By Daniel Lopez
MTSU Raider Shakedown Reporter
MURFREESBORO,
Tenn. – Dr. Joni Frater and Esther Lastique spoke on the topic of sex and
relationships at Middle Tennessee State University’s Ned McWherter Learning
Resources Center on April 5 at a free public event.
Titled “Loving
Right: Sexual Assault Awareness”, the two speakers centered their talk on the
issues of dating relationships and the challenges that come with maintaining
healthy sexual activity as a college student. MTSU’s June Anderson Center for
Women and Nontraditional Students, the Student Government Association and MTSU
Health Promotion sponsored this free public event.
Frater and Lastique, both sexologists
and co-authors of the book “Loving Her Right”, were very polite and open in
their discussion on a very touchy subject. They were very interactive with the audience
and with each other, using diagrams, pictures and props to demonstrate
technical aspects of their presentation.
Frater and Lastique travel America to
speak on college campuses about the issues of relationships and sex.
“We’ve actually been having this conversation
with the Department of Health Promotion for about four years,” said Lastique,
when asked specifically what brought them to MTSU. “So they’ve been trying to
get permission to bring us for that long. You know, we do charge, so that’s
been an issue as far as the funding, but getting the permission hasn’t really
been a big deal.”
There was a fairly good turnout for
the event. More than 50 students came, and many of those students attended for
a class assignment. Laughter erupted during parts of the presentation, and the
atmosphere was overall relaxed, casual and inviting. Many students expressed
their enjoyment of the presentation style and the information provided, saying that
they had not heard such thorough and unashamed discussion on this topic before.
“That’s why we talk about everything,
“said Frater.
Both speakers expressed their love of
having these talks and discussing all of the taboos associated with sex to
empower students with the knowledge they need to make good decisions. Some of
the more controversial subjects they deal with are related to detailed
explanations of how to have safe sex and how to deal with the issue of consent
in a sexual relationship. Frater and Lastique stressed the importance of loving
oneself before loving another person, sexually or otherwise.
At the end of the event, Frater and
Lastique spoke from personal experience to tie
everything they had said together, ending with the big reveal
that they were married to one another. More than just partners in sexology,
they were same-sex partners, a fact that was met with great joy by the
audience.
Frater and Lastique intend to come
back to MTSU to break through the taboos associated with their discussion one
event at a time. For more information or
to contact Frater and Lastique, you can go to www.SexEdBootCamp.com or e-mail
them at info@sexedbootcamp.com.
###
No comments:
Post a Comment