This October 15-18, the University of Maryland-College Park hosted its first Sex Week. The series of events was presented by the University Health Center, and touted as part of “Free Stuff @ Maryland!” Other student groups participated, perhaps most notably, the Catholic Student Center. In detailing why “…Sex Week is important to our students’ wellbeing, the page starts off typically discussing Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), unplanned pregnancies and sexual violence.
And from the conclusion of that page (All emphasis is original):
The goal of Sex Week is to promote an informed and empowered community to support our fellow Terps and cultivate a campus where we take pride in safety, responsibility and respect. Our campus will not let the daunting statistics define our culture. Our FEARLESS IDEA is to take the subject head on and set a precedent to all campuses that our students can BE THE CHANGE.
However, taking a look at the list of events put on during this Sex Week, it is certainly up for debate as to if what went on at the university fulfilled such a goal. That goal seems to be taken quite loosely then, as well as the term “wellbeing.”
There is your typical “Sex Week Health Fair,” events and film screenings which appeal to LGBT students, mediation several times during the program, events put on by religious groups pertaining to spirituality and sexuality, and other events particularly pertaining to health.
A considerable amount of the program is dedicated to explicit events, ones where the lines between as to if such discussions and presentations really are preventing STI’s, unplanned pregnancies and sexual violence, are blurred. Often just the titles, and especially the descriptions and presenters, speak for themselves.
For instance, on Tuesday there was “Asking for it: Finding your words for better, sexier communication in the bedroom.” Immediately after, there was “Toy Talk for Grown Folks: Why You Should Care What You Buy.” The first event was presented by Bianca Palmisano, the Executive Assistant at The Garden, “a sexuality resource center and toy shop…” The second event was presented by the owner, Jessica VonDyke.
The second event in particular received much media attention. Campus Reform reported on the event, as well as posted a video of the presentation. TheBlaze did the same, choosing not to report on some details due to the nature of the content. Both sites reported on the stories with warnings of graphic nature.
Particularly notable is Campus Reform’s reporting that Ms. VonDyke told students:
“Items like this, which are actually kind of like art pieces, like you could totally leave this out on the coffee table when your mom comes over and she would never know,” she said.
Other noteworthy events included “Real Sex with Tamara Pincus,” which is described as a “Meet and Greet with a local Sex Therapist!” Here is the full description:
Meet and Greet with a local Sex Therapist! This program will be an open forum for students to ask questions about a variety of sexual topics. Ask your questions about oral sex, anal sex, vaginal sex, types of lube, BDSM, non-monogamy, how porn relates with sex in real life, how to manage sexual issues in long term monogamous relationships, alcohol and drugs and how they affect sex, and how to love your body even during sex. Opportunities will be available both to ask questions openly and to ask question anonymously.
One of the last events was “That Kind of Girl,” which examined how society views women and “what it is to be an ‘acceptable kind of girl.'” Perhaps this isn’t too harmless, though? The presenter is a group called Pussy REP, which stands for Pussy Radically Eradicating Patriarchy. How very nice. At least they’re honest about the “radically” part.
The University of Maryland is a public university, which receives public funds. It is very diverse and with 30,000 students. Not all were pleased with this event. A guest author contributed to the university’s school newspaper, The Diamondback. Her calling the tank tops “[p]erhaps the worst part of all this is the tank tops[,]” may be unwarranted, but it needs not overshadow the more legitimate concerns she did make:
Free HIV/STI testing? Wonderful. Meditation? Go for it. But a pole dancer coming to teach us how to talk dirty in the bedroom? A sex toy demonstration? A performance by a group called Pussy REP? Stop right there. These events cannot be classified as sexual health. They are offensive and unnecessary. They trivialize human sexuality and show no reverence whatsoever for the human body.
The guest contributor closed with this:
It stands against my religion, many other religions represented on the campus and many students’ basic moral codes. This university blatantly neglected us when planning this week. If Sex Week returns to our campus in the future, I sincerely hope there are serious reforms made.
Other students penned their opinions on Sex Week, and it is again unfortunate that the complaint about the tank tops was made, as responses took up a considerable amount responding to this. Stay tuned for future parts in this series for a discussion on public universities and what is so wrong with certain responses to sex week as well as a view of sexuality as a whole.
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