By Jade Shaw |Chronicle Blogger|
I’m getting down to the big ohh facts here on campus. Sex: it’s a campus truth. Hell, it’s a life truth. Sex sells, doesn’t it? Let’s not kid ourselves; your curiosity for an unleashed sexual perspective led you here.
Am I making you feel creepy yet? Well, take comfort in at least knowing that you’re not alone. We are all a little creepy about our sexuality. Think about it: when you walked to class this morning, weren’t you wondering if you looked presentable? Checking every time you passed your reflection? Or at least when last night’s party became this morning’s “I need a shower so people don’t throw up when they see me?” These are all subtle expressions of our creepy obsession with presentation.
We are becoming more and more exposed to violence in the media. Constant contact with video games like
“Call of Duty” and “Grand Theft Auto,” action films like “300,” “Scarface,” “Kill Bill,” and even news coverage has cultured us to be unresponsive to violence. Sex, however, has remained a hush hush topic outside of comedy clubs and crude websites (scratch YouTube sensation Jenna Mourey, a personal hero of mine). Still, nobody talks about it.
But why? Conversation and connection is vital (not to mention powerful) for an enriched, healthy and informed campus. Leaving topics swept under the rug creates an unspoken disconnect, making students less likely to feel understood.
So, last week I tried an experiment, because I’m not the end-all goddess of sexy sexual sex. (It’s okay, I gasped too).
But seriously: I want voices, stories, questions, comments, and ideas about individuals and their personal experiences with sexuality. Or else how can I represent the variety of people on our campus, right?
So I sent a “help-I’m-not-a-full-sex-Yoda-and-I-need-other-half-sex-Yodas-to-help-me-make-this-a-successful-blog” type of email. To over 600 people. And how many responses did I get for the effort, you ask?
Twenty. AND of those twenty, only three didn’t mind being anonymous.
But I’m not discouraged.
Instead, I’m suiting up to head out with my posse of sexuals to spread the word about sex as more than “doing it.” It’s a part of who we all are.
Well, what the hell does the title “Made Flesh” have to do with a sex blog? That’s me, giving in to my nerdy English-ness.
Made Flesh is the name of a collection of poetry by the late poet Craig Arnold, who disappeared in 2009 when he was hiking in Japan on a fellowship to study volcanoes for his next writing project.
A large focus of the collection is a remark on life and sex, and Arnold often uses terms like “bodies” and “flesh” to turn what would be vulgar, into something poetic and relatable. This is the core of his connective value
Sexy sexual sexuality, yes. But it has to connect. It has to mean something. This blog’s purpose has to make us step back and consider our secret natures on a larger scale. I am fighting for a purpose that will let us finally exhale the breath that we hold in about what our sexual natures mean to our own identity.
Our lives are broken down and then rebuilt through the act of bodies sharing skin. Through re-creating our own flesh with another person.
I am going to uncover the connection between individuality, and the bare, almost primal instincts of all human beings.
That said, I’m not here to protect sensibilities. I’m here to strip down the layers of our socially sheltered “feelings,” to explore the nature of real raw college sexuality.
And if I haven’t scared you off yet, welcome to a new level of taking sex just a little bit further. Because when it comes to sex, why wouldn’t you approach it with a grip on who you are and what you want?
You don’t pull up to a drive thru window and ask what the cashier suggests, do you? The hell with that. You tell that pimple-faced-minimum-wage-making cashier that you want the number five combo exactly how you like it.
So why aren’t we this honest about sex? If sexuality isn’t spoken, it can’t be understood. Opening our minds promotes communication that works to nurture individuals, making our campus a positive experience for everyone.
Got a fetish, a secret get-it-on spot on campus, a cheating secret, a hilarious sex story, or just want to read about just how creepy I can get? Then stay tuned, because we’re going to go deep.