Students desperate to share their most carnal thoughts with professors are invited to tonight’s sex talk helmed by sociology professor and sexpert John Baldwin.
Baldwin will divulge UCSB students’ sexcapades during the evening discussion, sharing the results of a survey conducted by himself and fellow sociology professor Janice Baldwin, his wife. This research, Baldwin said, explores the reality of Gauchos’ common misconceptions and attitudes about sex. Organized by the UCSB Sex & Relationship Interns as part of Sexuality Responsibility Week, the 7 p.m. talk in the Faculty Club is one of several events that seek to take a deeper look into UCSB’s sex life.
According to Baldwin, he plans to penetrate the sexual myths operating within the student body.
“I’m going to look at some of the urban myths that plague UCSB and present some data from studies that my wife and I have done,” Baldwin said. “[This is to] try and help students get a more realistic understanding of how many risks people take at UCSB.”
These urban legends, he said, include misconceptions about the nature and frequency of sexual acts.
“For example, it’s a myth that we live in a ‘hook up culture’ where everyone is hooking up all the time,” Baldwin said.
After Baldwin’s presentation, attendees will have a chance to sit with one of 15 available faculty members to discuss any questions the presentation aroused. Mark Shishim, a Health Educator with Student Health who helped organize the event, said the faculty panel includes professors from the classics, economics and psychology departments, as well as representatives from campus programs such as the Alcohol and Drug Program.
This discussion, Shishim said, will facilitate intimate talks between students and faculty.
“The whole point of the event is to get informal time between professors and students,” Shishim said. “[We want to] show what they are like outside the classroom.”
Aside from the opportunity to talk dirty with professors, Shishim said the presentation has another compelling aspect to entice students to attend.
“There will be a thousand dollars worth of food ready to be given away,” Shishim said.
Today’s talk is just one of a multitude of events featured in Sexuality Responsibility Week. Each day of the week will have a specific theme that will dictate the day’s activities. Today’s theme – ‘Anxiety is the Opposite of Orgasm’ – focuses on STI awareness and free and anonymous STI testing will be offered in the Student Resource Building. Tomorrow’s theme, ‘Love is a Battlefield,’ will focus on the danger of unhealthy and abusive relationships. The finale on Friday – ‘Me, Myself and I’ – will feature masturbation, because, as the flyer for Sexual Responsibility Week reminds students, “Valentine’s Day isn’t just for couples.”
Throughout the rest of the week students are invited to attend discussion panels and will have the chance to receive free T-shirts, goody bags and health information. Furthermore, “Condom Roses” – roses fashioned out of foil and containing condoms – will be sold all week for about $2 each.