Orgasm Seminar Doles Out Tips, Toys

Students crowded into Science Center C on Friday night, but instead of picking up syllabi, they grabbed free condoms and cupcakes frosted with images of vaginas.

The lecture hall was packed for the fifth annual Female Orgasm Seminar, organized by the Radcliffe Union of Students and led by speaker and sex educator Sari Locker.

Locker mainly focused on the importance of knowing one’s own sexuality rather than relying on what the media, pornography, or others say should feel pleasurable.

“It takes three things to know your own sexuality,” Locker said. “It takes knowing yourself, it takes knowing others, and it takes knowing about sex.”

Despite this serious-sounding message, Locker’s presentation was interactive and interspersed with sexual jokes and innuendoes, drawing plenty of laughs from the attentive audience.

Early in the seminar, Locker called to the front three female volunteers, who she positioned to model the female anatomy. Two of the women represented the labia while one represented the clitoris.

“Now how does an orgasm happen?” Locker asked the audience. She answered by patting the head of the girl playing the clitoris, who then jumped up and down to symbolize an orgasm.

Locker advised women seeking orgasms to explore their body and to masturbate.

Event organizer Eva B. Rosenberg ’10 said she was pleased with the turnout and the audience participation, but was disappointed with Locker’s focus on heterosexual sex and the lack of information for gay, transgender, and other queer individuals.

“I thought it was a little heteronormative,” Rosenberg said.

Locker did bring up gender identity, advising students who felt uncomfortable with their gender to explore while in college.

Attendees of both genders were well represented in the audience, and Locker directly addressed the men as well, giving them advice on how to last longer during sex.

“I think it’s good to get a dialogue going about sex on campus,” Daniel F. Selgrade ’12 said after the seminar. “Women don’t get what they want.”

Locker also mentioned the importance of safe sex. With a volunteer holding a rubber penis prop, Locker gave a descriptive step-by-step demonstration of how to use a condom.

As she displayed rubber penises of various sizes, Locker took the opportunity to discuss penis size, arguing that size is less important for good sex than the compatibility of the partners.

“There are millions of men who are incredible lovers at any size, so I don’t want men having size anxiety,” Locker said.

After her presentation, RUS gave away vibrators, sex books, and sex toys in a raffle, and Locker answered audience questions submitted on anonymous cards.

“I hope everyone took away the important message that they should be looking inward to discover what you enjoy,” Locker said after the seminar.

—Staff writer Danielle J. Kolin can be reached at dkolin@fas.harvard.edu.