Since it is generally considered polite to introduce oneself prior to sex, please allow me to do so. My name is Erica, and I'm your friendly campus sex columnist. My column runs on Fridays (just in time for the weekend!), and you might occasionally find me in the opinion section if something really juicy comes up.
You can also find me at my email address, sex@dailycardinal.com, which is where you should totally send me all your most exciting, confusing, probing sex questions. All reader questions remain anonymous in print, and I promise your question isn't going to bore me or freak me out. Over my three years writing for the UW student newspapers, I've covered everything from virginity to genital piercings to autofellatio. So whatever—just send it. It's fine.
In addition to my writing experience, I am a third-year medical student and eighth-year Badger. My medical training gives me a lot of background on how bodies work, as well as some knowledge of drugs and bugs. This info is often helpful when it comes to talking about sex (though I give sexual health advice, not medical advice), but alas, the med school curriculum is pretty lacking in areas like sex toys and kink.
For those kinds of questions, I turn to my three years as program facilitator for Sex Out Loud, the student sexual health organization (though I am not currently affiliated with them in any way). If you're able to attend an SOL program while on campus, you'll see their facilitators have a broad knowledge base from the specialized training they receive from campus and community experts in topics ranging from birth control to butt plugs to bondage.
Today, in the absence of reader questions to address, we're going to go through the basics of getting laid here at UW. Whether we've just moved into the dorms or we're starting our final year of grad school, it's never a bad idea to solidify the foundations of our sex lives, especially when those foundations are as easy as ABC.
‘A' is for awareness. Awareness means knowing about the cornucopia of resources available to us as we begin or continue our sexual journeys at UW. In addition to the aforementioned Sex Out Loud, you can bone up on your sexual health knowledge (and get free rubbers) with student organizations like the LGBT Campus Center, Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment (PAVE), or the Campus Women's Center (CWC). You can also take a class that covers coital subjects. Or you could visit University Health Services (UHS), where they have trained staff, informational pamphlets, and even more free rubbers.
While you're at UHS, take advantage of their free STI screenings. Awareness also means staying on top of our own sexual health. About one in five HIV+ individuals in the U.S. doesn't know they're living with HIV, and as many as 90% of people with genital herpes don't know their status. So make sure that you know yours.
‘B' is for barriers. Barrier methods like latex condoms, when used consistently and correctly, can reduce the transmission of STIs and the risk of pregnancy by up to 98%. You can get them in the offices of any of the organizations mentioned under letter ‘A.'
Occasionally, someone (often a political figure) will email me or go on the record saying condoms are ineffective or minimally effective. Such a person is either misinformed or flat-out lying. I enjoy a good debate as much as the next person, but some things—such as the effectiveness of barrier methods in reducing the spread of STIs—are simply indisputable. Use rubbers! They're free! They work! Period.
‘C' is for consent. Consent is a freely given and enthusiastic, ""Yes, I want to bone you."" Consent is not the absence of a ""no."" Consent is not assumed because our partner said yes to us before, or said yes to something else before, or said yes to someone else before. Consent is necessary not only because sexual activity without consent is a crime, but also because sex is best when all parties involved are excited, exuberant participants. And if we choose to have sex, why wouldn't we choose to have good sex?
And if I may be so bold as to add a ‘D' to our ‘ABCs', ‘D' is for the Dirty Bird, which you are reading right this very second. Got a question? A comment? A point of view that should be considered? Send it my way at sex@dailycardinal.com.
