Sexpo | Photo by Rose Taylor | The Wright State Guardian
The Wright State University Women’s Center hosted its first ever Sex Week with a wide variety of events to educate students on all things sexual health.
About the week
Bobbie Szabo, assistant director of the Women’s Center, explained the origins of Sex Week at WSU. After discussing with students and staff, Szabo realized that some people were unaware of anatomical structures, best practices and other important health topics.
“It was clear to me that those of us with a background in sexual and reproductive health and a concern for the comprehensive, overarching well-being of our students needed to do something to help them get access to the information they need to make informed decisions about their health,” Szabo said.
Sex Week is an initiative to educate the Wright State community about sexual health and mitigate possible risks of Sexually Transmitted Infections and unintended pregnancies, among other possible negative outcomes. Szabo explained that each event was voluntary with content warnings about presented subject matter.
Monday
The week started off strong on Monday, Sept. 25, with a Sex Fair in the Student Union Atrium hosted by the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies program with a variety of other organizations.
Some of the organizations included the YWCA, WSU’s Title IX office, the Women’s Center, Rainbow Alliance, the Dunbar Library, Progressive Students Coalition, Planned Parenthood, Equitas Health, Violence Free Future and more. On Monday, there was also HIV testing available.
Tiffany Gil, an intern for the Women’s Center and host of the Art Sexpo, expressed that her favorite event of the week was the Sex Fair.
“There were sex educators and fun games—my favorite being the Title IX tic-tac-toe—free condoms, dental dams, diva cups and plan B pills were handed out, which I thought was absolutely amazing. There were also many educational flyers and even work and volunteering opportunities being offered from organizations, such as Planned Parenthood and the YWCA,” Gil said.
On Monday evening, the Art Sexpo opened. Gil and Szabo decided that the week had a lot of educational components and that it would be good to have an event more for entertainment purposes.
According to Gil, the event was a space for students to submit art symbolizing sex, sexuality and sexual health.
Tuesday
On Tuesday in the SU Atrium, there was the Great Wright State Condom Race. The steps of the race consisted of asking for consent, finding an unexpired condom, opening the condom (with no scissors or teeth), asking for consent again and then putting the condom on a banana.
Later on in the evening, R.U.D.E. Burlesque, a Black-women-owned burlesque and variety show, hosted a burlesque workshop in the Creative Arts Center.
Wednesday
Wednesday featured a game show called “Who wants to be a sex deity?” with the College of Liberal Arts who hosted the event and provided supplies. The categories of the game show were sex in literature, film and religion, as well as sex and disability.
That evening, there was also a burlesque class meet-up at MarYSoul Studios in downtown Dayton.
Thursday
Thursday was filled with many events, including Gettin’ Rowdy (a Sex Question & Answer session) with Dr. Emily Yantis-Houser, Condoms on the Quad (which had to occur in the SU due to rain), birth control 101 and an open mic/karaoke night.
Friday
On Friday, the last event of Sex Week was Fries and F.R.I.E.S. where students ate fries while learning about the principles of consent. F.R.I.E.S stands for freely given, reversible, informed, enthusiastic and specific.
Reflections and moving forward
Szabo explained the importance of learning about topics that might be uncomfortable to discuss.
“There is a lot of shame and stigma surrounding sexual and reproductive health, and that negativity prevents people from accessing important information and resources. Education is empowering, and we want empowered students, faculty and staff,” Szabo said.
After the event, the coordinators received positive feedback, earning an average event rating of 4.92 out of 5 stars. Some anonymous feedback expressed that WSU should have more events like Sex Week and that it was empowering; for others, this week provided an opportunity to learn how to use a condom for the first time.
“We all know that mental health and physical health are intertwined—now we need to build momentum around the impact of sexual health on mental and physical health. Health does not exist in a vacuum, nor do we as humans; for our community to be truly successful, we need to address people’s needs as holistically and comprehensively as possible,” Szabo said.
For more information about the Women’s Center, visit the Division of Inclusive Excellence website.
