A series of talks, activities and workshops took place during ASFA’s Rad SexEd Week!
Last week, Concordia got lucky. From Loyola to SGW to Grey Nun’s, sexiness was vibrating. Why? Concordia’s SexEd Week. The message? Nothing is sexier than communication.
Organized by the Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA), ASFA’s Rad SexEd Week! (with Laci Green) drove that message home with a series of workshops, panels and activities between Oct. 5 and 8.
The events varied in style, but not in purpose. Some were intimate discussions facilitated by experienced sexual educators, like Monday’s Solo Sex workshop with Melissa Fuller. Some were panels, like the Women’s Representation in the Media panel which took place on Tuesday. Some were sex toy fairs. Each event promoted awareness, communication and respect—of gender, sexuality, experience and boundaries.
One of the week’s organizers, ASFA advocacy committee member Lana Elinor Galbraith, said, “we want to make sure the events provide a positive and safe space for everyone.” Perfect for the theme—and for the main guest.
Laci Green, YouTube vlogger and sex educator, brought her Best Sex Ever! talk to Concordia as the week’s lynchpin. Green’s recipe for the “best sex ever” is a combination of knowledge, self-love, consent and safety. A lot of what she said would be familiar to anyone who has seen her Youtube show (118,015,248 views and counting), but the talk was augmented by the photos, descriptions and interactivity that YouTube prohibits. Over 230 people were packed into E-104 in the Grey Nun’s building to interact—before, during and after her presentation.
With this talk being just one stop on a speaking tour where Green repeats the same topics from past videos, she must get bored or at least frustrated by the repetition.
“No, I don’t!” she said during an interview in the ASFA office before her big talk. “The ‘ah-ha’ moments … where people are joining the conversation, I’m all about it. I’m very happy being the first sort of, ‘welcome in this door.’”
She views simplicity as a good thing, as long as it’s accurate and entertaining. “I feel obligated to make sure it’s understandable to anyone at any level of education,” she said, lamenting how often you need an academic language to participate in the conversation—or to feel like you’re participating.
Her personality shone during the presentation. Talking about anal sex, she asked everyone in the room to clench their butts. “We’re probably the biggest group of people clenching their butts in Montreal right now,” she said. Everyone laughed, still clenched. Everyone was included. Everyone was learning.
And that’s the point, according to Green. As long as the conversation is ongoing, as long as people are joining and having their voices heard, as long as we keep trying, we’re succeeding.
“We’re getting to a better place, very slowly, but surely,” she said. To get there faster, we should follow her hard-won advice: “use more lube.”