For many, sexual education can be an uncomfortable topic. But two Ohio University organizations are aiming to mend that stigma through a sexually positive event.
POWER/GAMMA and Better Bystanders are hosting a sexual health social entitled Safe and Sexy: Sex through the Ages. The event’s goal is to provide sexual education through an entertaining structure.
The event is sponsored by Lion’s Den and will have tables that cover specific sexual topics, ranging from contraception and orgasms to period normalization and bystander intervention.
Serena VerWeire, a graduate assistant for peer health education, is a supervisor for POWER/GAMMA, a wellness organization that focuses on the health issues of college students. VerWeire explained that Sex through the Ages is a walkthrough event where participants can go to whichever table they desire.
“I always like to describe the event as the student organization’s fair if each organization was some type of sex thing,” VerWeire said. “Whether that’s something related to relationships, consent or sexual activity.”
Safe and Sexy is an annual event, but each year it has a different theme. VerWeire mentioned that the Sex through the Ages concept is a unique and sometimes humorous way to showcase the progression of sexual topics.
“We have several tables that present different sex-related information, but with our theme, each table also has a different time period or era,” VerWeire said. “For example, our 1980s table is the sex toy’s table and their theme is ‘good vibrations.’”
Molly Anderson, a senior studying health service administration, is in charge of the event’s self-love table, which will focus on the history of self-love and its evolution through time. Anderson expressed that the timelines present at the tables allow for reflection of our current understandings of sex notions.
“For any of the tables, there’s an evolution that shows the progression of the topic from the beginning to present day,” Anderson said. “It’s cool because it showcases the inclusivity we have now compared to before surrounding these topics.”
For many, the topic of sex is accompanied by discomfort and even shame. However, Nathan Hammerle, a senior studying education, conveyed that efforts like the Safe and Sexy event, assist in normalizing discussions of sex.
“It loosens up that subject a little bit more because as much as we hate to admit it, sex is a taboo subject,” Hammerle said. “It’s something that nearly everyone in the world will experience at some point and we want that subject to be very easy-going with people.”
This venture to normalize conversations surrounding sex is of great importance to Hammerle. He is determined to educate other individuals on genuine information about sex, something that is frequently absent from prior and current education systems.
“From a research standpoint, only 17 states require there to be medically-accurate sex education,” Hammerle said. “So, that’s something that at least personally, I stress in every sexual health program, that we are giving that medically-accurate information that they may not have gotten in their high school or middle school sex-ed.”
While the event is open to everyone, VerWeire assured that the purpose of the event is to inform and entertain and is not a pressure to engage in sexual activity.
“Our intent is not to force people to have sex,” VerWeire said. “The intent is to get the information out there and people can do what they want with it because it’s more of a preventative process. Plus, it’s also super fun.”
Alongside the entertaining aspect, Hammerle believes the significance of the event is to create a sense of comfort encompassing the expression of sexuality.
“We’re making sure that it’s very inclusive and something that people can be a part of and feel like they’re represented in some way,” Hammerle said. “We want to make it open to everybody and allow them to have a good time and feel safe in their sexuality.”
