Health Center plans ‘sexploration’ week

Students will have the chance to learn about sex during “Sexploration at IU,” which runs from today until Thursday.

These are out-of-the-classroom experiences that students might not otherwise have, Kathryn Brown, a health educator at the Health Center, said.

The events mirror a variety of sexuality.

For example, the Kinsey Institute’s “Sex Research Live!” will give students an opportunity to learn more about themselves and sex research. Four researchers will provide clickers and ask the audience to anonymously answer questions from their research.

“You get to know a little bit more about yourself, and I think one of the tenets of the Kinsey Institute is that there is variety and people are different,” said Jennifer Bass, director of communications for the Kinsey Institute.

This is the second year for “Sexploration at IU.” Modeled after a similar week at Yale University, it is funded in part by the Union Board and Pure Romance Inc.

Other events will include an information table located at different campus locations, “The Naked Truth” by the Pure Romance adult sex toy company, a presentation on clear communication in sexual relationships by Raising Awareness of Interactions in Sexual Encounters, “Because it Feels Good!” by Kinsey Confidential’s Debby Herbenick about sexual pleasure and free HIV testing by Positive Link.

A popular event from last year that will be returning will be the “Retrosexual Film Showing.” Four vintage sex education films will be shown, as well as a funny commercial titled “VD is for Everybody.”

“These were films that were actually shown in the classrooms, so it will be funny and
disturbing for the students to see what students in the 1950s were being taught,” Rose Hartzell, a visiting lecturer in applied health science, said.

The week will end with a speech by Dan Savage, a radio host and writer of “Savage Love,” a popular sex advice column.

“I think he will be a little bit bordering on outrageous,” Brown said. “He’ll push the envelope in what he can say, but my hope is that he’ll give students a different way of looking at things.”