KISS Week and I Heart Female Orgasm

Rebecca Cole
Contributing Writer

The University Wellness Commons, along with many other student organizations, recently hosted KISS week. A week of events, seminars, and resource sharing that provided students with further knowledge about sex, alcohol, and sexual positivity, KISS stands for Keeping it Safe and Sexy.

Nysha Wallace, a coordinator for the Wellness Commons, shared with The Purple what KISS week adds to student life. 

The topics discussed are heavy subjects for many people, and Nysha believes that “having an invitation to a safe space where all of your peers are also joining in can make all the difference.” Students felt very comfortable having these hard conversations with people they considered to be in the same position as themselves. 

A student stated that “Even when I was taught about sex in school, it was very anatomically focused” and this week gave people the opportunity to learn more about sex and pleasure in a safe space with professionals and peers. 

While the Wellness Commons did an excellent job of providing resources and information, they also aimed to focus on students’ overall wellbeing. Wallace hopes the program emphasized to students “the positivity that sex can have in relation to your wellbeing.”

This program not only allowed students to discuss these more difficult topics but encouraged them to embrace these subjects wholeheartedly and explore how their own life is impacted by sex and sexual positivity. 

KISS week also allowed students of all sexual orientations and all genders to learn more about their health. The program was designed to be inclusive and spoke to the diverse audience on this campus in a variety of ways. 

One of the events was a dialogue on sex and alcohol, which allowed students to discuss the relationship between the two in a safe and private place with other students. 

Any personal stories shared were not allowed to leave the dialogue, which enabled students to be vulnerable and express themselves and their experiences with others. As a group, the discussion then turned to what students can do to revise the drinking culture on campus and acknowledge the correlation between alcohol and sexual violence. 

The next week, the Bairnwick Women’s Center hosted an event called I Heart Female Orgasm. This event focused on the female orgasm and sexual positivity. Sexual educators Lindsay Fram and Marshall Miller virtually presented to all attendees over Zoom and shared their knowledge on the subject. 

Hayden Dunbar, a co-director at the Wick, excitedly shared that she had been “wanting to bring I Heart Female Orgasm to campus since I heard about it my freshman year.” With over 300 students in attendance at the event, much of the student body also appreciated Dunbar’s enthusiasm. 

Dunbar loved the authenticity that Fram and Miller brought to the event with “the perfect balance of thoughtful, helpful information and silly stories and graphics” that kept the program informative and entertaining. 

Any laughs and jokes lightened the atmosphere and provided a safe and comfortable environment to discuss sexual pleasure. 

A student shared that “It was a really amazing and unique experience, and honestly not at all what I expected.” She enjoyed the combination of “a safe environment led by professionals” and “a lively conversation between peers.” 

“It was humanizing and vulnerable, and an experience that will stick with me for the rest of my life.”

Fram and Miller also remained very inclusive throughout the talk and took care to address all students and sexualities possibly in attendance. 

While the main focus of the event was female pleasure, these educators understood that to many, being a woman does not mean having female anatomy and that having female anatomy does not necessarily mean one identifies as a woman. 

The events of these past few weeks focused on sexual health, safety, positivity, and discourse about the subject have provided a great resource for students to learn more about their wellbeing and an outlet to have great discussions on the topic. It also allowed students to be vulnerable, explore, and learn in a comfortable, welcoming environment.