Northwestern U. professor J. Michael Bailey apologizes for allowing live sex demonstration on campus
Chicago Tribune
March 7, 2011
The Northwestern University professor who allowed a live sex demonstration on-campus last month issued a new statement on the controversial decision today, apologizing for "upsetting so many people" and vowing to "allow nothing like it to happen again" while still saying he sees "no harm" in what he did.
J. Michael Bailey, a psychology professor, has been under fire in recent days as news of the Feb. 21 demonstration became public. Today's statement says that "I should not have" allowed the demonstration.
More than 100 students watched the optional after-class demonstration Feb. 21, during which a woman got undressed, lay down on a towel and allowed her fiance to penetrate her with a device that looks like a machine-powered saw with a phallic object instead of a blade. The demonstration followed a discussion about kinky sex and female orgasm.
Bailey's statement today apologizes for offending people -- but still says there was "no harm" in the demonstration.
"I regret the effect that this has had on Northwestern University's reputation, and I regret upsetting so many people in this particular manner. I apologize," the statement says.
"During a time of financial crisis, war, and global warming, this story has been a top news story for more than two days," he said in the statement. "That this is so reveals a stark difference of opinion between people like me, who see absolutely no harm in what happened, and those who believe that it was profoundly wrong."
