in the past, I don’t want to establish another barrier between the student and me so I’m not going to wear a collar,” Genovesi said. “But I begin every class with a prayer and I tell them that the proper way to address me is ‘Father.’”

Groeschen said that she would feel less comfortable in the class if it were taught by a non-celibate professor.

“I guess people think, because it’s a priest, what’s he going to know about sex. But I think it would be more uncomfortable with a someone who is a lay person,” she said. “Just because, not that people get mental images in their head, but at the same time you know the priest is never doing any of those.”

While students are not required to vocalize their personal beliefs and Genovesi’s assignments often allow the guise of anonymity, the class is always invited to participate in open discussion.

“Chances are real, real high that we’re going to disagree, but we have to learn how to disagree with respect,” he said. “You can say whatever you want to say, provided you say it with respect, and you have to use the proper language, you know, I don’t want any vulgarities used.”

According to Genovesi, some student responses have contained homophobic language in the past. While a student has never vocally expressed homophobic beliefs in Genovesi’s class, the anonymous assignments have provided some with an alternate medium. With the class’ consent, Genovesi reads the responses aloud.

“They want to hear what other students in the class have said, so we do it. And some of them are rather…well, I guess you could say…hurtful,” he said. “Just as an example, when you get to the topic of same sex genital behavior, there are some students on campus who you have to say are homophobic. Well, they say some pretty nasty things, you know, ‘I think this is revolting,’ or whatever, and then they get kind of personal, you know, ‘if you come near me…’ assuming that if a person is gay, that person is going to going to make a pass at them.”

Referencing another change he has noticed during his experience with the course, Genovesi pointed to a shift in the general attitude towards homosexuality.

“Some of [the responses] are frightening in terms of the mentality that they reveal. Now it’s changing. Since I have started doing this course, that’s one issue where I’ve seen a rather noticeable change from very negative to where the students are almost as open to same sex behavior as they would be to heterosexual behavior, and that’s probably the greatest change that I’ve noticed.”

According to Genovesi’s notes, the majority of the class consistently supports or condones the proposed subjects of the class.

Last year, Genovesi’s class of 35 students (only six of which were male) reported a 97 percent approval rate of contraception, 89 percent approval of pre-marital sex, 69 percent approval of gay sex, and 56 percent approval of masturbation.

Referencing a study, Genovesi pointed out that “young, unmarried Catholics are more sexually active than other Christians and also orthodox Jews and Hindus.”

The reasoning behind the trend is that “young Catholics have just lost confidence,” said Genovesi. “If you look at other religious traditions, most are going to have a combination of males and females seen as teaching leaders, and you’re going to have a combination of married and single people, but we don’t have that within the Catholic church.”

After 37 years of teaching the course, Genovesi noticed some noticeable changes in the classes’ general stance on the morality of certain sexual practices.

“I’m teaching now students whose parents I taught. I’ve performed the wedding ceremonies of some of these kids’ parents. And I would say it’s much more open now, but again, it can be done in a way that’s respectful,” he said.

Genovesi, author of the course textbook “In Pursuit of Love,” attributes his success with discussion in the classroom to the process of writing, and also to his personal experiences interacting with St. Joe’s students.

“As you might imagine, I’ve become more comfortable, you know. And I also lived in the dorms, and that helped tremendously in teaching because you see students from a different point of view. So I guess the combination of experience and living with students and the process of writing has all contributed to what I find to be a tremendously gratifying teaching experience,” said Genovesi.   

Despite student comfort with Genovesi’s position in the St. Joe’s community, he trains himself to be cautious in his class routine.

“I’m afraid,” he said. “Because given the nature of what I teach, there is already a certain obstacle and maybe some question about ‘will I be objective’ or am I just going to give the party line?”