'Politics of Puberty' party at Whippersnapper gallery.

By: Sass Zucket

Remember how horny you were as a teen?

A babe served me this line as a sell to go out on a date with him to the Whippersnapper gallery's dance party, kicking off the 'Politics of Puberty' show. I obliged, because Jen had included this in her Weekend Ideas newsletter, and he was a good kisser. If I'm going to take a trek down teenage memory lane, there better be some making out involved. To answer the headlining question, I do remember how horny I was as a teen. My sexual desire hasn't changed much, seeing as my teenage years were not so long ago. This was probably true of all the attendees. If anything, most of us are more horny now, y'know, having actually had sex. The Whippersnapper gallery is a not-for-profit space for youth artists. For the event, the space took on an atmosphere not unlike a frat party, but with less beer and oodles more cool; the checkerboard laminate floor boosting the soles of countless pretty hipster feet. The art gracing the walls had much to do with menstruation and self-doubt. However, my pubescence was not defined so much by my period as, say, the Backstreet Boys. There were no Backstreet beats to be had, but there was a near naked slideshow and performance piece atop the bar, which is just as well. If puberty was marked by sweat, heaving bodies, tremendous and covert efforts to be cool, edgy and popular, cheap indiscriminate drinks, more sweat, and fun times with friends, then the night served its symbolic purpose. The venue was sweltering hot and so were the people. The AC was on, not that anyone would have noticed, so the dance party mostly spilled on to the sidewalk. Again, fairly puberty politics-evoking, given the gossiping and groupings. Someone mentioned to Luke, the gallery's co-founder, that the event was a success and he quipped "Yea, I mean, remember how horny you were as a teen??" Seriously, is horniness the only thing that comes to a male mind when commenting on puberty? Yea? Ok.