All this and more awaited students last Thursday in Hirst Lounge in Wilson Commons.
UR’s fourth annual ‘Sex and Chocolate,” hosted by University Health Services Health Promotions Office, featured representatives from AIDS Rochester, The Gay-Straight Alliance, students from the HLS 216: Peer Health Advocacy class here on campus, as well as a local sex shop, to name a few.
The Health Promotions Office was responsible for all the nuts and bolts it took to produce the well-attended event.
The purpose of this sexual health fair, according to UR health educator Melissa Kelley, was to ‘promote a sexually positive environment within the campus community, as well as provide a sexual health awareness program that included organizations from both on and off campus.”
As eyes perused around, one could not help but stop at the table featuring a local sex shop, where there were vibrators of all sorts, dildos of all shapes, colors and textures and books that displayed all sorts of poses from the karma sutra.
Senior Nadine Nicholson tabled on behalf of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. right by the students from the Peer Health Advocacy class, providing thoughtful activities to do with your partner instead of ‘doing it.”
Some of the suggestions included taking a ride around together, reading poetry to one another or watching a good movie.
Those are all fun but, after all, this is college, and many of us would choose sex over a ride around the block.
Colleges Against Cancer captured attentions with their intriguing trivia questions that managed to educate us about different aspects of sex. Questions like how many muscles it takes to tongue kiss and how long a female orgasm lasts on average were just a few of the juicy topics they tested students’ wits on.
One of the most unavoidable tables was the AIDS Rochester table surrounded by intrigued students who kept their eyes glued to the vagina demonstration put on by the representatives.
Many people for the first time learned to put on a female condom and learned the ins and outs of how they work.
For those curious and willing enough to try, students were allowed to feel within the modeled vagina and experience the full coverage a female condom provides a vagina.
With all of the hustle and bustle inside of Hirst Lounge, how could one leave without having a taste of the treats that filled the air. Chocolate-covered pineapples, strawberriesand pretzels offered a sweet and savory delight to all.
This event made for both an educational and interesting experience shared amongst peers, educators and the community outside of the University.
It was one of the few times when we as college students get a chance to talk so freely and, for some, so comfortably about sex with adults. ‘Sex and Chocolate” was an experience in which we were allowed to let our sexual curiosities run free while indulging in mounds of chocolate-covered treats.
Sex, chocolate, dildos and vaginas who knew that learning could be so stimulating?
Cooper is a member of the class of 2012.
