[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]

A professional sex educator told
University of Wisconsin students Monday evening they need to be open
about issues relating to their sexual health.

Jay Friedman’s talk opened Sexual
Health Week, hosted by the campus group Sex Out Loud, and presented
his views and values about sex education.

“Sex is not death,” Friedman said,
“I refuse to be a part of sex negativism.”

Paula Tran, Sex Out Loud’s events
coordinator, said the event is an opportunity for students to “talk
in an open and honest environment.”

The theme for the week, “Asking for
Name: Optional. Asking for Consent: Required” was determined in a
contest during February’s National Condom Week, according to Tran.

She added Sexual Health Week is held
annually to promote sex positivity, one of the primary messages in
Friedman’s speech.

Though people have a natural desire to
learn about sex, “Victorian attitudes” about sex lead to negative
stigmas, said Friedman. Nationally, America is a sex-phobic society,
and it is only getting worse, he added.

Friedman talked about the effects
politics have had on sex education, asking students to fight against
abstinence-only education.

“This issue is paramount in our
cultural and political climate,” he said.

According to Friedman, Americans use
scare tactics in early sex education like showing the negative
effects of sex like sexually transmitted infections and the high rate
of teen pregnancy. Though he affirmed abstinence as the best
prevention method against infection and unwanted pregnancy, he
encouraged students to become a “generation that talks to your kids
about sex.”

Friedman showed a Scandinavian sex
education video near the end of his speech. The video, which could
not be shown in most high schools in America due to its graphic
content, Friedman said, was used in middle schools in several
European countries.

He added he showed the video to
contrast European sex education with its American counterpart.

Friedman said because most sex
educators are women, he focused more on the male perspective of
sexual education and described the three main pressures on men to
have sex. These are “locker room talk,” homophobia and the “myth”
of blue balls.

He said he recommended three
requirements before having sex, including affirming the other person,
accepting responsibility and consent and assuring mutual pleasure.

If the three conditions are not met,
Friedman added, he encourages students to look to masturbation.

“It’s normal if you do it, and
normal if you don’t,” he said.

To close his speech, Friedman promoted
his national campaign “Kegels with Your Bagels.” He asked
students to exercise muscles of the pelvic floor in order to increase
sexual strength and stamina.

Several students, including UW freshman
Alison Manley, said they appreciated Friedman’s openness on the
topic of sexuality.

“It’s nice to actually hear someone
speak without barriers about sexuality [who] doesn’t have to take
precautions,” Manley said.

However, several students questioned
the credibility of his speech.

Anna Carlson, a UW junior, said she
enjoyed the talk but disagreed with some of his statements about
sexual interaction and his diagramming of certain female body parts.

“Having taken women’s studies [at
UW], it’s not all correct,” she said.

More Sexual Health Week events will
take place during the week, including a debate about pornography, an
exotic dance class and a fashion show for charity, according to Tran.