The week long event strives to encourage more open discussion about sex and sexuality, with the belief that sex can be a healthy, positive part of life.
“The goal has been to promote a positive sex idea and combat some oppressive notions of it on campus,” Amelia Powell (COL ’12).
SPW 2010’s organizers made an effort to include a wide array of perspectives. The discussions officially sponsored by Georgetown University, entitled “Virginity and Losing It” and “Disability and Sexuality,” reflected this more moderate approach.
SPW 2010 organizer Kristine Mitchell (COL ’10) said the “Virginity and Losing It” event attracted a different crowd than usual.
“We had a lot of people I hadn’t seen before,” Mitchell said. “We talked about peoples’ perspectives on virginity—what it means to them personally and culturally. We definitely had a lot more inclusion from people with religious backgrounds.”
Nonetheless, the leading figures of Sex Positive Week didn’t shy away from pushing the boundaries of what they see as a largely sex-negative campus community. The events not sponsored by the university—Guerilla Sex Theatre in Red Square, guerilla queer bar at the Tombs, a female orgasm workshop, and a sex toy party—are meant to challenge what they see as static and limited conceptions of sex at Georgetown.
