Experiments beyond the lab

By day, most of the University of Minnesota’s students are smiling, obedient pupils, but in the dark of night, everything gets construed and can easily become sexual in one way or another. Let’s face it, most of us have worn our beer goggles at night and made choices that we either laugh at or learn from come the break of dawn.

The weeknights we expect are exactly the weeknights we end up reenacting, often reminiscent of an Usher or Ludacris music video with disco balls, swanky clubs and scantily-clad women. In such music videos, specific patterns tend to develop, and one of them I can’t help but recognize is the glorification of women kissing other women. The trend seems to pop up everywhere from fraternity parties to award shows, and it isn’t slowing down.

The song that propelled Katy Perry from obscurity to one of the most recognizable songstresses of the decade contains the infamous lyric, “I kissed a girl and I liked it,” which proves that men are not the only ones craving this type of sexual exploitation.

Surely, not all women who like to the taste the cherry ChapStick lips of other ladies are lesbians. Yet, if these heterosexual females are not experimenting with the idea of homosexuality, what are they doing? Practicing kissing techniques? Attempting some sort of mating spectacle for the opposite sex? Either way, it’s hard to attend a fraternity party without witnessing this behavior.

In the past, we have seen many of the younger celebrities demonstrate this behavior, how could anyone forget the 2003 Britney Madonna kiss, or the risqué Russian duo t.A.T.u.? However, I don’t think I was the only viewer shocked to see two heterosexual women kiss during the Critics’ Choice Awards. Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock tied for best actress for their performances, Meryl in Julie & Julia and Sandra in The Blind Side. While on stage, Sandra became so overcome with joy that she cupped Meryl’s head in her hands and planted a big kiss right on her lips, and Meryl didn’t resist. While, looking at the pictures, I can’t help but feel awkward, almost as if the kiss wasn’t very genuine, it does illustrate that girl-on-girl smooching is a phenomenon not constricted to the younger demographic.

I couldn’t help but wonder if this type of behavior offended women who are truly lesbians. Since I am no expert on the subject, I spoke with Alyssa Sison, co-chair of the Queer Student Cultural. Alyssa, along with other members, believe that alcohol plays a considerable factor in women kissing other women at parties. However, members did not find this type of behavior offensive, even if it is for show. When asked why men do not exhibit the same behavior at parties, Alyssa replied that, “not many men do it because of the fear of being perceived gay, but for women it’s more acceptable.”

Even though many women who kiss members of the same sex still think their boyfriends are attractive the next day, a few of the women tampering find the moment life-altering. If you are, or have been experimenting, or are simply curious, Queer Women invites everyone to one of their social networking events. Attendance is confidential and the meetings take place, tentatively, on Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m.

Now obviously, one of the most pertinent opinions in regard to women kissing one another is the male opinion. If ladies are trying to capture their attention, is it working or is it just a waste of swapped saliva? Working the topic into casual conversation with various male students on campus, I found that men have very diverse opinions. Some love the idea, allowing it to obviously entice them as they become frantically excited about the opportunity to work it into conversation with other, understanding male friends. Others, however, find it repulsive, crinkling their nose in obvious disgust when the subject arises.

I believe that if a woman wants to kiss another woman out of curiosity, fantastic. One will never know unless one tries. In this case, that plunge is necessary.

However, if that same woman is doing it for show, it’s a different story. The men in the room you are trying to impress will most likely be initially interested, even aroused, but only because of your wildly exuberant behavior.

Eventually, his interest will fade because, most likely, girls that kiss other girls are partiers, and aren’t the type he’ll want to bring home to mother.

Instead of making some grandiose gesture that isn’t even directed toward him, impress him with your impeccable love for whatever you might be interested in. A girl who is passionate about something, anything really, is more likely to be seen as having long term potential. Using this technique, you may have to work harder to gage his initial attention, but once you have it, no doubt it will be captivating in a much more sincere and sustainable way.

Of course, if all you crave is a lil’ loving, kissing a girl should not only fulfill your appetite but also set you up for more lovin’ later.

Paige Vigil welcomes comments at pvigil@mndaily.com.