Panelists Discuss Sex with UWG Students

The Responsible Sexuality Committee hosted their 30th annual “Let’s Talk About Sex” panel. Students gathered in the Campus Center Ballroom Aug. 29 at 7p.m. for an open discussion about sexual health.

Three panelists, Dr. Juaquita Callaway, a gynecologist, Corey Hindman, a Patient Advocate at UWG’s Health Services and  Kimberly Prince Korobov, a psychotherapist, answered students’ questions. Some of them were about protected sex, squirting, the amount of UWG students with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), having too much sex, and birth control.

Students were given yellow slips of paper to write their questions down. Volunteers collected their anonymous questions in manila envelopes, and Ryan Bronkema, the moderator, asked the panelists these questions.

The first question was, “Why should we even talk about sex? Do you think, we, as young adults, don’t know enough? Or do we have misconceptions about it that we should find clarification for?”

“Knowledge is power,” said Dr. Callaway. “When you know more about your body, about your health, what you can do on your own, then you’re empowered to make better decisions. There is a lot of misinformation that keeps getting recirculated.”

Because of these myths and because people still believe them, Dr. Callaway added that making choices based off of them can hurt a person, which can be prevented.

“Any question that anyone asks, I can almost guarantee that person was not the only person who asked that question,” she said. “We all learn better in this format when we have a discussion.”

One student submitted a question about the difference between sex and gender and why people change their gender.

“The shortest answer I can think of: gender is between the ears, and sex is between the legs,” Hindman said. “Sex tends to reflect our biological male/female, XX/XY chromosomes, so you’ll usually hear the term ‘sex’ used in biological terms. Gender reflects more of masculinity and femininity.”

He also said some people believe a person is either masculine or feminine while others may see themselves with masculine and feminine qualities.  

“I think it makes sense to all of us that you want who you are to be reflected by the way you present yourself, the way you dress, the way you gesture, the way you relate to others,” said Korobov. “You want the world to reflect back to you your own sense of who you are. You want them to recognize you. Sometimes people don’t feel like who they are matches the gender of their biology, their sex, so they would change their gender.”

Another question was whether or not sex ruined relationships and how to talk to someone who uses sex to resolve issues.

Korobov stated having sex can complicate a relationship, especially if one person is into having sex while the other is not.

“One of the ways that we  do sometimes  make up, come close to, exercise power over, seduce, get back at, violate someone, is by having sex with them,” she said. “It is possible that it can be problematic, that somebody does that in a way that doesn’t feel healthy, that doesn’t feel loving, that doesn’t feel right to you. If you’re experiencing this, whoever wrote that question is a good one, I think you need to talk about it.

Dr. Callaway informed students to be mindful of how they feel about having sex. If they do not want to engage in sexual activity, then she said to be aware of that.

“If you’re both in the right place, where you’re mutual and you’re having a lot of fun, chances are that’s not going to feel bad,” she said. “But if you’re not in the right place, on equal footing, then you can actual be kind of creating a little emotional trauma for yourself to participate in sex you’re not fully into.”

Hindman said having sex to solve a problem does not solve one at all.

“If they are starting to drift apart, if there is distance, then no amount of physical intimacy is necessarily going to replicate that emotional intimacy that’s being lost,” he said.

As for closing remarks, Hindman wanted students to ask themselves who they wanted to be when the day was over, Dr. Callaway encouraged them to research their sexual health and Korobov reminded them that sex should be wonderful to experience.

Erin

See author's posts

Comments

comments