first

INSIGHT

“They want to feel informed and prepared to make decisions about sex, but don’t know what they don’t know or are too embarrassed to admit.” 

 

IMPRESSION

Most of our subjects seemed very prepared and ready to answer our questions, but didn’t seem to be willing to be vulnerable in front of us.

 

INTERVIEWS

B-20: “Knowing all the information you can is ‘safe sex’” “I guess there is lots of stuff such as intimacy that is not known, some friends are scared of it because they didn’t learn that aspect of it.”

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B-2: [18-year-old, home-schooled, relatively inexperienced, now a junior] “No, I don’t need anymore information” “I may be a bit apathetic, but I don’t need to seek it out” “Felt other college students were safe and knowledgeable.”

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A-1: Thought only those who had “abstinence only” education might not know much about sex, be less experienced.  Noted that she made use of the CARE/SHAPE booth on campus for condoms, questions.  Thought everyone seemed equally knowledgeable about sex.

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B-3: Member of Sexual Health & Assault Peer Educations (SHAPE), bisexual but expressed a lot of uncertainty/discomfort around the label and the identity. May have more questions about sex as a bisexual woman as well as kink and social elements of queerness.  “Most people thought bisexuality was a phase, my friends and I experimented with kissing. Heard anti-gay slurs like “taco licker." Learned about queerness via slam poetry and The L Word.

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J-14: [14 years old, speaking about school sex ed:]“Sex Ed wasn't super laid back. People were kind of quiet, they couldn't talk about the super specifics of sex.” “Making yourself vulnerable is a risk”

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fourth

INSIGHT

“They are certain that consent and relational elements are important in sex, but there

are a lot of consternating factors that complicate the issue like drugs and alcohol.”

 

IMPRESSION

It’s hard to navigate the nuances of sex when all they’re really taught is the

biomedical perspective - things like consent, intimacy/foreplay, erotica, and more

can make it difficult to understand what you and your partner(s) want.

 

INTERVIEWS

B-3: A lot of the anonymous questions that SHAPE receives are about alcohol and

consent - often about “who is at fault”, false accusations. “People aren’t always

communicating when they are having sex, making the issue of consent more

complicated. If there was more talking, there would be more opportunities for people

to communicate consent and their needs.”

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B-1: Often confused sex and love early on, recounted times “when her mind was saying “No” but her body wasn’t cooperating”.  Need to be “mentally aware and have had a conversation about sex before engaging.”

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A-1: Thinks college culture (fraternity culture in particular) poses a threat to safe sex; worried about consent.  Noted the SAE sexual assault incident on campus as a wake-up call.

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B-20: “Girl in past that wanted to have sex, came on strong, was drinking heavily; I decided against having sex - wasn’t sure if it was appropriate.” “Knowing what your partner is into.”

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E-25: Used pornography as a learning experience, wants to know how to “keep things spicy”.  Emotional/mental health is strongly tied to sexual health. Prioritizes passion as a form of upkeep in her relationship.

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