'Female Orgasm' sparks discussion
Rachel Sauls
Issue date: 4/15/10 Section: News
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"The two programs are very different styles, but what they had in common was an incredible level of interest and enthusiasm from the students," Marshall Miller, one of the professional sex educators said. "It's fun to come to a campus where people want to talk about sex."
April 12, Miller led a workshop in the Chickamauga room called "Bisexual, Heteroflexible, No Label at All."
First he invited workshop participants to introduce themselves by telling their name and giving a label they identify with unrelated to sexuality. Then participants listed labels related to sexuality on sheets.
"I didn't realize it was a workshop until I got there, but I feel like he did a great job of creating an environment where people felt comfortable asking questions," Brandi Alexander, a postgraduate student from McMinnville, Tenn., said. "He answered a lot of questions without them having to be asked, which was nice."
After discussing sexuality labels, Miller posted the Kinsey scale on the wall. This scale goes from zero to six with zero representing the completely straight end of the spectrum and six representing the completely gay end of the spectrum. He talked about sexuality and where each preference fell on the Kinsey scale.
"I think [the Kinsey scale] is lost on a lot of people," Alexander said. "It's not saying anything bad about them, it's just something that's not talked about."
Marshall Miller combined with Jocelyn Benson to present the Let's Talk about Sex: The Female Orgasm program in the UC auditorium, April 13.
The men and women were separated to discuss the female orgasm specifically and sex in general. Afterward, the group came back together and learned more about creating a female orgasm as well as discussing the anatomy involved.
"I really thought the candid conversations between Marshall and Jocelyn were great," Carol Oglesby, coordinator of student civic engagement and physical health education, said. "It took a very delicate subject and mixed in humor and education so the students felt comfortable talking about it."
Oglesby, who was in charge of bringing the program to UTC, said the university received several complaints for sponsoring the program, but most were religion based. She said those issuing the complaints said they preferred sexual education programming featuring abstinence, which was in fact a component of the female orgasm program.
"Regardless of whether you believe in abstinence or not, are homosexual or heterosexual, [the program] touched on something that all of us at some point in our lives will experience," Oglesby said. "So abstinence or not, religious or not, this was an educational opportunity that could only improve relationships."
