Student groups partner to bring sexy back

Sex Week returns after a one-year hiatus

Photo+by+Virginia+Laurie%2C+22.

Photo by Virginia Laurie, ’22.

Virginia Laurie

After a conspicuous absence in 2018, Sex Week returned with a bang this year.

The week was a collaborative effort of campus groups, including primary sponsor Sexual Health Awareness Group (SHAG), led by president Katie Evans, ‘22, the Student Affairs office, the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program and Amnesty International.

Left to right: SHAG members Katie Evans, ’22, and Joey Dickinson, ’22. Photo by Virginia Laurie.

SHAG secretary Joey Dickinson, ‘22, explained the organization’s goal for sponsoring Sex Week.

“We want to promote a safer and more satisfying sexual culture on campus,” Dickinson said. “The ‘I Love Female Orgasm’ event was especially important because it shifted the focus to women’s pleasure in a place where the sexual culture often de-emphasizes the desires and overall pleasure and sexual health of women.”

Between Monday, Nov. 4 and Friday, Nov. 8, students experienced what the Spectator once referred to as “the Sex Week abomination.” Participants sent cookie grams to friends and significant others in the shape of a peach, an eggplant, a heart, a condom, a penis or a vulva and could pick up free condoms and dental dams in the Elrod Commons lobby.

SHAG introduced something new to the typical annual lineup: a literary magazine.

SHAG member Isabel Ryan, ‘22,  edited the “SHAG-a-zine,” which featured student poems and artwork and was distributed for free.

“Though the word traditionally implies a passionate act, we believe this world of sex also embodies a sense of intimacy, respect, dignity, communication between all people,” Ryan said. “The purpose of this zine is to celebrate the things in life that make us feel sexy, think sexy, and be sexy. It is also meant to open a dialogue about all things related to sex, sexual health, and relationships of all forms.”

Other events included an LGBTQ+-inclusive sex education workshop and a “Birds, Bees, and Everything in Between” Q&A panel led by Janet Boller of the Counseling Center, French and Africana Studies professor Mohamed Kamara, WGSS program head and history professor Sarah Horowitz and philosophy and WGSS professor Melinda Bell.

An exhibition of Nolan Zunk’s, ‘22, “Human Form” photo series was displayed on the main floor of Leyburn Library during the week.

Friday Night Underground themed its Friday night event “Sexy FUDG” to mark the end of Sex Week.