Panelists raise matters about sex education during Sex Positive Week

Panelists kicked off Sex Positive Week with a discussion on people's right to talk about sex and the necessity of first acquiring education and knowledge to back up individual views.

"People are unwilling to admit there is a problem, but perhaps there are issues we can bring up in our lives," said panelist Siel Ju, an environmental writer and activist.

The goal of the three-day Sex Positive Week workshop is to raise consciousness about the lack of sex education in homes, schools and media. It encourages audiences to be open about their sexual decisions.

"The concrete step is being able to bring questions like abstinence-only programs and abortion, and providing a forum," said Shira Tarrant, a CSULB women's studies professor and panel discussion moderator. "You'll leave here and continue educating and talking about it."

The panel of women raised questions about the lack of sex education presented in schools discussing how to get involved politically and how to educate others.

Panelists said this is imperative, considering that many face discrimination within their own religions, families and communities.

"Lots of women feel demonized and need a new way to look at themselves and sex," said Jillian Lauren, author and performer and one of the panelists. "Sex positivity is not a choice you make at the time, but something you grow into."

The panelists said that, even at a young age, it is important for individuals to understand their bodies and learn about the safe side of sex in order to understand more serious topics.

"When I speak to younger kids, they have such a lack of information about sex that I can't explain to them about the bad things, like rape and assault, because I am not in the position to talk about it," said speaker Ashleigh Klein, director of outreach and education at the Sexual Assault Crisis Agency in Long Beach.

According to Lauren, the most effective way to live sex positively is to not feel ashamed of sexuality, but to educate and allow students to open up and talk about sexually related experiences.

"Just because people are having lots of sex doesn't make us a sex positive culture. To me, that's not sex positive," Lauren said. "Know yourself, talk to friends and vote."

The panelists urged the audience to get involved politically by voting on sex-related issues in the upcoming election, such as Propositions 4 and 8.

"It's related to sex positivity," Ju said. "We can take our votes to the ballots since we have propositions related to sex."

Panelists also suggested being sex positive means understanding the differences between sexual empowerment and sexual ignorance.

Panelists said holding sex-related occupations or getting information that seems sexual or promiscuous are often seen as unethical and immoral to society's standards, but that a person could, in fact, hold a sex-related occupation while remaining sex positive, as long as they are knowledgeable and responsible for their choices.

Panelists acknowledged the growing interest regarding sex education, which pushes out informative products like queer-positive books, erotica and even pro-sex porn, which advocates for more equal treatment of sexes in pornography, according to Tarrant.

"Media pop culture sells sex, but no one talks about sexuality and what feels good. We have all these contradictions in our culture," Tarrant said.

To end the workshop, the panelists opened up a question and answer period about the future of Sex Positive Week.

"We've gotten a good response from students and attendees," said Mariana Velazquez, co-chair of Feminist Organization Reclaiming Consciousness Equality and a junior human development major. "Now that we've gotten used to the process of setting up, next year's will be more efficient and, hopefully, get an even bigger crowd."