Sex is in the air.
As the weather warms and students start to shed layers of clothing, the Associated Students of Citrus College executive board is coordinating a series of three sex-related workshops in the Campus Center April 2 and 3.
Titled “Sex 101,” the presentations are sure to entertain, but the focus will be on educating students.
“When it comes to things like this, you have to frame it in a way to benefit the students,” said Alex Motashem, ASCC commissioner of public relations. “So we kinda go for maybe a bit risque to grab attention, but at the end of it, we want people to take something from these things [and] apply it to their lives, whether it be using contraception or applying safe sex practices.”
The first presentation, “The Promises and Perils of Hook-Up Culture” was presented by Occidental College sociology professor Lisa Wade. Rather than focus on the physical or emotional motivations behind sex, Wade’s talk centers on how certain sexualities thrive in certain cultures—in this case, how the college atmosphere puts pressure on students to have casual sex.
“On campuses where there’s a [dormitory] life, there seems to be the idea not that you can have casual sex if you want, but that sex should be casual,” Wade said. “That’s a really new thing.”
“We tend to think that women’s liberation is women doing what men do. So it feels good to be a woman who is doing those things, because . . . historically, men have had the opportunity to do them and not women,” Wade explained.
“So when it comes to sexuality, we see the exact same pattern: Women feel like if [they] want to be a liberated member of society, they have to take a masculine approach to sex.”
The events of April 2 and 3 included “Sex Signals” at 11:30 a.m., a hybrid play/improv/educational presentation created by Catharsis productions, a Chicago-based theatre company. Following up will be Citrus human sexuality Professor Jim Skalicky at 1 p.m. titled “So called Love in the 21st Century.”
He explores the different types of love.
“[Love] is probably one of the most overused words and least understood,” Skalicky said. His workshop also touches on the body’s physical responses to attraction and how love can easily be confused with other emotions, especially infatuation.
After Wade’s talk, it looks as if students are ready for the next lesson.
“Even if people don’t accept it, sex is a big part of college student life,” Motashem said.
