The University of Idaho was ranked last out of 141 American colleges and universities when it came to offering sexual health resources to students, according to the 2010 Trojan condom sexual health survey.
In response, UI started the monthly event called “Got Sex,” an open conversation for students to safely talk about subjects that may not be acceptable to discuss in other environments.
This month the subject is called “Self Love,” and will address a variety of topics to do with masturbation.
Erin Chapman, assistant professor in Family and Consumer Sciences, will address the social stigma surrounding masturbation.
The event will take place at 5:30 Wednesday at Memorial Gym, room 109.
Julia Keleher, LGBTQA program coordinator, said “Got Sex” is great, because it is heavily audience driven.
“The information we come prepared with is less important than the questions that the audience has,” Keleher said. “And the students always have great questions. So that means that people are coming to these events and they want to know.”
Chapman said one of the social flaws when it comes to masturbation is that men are much more open with the subject than women. She said this is because there isn’t much coverage of the subject for women in sexual education classes taught in middle school and high school.
“We don’t teach girls that they have a clitoris,” Chapman said. “We don’t talk about it. It’s like, ‘You have ovaries and a uterus, and you make babies and you shoot them out.’ We don’t talk about how that happens.”
Chapman said for there is an element of judgment toward the subject of masturbation. Chapman said it is all based on culture.
“For men, they’re all expected to be over-sexualized all the time — where sometimes that may not be the case,” Chapman said. “The opposite is true for women. If a woman is open with her sexuality, she is often seen to be ‘loose.'”
Despite the sensitivity of the subject, both Keleher and Chapman said they consistently see large turnouts, almost to the point where they have issues with the amount of space they’re given. Chapman said it’s because the issue is something people really do want to talk about, and there are only a handful of opportunities given for it.
“A lot of the topics we talk about are very taboo,” Keleher said. “People maybe practice them, or they have understandings of them, and they don’t have that avenue to talk about it.”
Chapman said there are no medical consequences for masturbating often or not so often, and every student must find what is right for them. The only time it becomes unhealthy is when someone is doing it so often that it influences their social or academic life, or when they want to be doing it, but something is holding them back.
“Masturbation is very healthy actually,” Chapman said. “Because it’s safe sex, and it’s a way to explore your body.”
Keleher said contrary to popular belief, students don’t already know everything they need to know about masturbation.
She said there is always something new to learn. In fact, Chapman said she learns something every time she teaches a subject like this to her students.
“Come and add to the conversation then,” Chapman said. “If you feel like you know a lot, you’re welcome to come and help us talk about this issue. It’s not like we just want to talk to people who don’t have any information. We want to have a conversation and that includes people who are maybe very knowledgeable, and very able to add to the conversation.”
Erin Bamer can be reached at [email protected]