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"Fuck Saw Fallout:" NU Launches Investigation into Sex Toy Demo

By Chuck Sudo in News on Mar 3, 2011 8:33PM

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Northwestern Professor J. Michael Bailey
Yesterday Northwestern University officials had the back of Professor J. Michael Bailey and his unique and optional after-class demonstration of a sex toy called the "fuck saw." But that was before the story went national and nucular.

University President Morton Schapiro is launching an investigation into the demonstration, saying in a statement that he's "troubled and disappointed" in Bailey. Per the Tribune:

"Although the incident took place in an after-class session that students were not required to attend, and students were advised in advance, several times, of the explicit nature of the activity, I feel it represented extremely poor judgment on the part of our faculty member. I simply do not believe this was appropriate, necessary or in keeping with Northwestern University’s academic mission."

Which is a far cry from what vice president for university relations Alan Cubbage said yesterday:

"Northwestern University faculty members engage in teaching and research on a wide variety of topics, some of them controversial and at the leading edge of their respective disciplines. The university supports the efforts of its faculty to further the advancement of knowledge."

Bailey, who has stayed mum on the subject, did express "apprehension" about the demonstration in a statement he released, in that the demonstration may put other activities of NU's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences under future scrutiny.

Bailey is well-known among academic circles for his work in biology and sexual orientation, but his work has been criticized by conservative groups as a waste of taxpayer money. Bailey's 2003 book The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender Bending and Transsexualism reviewed evidence that male homosexuality is innateand a result of heredity and prenatal environment. But a transgendered woman he described in the book filed a complaint against NU, alleging her talks with Bailey about transgenders and the writing of the book made her a non-consensual subject. She also alleged she had consensual sex with Bailey during this time. Bailey has had complaints filed against him by two transgendered professors with Illinois state regulators, claiming he practiced psychology without a license. the charges were never pursued and supporters of Bailey said they amounted to harassment.