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Open dialogue necessary

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by Letters to the Editor

Monday, April 17, 2006

Wear your sexuality with Pride.

Being proud of sexuality
Sex is still in some facets a taboo that we refrain from discussing
Opening allows us to open up
Men sharing sexual experience — find community — women talking with other women about not having orgasms,

I think that most of us can attest to a rather sub-par health class in high school. My health class consisted of scary STD pictures and "the miracle of birth." Sexuality, sexual orientation and sexual fetishes were left out of the conversation and encased in a sheath of shame. The message I got from my school, my peers and media was that sex was inherently evil and engaging in it would ruin my life.

College stands as a bit more sexually liberal than my high school but in some ways is still limiting. Sex in some ways is still not talked about, and if it is, often in the most vague of terms. Heaven forbid anyone enjoy such sexual fetishes as feet, "water-sports" or BDSM. Sexuality should be openly discussed, and individuals should feel comfortable wearing their individual sexuality with pride.

I often bear witness to conversations where heterosexual vaginal intercourse is the norm, those that choose to abstain from sex are "prudes," those that enjoy sex are pegged as promiscuous, and men that enjoy anal sex are gay.

If sexuality in all of its facets were discussed more openly, perhaps the shame that stigmatizes many sexual acts would decrease. With open discussion, individuals could perhaps find community. Women could talk about masturbation and not wonder if sex bereft of orgasms is a "natural" part of sex. Men could develop healthy masculinity in relationships and wouldn't feel uncomfortable discussing premature masculinity and how it hinders their "manhood."

It should be our goal to promote healthy sexuality — in all of its forms — not just those that the media or our parents impart upon us as being good and natural.

MAD SEX WEEK is this week. Go to sexoutloud.com for more information

Chris Daniels

UW Sophomore

Member of SEX OUT LOUD campaign

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Anonymous (April 17, 2006 @ 6:12am):

Woot woot! Go sex out loud! And not to mention the taboos and restrictions on sexual orientation, I've seen people with "I'm straight but not narrow" pins, I don't know what organization makes them and I'm not saying they're horribly bad or anything, but why is it that everyone who calls themself a heterosexual is so afraid of being mistaken for being gay?