Wide Open brochure launch encourages proper 'sex etiquette'

New publication from COURAGE aims to answer questions about sex

“Ask it softly, ask it dirty, ask it sweet, just ask for it!” was the opening line for CU’s Rape and Gender Education Program’s new promotion for their publication “Wide Open”: CU Guide to Sex Etiquette: Consent and Communication brochure.

The new brochure, “Wide Open,” was launched April 18 in hopes of raising insight to relationships about the importance of open communication and consent between partners.

Gathering at the Koenig Alumni Center, the audience consisting of mainly students sipped on their mocktails and conversed over a laughter filled room about sex, life, personal stories and accounts to get the celebration started.

Miriam Barrere, a student coordinator for COURAGE and a senior women’s studies major, said she hopes this new publication will provide the CU community with healthy relationship facts and information on the importance of communication.

“We don’t really talk about these issues of sex a lot, so it is important to gain self-esteem in yourself to feel more comfortable sexually (by talking about it),” Barrere said.

The brochure was written mostly by students with the support of Matt Brown, a sociology professor, and the COURAGE staff who created it as a spoof to the Dear Abby letters. It is a question and answer format in which readers can obtain information from some of the most common questions asked by college aged students.

“We hope to change the way things about sex are talked about on campus,” said Teresa Wroe, the professional coordinator for COURAGE. “We want to get a conversation started and be able to let students know they can ask us questions and get answers about these issues.”

A panel discussion later allowed for an open forum for students and guests to ask questions that might have otherwise gone unanswered in regards to sex. The panel was led by four students who each played a different sexual persona in order to allow all sexual realms to be fulfilled and answered.

The panel discussion also spoke about “Wide Open’s” main philosophy of the importance of what consent actually is and how to make sure both partners have fully consented before participating in sexual intercourse.

Consent includes both/all partners being actively in agreement to engage in sexual contact. Consent is an important message COURAGE hopes to get across, as well as wanting students to be on the safe side and ask their partner for consent and knowing that being silent does not equal consent.

“Just ask. At least you will have an answer to know for sure then,” Brown said.

Communication is also an important message expressed in “Wide Open” because without open communication, one partner may not be getting sexually satisfied like they would hope.

“People should be having good sex,” said Peter Vielehr, a senior sociology and women’s studies major. “Communication and openness is what makes for good sex.

And for those uncomfortable with “Wide Open”: “If someone had a problem with (the brochure) we would let them know that we have a different approach to sex, we celebrate sex and don’t suppress it,” Vielehr said.

Contact staff writer Elizabeth Stortroen at [email protected]