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Life & Style / Feb. 27, 2008 at 9:21 pm

SHAPE talks sex tips, tricks and advice

By Vi-An Nguyen

“Ow! You make my vagina so stale.”

No, that’s not a quote from Talk Sex with Sue Johanson. It’s from a presentation by SHAPE (Sex Health and Abuse Peer Education), who hosted a ADJECTIVE program about safe sex at the McCulloch lounge Tuesday night. No, it wasn’t like that awkward health class you remember from 7th grade.

Lured by the promise of free condoms and cake, about fifteen people attended.

The evening began with sexual Mad Libs. The audience supplied words like “ow,” “vagina” and “stale,” creating some hilarious scenarios.

The point of the game, the members of SHAPE said, was to emphasize that “sex doesn’t always have perfect communication.” The primary theme of the presentation was communication between two people in a sexual situation.

“Always be aware of your partner’s body language,” the student educators said.

The night then moved on to sex trivia. Some questions were simply entertaining: How far does a guy’s semen typically ejaculate? (Twelve to 24 inches.) How many quarts of semen does a man ejaculate in a lifetime? (Eighteen.) And during a 15 to 20 minute sex session, you’ll burn 100 calories.

But there were more serious questions asked as well. According to a survey of Northwestern students conducted by SHAPE, 10 percent of students said they had been in an abusive relationship in the past year, 45 percent of sexually active Northwestern students said they always use a condom and the most common STI at Northwestern (and the world) is HPV.

“There are a lot of things Northwestern doesn’t know, like how prevalent STIs are,” said Maria Lei, a Weinberg sophomore and SHAPE presenter.

To put the audience’s safe sex knowledge to the test, SHAPE had the students participate in a condom relay. The rules? One member of each team puts on beer goggles (specialized goggles meant to simulate the visual experience of being drunk off your ass) and attempts to properly put a condom on a rubber penis. Winners don’t get the clap.

The SHAPE presenters then critiqued the audience’s condom-using methods and demonstrated the proper technique. Tips to remember? Store condoms in a cool place (heat from a pocket can break down the latex). Remember to squeeze the tip of the condom as you’re rolling it down the penis. And when removing the condom, move away from the woman to prevent splattering semen which could result in unwanted pregnancy and render your efforts at protection meaningless.

Finally, the presenters debunked a few sex myths. SHAPE advised the audience that taking several birth control pills directly before sex will not be more effective at preventing pregnancy, that peeing after sex is not an effective contraceptive and that sex the night before a big game will not, in fact, hurt your game time performance.

And each audience member walked away with a handful of flavored and colored condoms, lube, a slice of cake and newfound knowledge. The presentation succeeded as a fun, informative way to teach sex facts you might have missed back in middle school.

You can expect to see more presentations like this happening soon, as SHAPE’s programming expands.

“We’re a new group, and we welcome suggestions,” said Kacey Albertine, Weinberg sophomore and member of SHAPE.

“We’re not boring. We’re not going to stand there and lecture you,” Lei said. “This is just a fun and easy way to present the information.”

Because after all, “safe sex is an important part of good sex,” Lei said.

Also on NBN

Tired of sex? Read about food. Or you can return home.

Comments

  1. Wait wait, a grand total of 15 people attended and this is considered newsworthy?! Give me a break.

    Aaron

    February 28, 2008 at 1:23 am

  2. I think 15 people for a new group is pretty good. It takes time to get a lot of people to show up to those kinds of things. I think the bigger problem here is that only 45% of sexually active NU students always wear a condom. That seems frighteningly low!!!

    Lisa

    February 28, 2008 at 5:24 pm

  3. it was in the McCulloch lounge…getting 15 residents to come to an event there is like getting 75 people to come to something in Allison.

    Emily

    February 28, 2008 at 5:32 pm

  4. SHAPE events aren’t always designed for the entire campus to come to - a lot of the time they’re requested by CAs or fraternities or sororities and the presentation is just designed for people in that specific dorm or house. It’s more like an ongoing option that can be done whenever rather than a one-time event that needed coverage; the McCulloch presentation’s just an example.

    Rena

    February 28, 2008 at 6:21 pm

  5. We did this in Chapin, and 40-60% of the residents showed up.

    Tommy Rousse

    March 1, 2008 at 7:05 pm

  6. 15 people is a good start to get the ball rolling.

    But it sounds like they designed the sex education here so that it will stick in people’s minds. And the stuff they teach, i believe, is something we all should know cold!

    Great Sex Coach

    June 21, 2008 at 12:22 am

  7. 15 people for event like this is a good start because to many people are embarrassed to talk about that kind of stuff in public i think shape is doing a good thing

    jp

    July 1, 2008 at 8:59 pm

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