Sex is a common subject among college students but campus conversation rarely begins or ends under the topic of education. And now a new campus club has set out to end the stigma surrounding sexual education.
Planned Parenthood: Generation Action is a new club that emerged at City College this spring. Fiona Hannan, the founder, wanted to get students on campus talking about safe sex and found that partnering with Planned Parenthood was the best way to do it.
“I knew I wanted to talk about safe sex at school,” said Hannan. “I wanted to end the stigma surrounding getting tested and getting on birth control.”
The club currently has about 26 members on its Facebook page but only five to eight attend the meetings.
Many of the students who joined the club feel that sex is a topic that is being highly neglected in conversation among their peers.
“I feel that [the club] is important simply because educating students about sexual health is a concept that is not discussed in schools as much as it should be,” said Jack Kaiser, the club’s vice president.
A great part about having partnered with Planned Parenthood, said Hannan, is the resources that are available to the club through the organization.
Planned Parenthood health educators have held discussions at meetings about different types of birth control, preventing sexually transmitted infections and other topics related to sexual health.
Students usually watch TedTalks, play sex trivia games to clear up some myths and misconceptions surrounding sex, discuss pregnancy prevention, and talk openly about HIV in hopes to rid the disease of its stigma.
The club’s main purpose is to create a safe space for open discussion.
“Sex is a huge part of our college culture which isn’t a bad thing if we’re safe about it,” said Hannan.
Club members keep condoms and personal lubrication on hand to give out at meetings and campus events.
Hannan said that handing out condoms was important to her because she wants it to become a normal practice for people to have them within reach. She pointed out that girls often don’t carry condoms for fear of being thought of as a “dirty slut” and some men avoid carrying them around because they do not want to be seen as a “douchebag.” Some students gladly accept the free sexy handouts, but others seem to be disgusted.
Nevertheless, Hannan believes the club is making great strides. “I think our community on campus is excellent…I feel lucky to be at a school that is so open minded.“
The club’s future is still unknown. Hannan is considering merging the club to be a branch of City College Connect.
The club meets at 3:30 p.m. every first and third Tuesday of the month in Campus Center Room 216. The club’s final meeting of the semester will be Tuesday, May 5.
