Dalia Cuenca“Which of the following does not protect against sexually transmitted infections?” freshwoman volunteer Dawn Berden asked the group at the sex trivia booth.
“A) Latex condoms, B) polyurethane condoms, or C) lamb skin condoms?”
In unison the group of six yelled out “Lamb Skin!” laughing at their synchronism, as they were handed raffle tickets for answering correctly. For every game played, students earned a raffle ticket and were entered into a drawing to win one of the many prizes, which included sex toys.
The Women’s Health Resource Center held the Second Annual Sex Positive Fair in the Student Union, one day before the romantic holiday, Valentine’s Day.
According to the organizers, he purpose of creating the Sex Positive Fair was to spread the word about the need for a center and to show the campus what the Senter could offer students.
This year, the fair was bigger and better according to sophomore Hazel Utevsky.
“I enjoyed the huge amount of variety of activities. Last year was much smaller, and this year they have lots of prizes,” said Utevsky.
One activity that Utevsky and others participated in was “Pin the Clitoris on the Vagina.” After being blindfolded and spun around three or four times, participants would attempt to pin a clitoris-shaped foam piece onto a large drawing of a vagina. With purple glitter, sharpies, ribbon, and multicolored pom-poms, junior Crystal Young turned a condom into a mouse at the Condom Crafts table. This was Young’s first Sex Fair and she said she learned a lot after visiting the Good Vibrations booth to test her sex IQ.
Each person The Campanil spoke to had a different definition of sex positivity, but the common theme was being accepting of everyone’s sexual preferences and sexual behavior, and removing the taboo surrounding sexuality.
According to freshwoman Nicole Talaugon, who volunteered to run the “Pin the Citoris on the Vagina” game, the taboo about sexualtity shows that “women enjoying sex is seen as wrong.”
Besides promoting safe sex and encouraging Mills students to explore their sexuality, the fair also provided information about organizations that offer different sexual resources. Organizations such as Choice USA, Good Vibrations, the National Organization for Women, The Society of Janus, and Planned Parenthood lined the walls of the Student Union.
The fair was ridden with sayings to promote the theme. The phrase “No glove, no love” was one of sophomore Gloria Huerta’s favorite. Another popular phrase found on buttons and t-shirts being sold by the National Organization for Women was “I love consensual sex.”
Although the event wrapped up in success, negativity surrounding publicity worried coordinators before it even began. According to the Health Center’s education coordinator Daniella Matthews-Trigg, several posters advertising the event had been taken down.
Matthews-Trigg did not know who removed the signs, but was upset. In response, Matthews-Trigg posted several messages on Student News that read, “Rather than place value [judgment] on certain behaviors, we would like to encourage Mills students to develop their own codes of sexual conduct based on an accepting and all-inclusive moral platform.”
However, despite the negativity and a rocky start at last fall which left the Health Center with no space of its own, the Center will be included in next year’s operating budget. With the additional funding, Health Center board members hope to invite more guest speakers, expand their library, and provide additional services such as free
pregnancy tests.
“This means we’ve made enough of an impact to be kept around,” Matthews-Trigg said.
