I was sitting in West with a friend last week, and he was attempting to fill out the "Computer Dating TAP Survey" for me, guessing what I would answer to each question. We were joking about certain "types" I liked or how I'd only be set up with freshman boys and laughing at some of the questions. When we reached the end, though, I realized that while the Social Council now knew that I liked "thoughtful and intelligent" people and I "might" go on a long bicycle ride as a date, the survey never asked about my sexual orientation.
I thought for sure that my friend had missed the question, because I know that last year students voiced their concern to SoCo about the purely heterosexual nature of the survey. If the Council is supposed to be providing activities open to the entire campus, not to mention supporting an open and accepting community, then why was approximately a tenth of this campus left out of this survey?
Last year, the survey called same-sex matches "friends." That only reinforces the heterosexual bias.
Sure, it's all fun and games more than a serious attempt to generate couples across campus, but SoCo doesn't seem to realize the power of its unspoken voice. Like it or not, TAP plays a big part in the College social scene. Computer Dating TAP, much as we may think the whole thing is in jest, has restricted itself only to heterosexual students and has therefore made a scary statement to the community.
Laura Marshall '01