March 18, 2011

By Vineeta Tan

Sexuality educator Sheri Winston revealed the secrets of sexual pleasure to students in Stotler Lounge on Wednesday.
Winston spoke in conjunction with the Sexual Health Advocate Peer Educators’ annual Sexual Responsibility Week, which began Tuesday.

In her presentation titled “Men’s and Women’s Anatomy of Arousal,” Winston engaged her audience with explicit photos and her wit, drawing laughs from the audience.

“We picked Sheri because she is a well rounded sexuality educator,” SHAPE Vice President Ellen Chancey said. “She brings a different spin to what SHAPE normally does, as we focus a lot on STI and prevention and bringing in something like pleasure was important to us.”

With a medical background as a registered nurse and legal midwife, Winston’s presentation was a fuse of a scientific anatomy lesson with her own brand of erotic humor.

“I am penetrating you all with my words and images,” Winston said during her presentation.

SHAPE spokeswoman Hannah Keel said arousal is a topic most people do not know about and do not talk on a regular basis.

“It is challenging because we want to represent sexual health in a positive way,” Chancey said. “There are negative things that occur with sexual health, and we are always concerned with that, but we also want to focus our attention on positive ideas.”

Describing the exploration of one’s own sexuality as the hunt for buried pleasure, Winston’s presentation covered beyond the physical aspects of sex to include the self empowerment that arises from it.

“Foundationally, sex is not about how we connect with other people, that is secondary,” Winston said. “The absolute bedrock foundation and core of your sexuality is about yourself, and how you feel about yourself, what you experienced, what you learned. That is your sexuality, and it is unique and yours.”

Chancey said it is challenging to represent sexual health in a positive light, but she hoped students will learn something new, feel more comfortable about their own bodies and to be more at ease learning about sexual pleasure in general.

“It’s really difficult because we want people to be comfortable with themselves, but sometimes it is hard for people,” Chancey said. “We understand that, but we want to be open to everybody’s background and comfort level, and meet them with where they are and try to help them as much as we can.”