Students discussed sexual stigmas at “I Heart Female Orgasm,” an event held Tuesday in Maryland Hall by the Hopkins Organization for Programming (HOP), the Center for Health Education and Wellness (CHEW) and Hopkins Dining as part of the University’s Sexual Health Awareness and Guidance (SHAG) Week.
“It was really entertaining,” freshman Radha Bhatnagar said. “It told us about things you didn’t really know and no one tells you.”
Before breaking up into discussion groups by gender, attendees gathered together to listen to sex educators Dorian Solot and Connor Timmons. Their talk focused on traditionally taboo sexual topics, including masturbation and female orgasms.
The lecturers aimed to debunk misconceptions about masturbation that are portrayed in the media and to discuss negative public opinion of masturbation.
They also analyzed Cosmopolitan magazine covers with statements about sex, such as one that offered instructions on how to find directions to one’s G-spot.
“The G-spot is actually part of the clitoris,” Solot said.
The speakers explained that the G-spot is an area of sensitivity rather than an organ. This is relevant because studies have tried to prove that this spot did not exist simply because they could not find it.
“Unlike the clitoris, the G-spot is located inside the body,” Timmons said.
Solot and Timmons also addressed negative messages about masturbation that originate from outside of the media. As children, they explained, some parents might have moved their children’s hands when they were touching their body in a way that society might deem disrespectful. From a young age, these children would have learned to believe that touching their bodies was incorrect.
Solot said that many of the college women that have attended her lectures at various campuses had not heard of female masturbation because it is a practice that society generally associates with men.
Some people, the duo shared, are afraid of the idea of masturbation because they have experienced sexual assault and trauma. For people in this situation, they recommended two books: Healing Sex by Staci Haines and Victims No Longer by Mike Lew. They also recommend that people in this situation take advantage of counseling resources on campus.
The speakers also talked about porn and its limited ability to teach people realistic information about sex.
“Porn is not a good source of information for what people act [or] look like or do,” Timmons said.
Solot and Timmons answered questions about variations in orgasms.
“It [can] take a little or a lot of stimulation [to achieve orgasm],” Timmons said. “Each orgasm is unique, like a snowflake.”
Many students said they appreciated the presentation. Sophomore Gauri Bhatnagar said that Solot and Timmons touched on topics about which people are often curious but often don’t want to ask other people.
Saman Baban, a member of The HOP, also enjoyed the lecture.
“I thought it was an extremely interesting talk,” Baban said. “This was definitely a first experience for me, and I would definitely recommend [to] people to come back for future talks brought to you by the HOP and SHAG week and CHEW,” Baban said.
This program was also held at Hopkins in 2010. In total, ‘I Heart Female Orgasm’ has reached 500 audiences at college campuses across the country.
Solot became particularly interested in masturbation and female sexuality after the dean at her university gave a speech about masturbation. She said that the female orgasm could be connected to many other subjects and has written academic papers on the topic.
