Today I read a letter to the editor saying that Rachel Perkins’s articles are, “open discussion of ‘penises, vaginas and sex’ within a paper that represents the student body as a whole.” And, apparently to this reader, that is just unfair. I wanted to address this because I’ve read and heard many people’s opinions about Ms. Perkins’s articles, and hard as I try, I just can’t keep quiet anymore.
First, let me say that I don’t really care whether or not The Reflector chooses to run these articles.  I enjoy them, I hope to see more of them, but I’m not one to tell The Reflector editors how to do their jobs. Secondly, and more directed at this “irked” reader, I can’t believe a relationship and sex article under the heading “Opinion” is where one would choose to make a stand. In the last two months, The Reflector has run articles about student pranks gone wrong, shootings and weekly updates of our police blotters, and that doesn’t even scratch the surface of some of the horrible things that have happened on the MSU campus in the five years I’ve been a student.  These articles, as much as a sex column, represent Mississippi State and the students attending. I don’t know about other readers, but I think it’s a greater tragedy the number of Bad Dawgs we have per week than people knowing students have sex.
And on that note, I don’t think anyone in the nation doesn’t know how prevalent sex, not to mention unsafe sex, is in Mississippi considering we boast one of the highest teen pregnancy rates.  And to combat that, Ms. Perkins actually promotes the ideals of safe sex. In more than one article she mentions taking all necessary precautions because although sex is fun, it can lead to bigger troubles than people our age are ready for.  No one wants to mention that.  In addition, no one wants to mention that Ms. Perkins wrote articles about how to deal with a break up and how to combat the single life.
I recently read a paper in one of my classes saying, “A serious cause of … failure is the common assumption that conditions … must be what we think they are or at least what we think they should be.”  Now, this article may have been referring to the business world, but I believe it strikes a chord in a general sense as well. This doesn’t imply that you should simply embrace the way the world is, but don’t try to deny the truth – we’ve openly admitted that Ms. Perkins’s articles are relevant because they address real truths rampant in our age group.  The nation knows it, the students at Mississippi State know it – hey, my parents know it!
I’m not suggesting you go along with Ms. Perkins’s opinions. I’m not even suggesting you read her articles. I’m suggesting you take a good look at the reality you live in and realize that just because you don’t agree with it doesn’t make it wrong. 
The Reflector is a representation of Mississippi State students, this is true. But the article being in the opinion section implies it doesn’t represent the student body’s opinion, just one person’s, as my letter represents only mine.  And if these are truly the worst thing you find in The Reflector, I suggest you take another look at Bad Dawgs.