On March 19, 2024, the departments of Residential and Dining Services (RDS), Student Culture and Belonging, and Student Support brought guest speakers from I Love Female Orgasms to campus. This 90-minute event garnered significant social media attention in the preceding weeks, and 250-300 students attended the University Center Complex (UCC) Tech Flex for the event.
The event was advertised on the @stevensstudents Instagram with a post that included the innuendo “Are you coming?” It is the post with the most interactions of the semester, with 123 comments and 511 likes at the time of reporting; The post with the next most comments has less than 20. There was plenty of discussion speculating about the contents of the program and debating how this program impacted Stevens’s reputation.
The speakers started off the event with their intention for the evening, saying, “We support you making decisions about sex that are safe and healthy for you.” They noted how much of the informal education our generation received is from internet pornography. The I Love Female Orgasms website encourages people to attend events to learn how to have their first orgasm or how to have better orgasms. They emphasized the importance of events like this because “talk about pleasure is talk about consent,” and sex education that centers on pleasure contributes significantly to sexual assault prevention. “Consent is the floor, not the ceiling: it is where sex begins,” they told the packed room.
Broad topics include anatomy, solo stimulation, partner stimulation, sexual health myths, and “the orgasm gap.” The orgasm gap is the social phenomenon concerning how “across every demographic studied, women report the lowest frequency of reaching orgasm during sexual encounters with men.” Women often require 20 minutes of direct stimulation to achieve an orgasm, compared to men’s two to five minutes. Penetration alone is not the most effective way for women to orgasm, with most preferring to use manual or vibrator stimulation. 70% of people with vaginas do not orgasm from penetration alone because the clitoris, which houses the most sensitive nerve endings, is not directly involved. Another aspect that porn unrealistically dramatizes is “squirting,” which may occur during penetration as the G-spot is stimulated. The Skene’s glands, positioned at the lower end of the urethra in the urethral sponge, release a “combination of urea, uric acid, and creatinine” because of stimulation near the vaginal walls.
Attendees were enthusiastic and respectful throughout the program. Many students brought pens and notebooks to take notes, and when lights were dimmed to play videos, the room fell silent. Event organizers reported that they had set up 150 attendees, but as the event started, they needed to bring out all the chairs they had. By 7:30 p.m., it was standing room only, and many students sat on the floor or stood for the duration of the event. There was energetic discussion throughout the event, cheering for mentions of vibrators or when a Computer Science major was handed a laser pointer to show where the clitoris was on a diagram. Several polls were conducted, anonymously surveying the room on misconceptions, whether size matters, and what they prefer in stimulation. In the end, students had the opportunity to win merchandise by answering questions or purchasing merchandise to support the organization.
Students interviewed after the event described it as a good introduction, having prior knowledge of 25% to 90% of the information presented and enjoying having a space for discussions like this on campus. The sponsors of the event were pleased with the high attendance and retention, saying it speaks to students being interested in sex education. Patrick Rosengrant, Assistant Director of Residential Education, described this event as having the highest attendance for an educational event he’d seen and that similar programs may be available in the future based on the response.
Presenters Lindsey and Marshall also described their enthusiasm for the audience, saying it exceeded their expectations and was “so much fun.” They give presentations to university students across the nation, noting that this program is often popular at tech schools. They became sex educators because this information was not available to them in their education, and they became passionate about teaching it. In response to any backlash to the program, they reminded people that this is a voluntary event and they are looking to educate only people interested in listening. One comment repeated under the Instagram post and in the lead-up to the event called for a presentation on the male orgasm, and the organizers did not reject this idea. They were willing to provide information that people were interested in, but the point of the program focusing on female orgasms is because “the world already values the male orgasm,” and male orgasm education would be “preaching to the choir.” They extended their thanks to the audience, describing the honor of presenting to a standing audience.
