As students entered the Culp Center auditorium on Thursday night, a hand-picked collection of “female o songs” played over the speakers. The excitement, nervous energy and curiosity were evident.
Stephanie Langley-Earhart of the Students against Violence organization and FMLA spoke first, “Tonight in this room we cannot fuel the flames of domestic violence.” She offered the option for the audience to help Safe Passage, a women’s shelter for our county and surrounding counties.
Dorian Solat and Marshall Miller, the creators of I Heart Female Orgasm, came up on stage and introduced themselves apart and as a couple. Solat who started with a joke and kept the interest of the audience throughout the night said, “In most presentations they will ask you to turn your phones off, we simply ask you to turn your phones to vibrate.” It was evident that this was not going to be like our experiences with sex education classes in middle school. Miller and Solat then introduced a movie clip that was described as “setting the tone for the evening.”
It was a clip from “When Harry Met Sally,” that infamous scene when Meg Ryan proves to Billy Crystal how easy it is for women to fake their orgasms. While Meg Ryan slammed her fists on the table screaming, “YES! YES!” The crowd laughed hysterically. The entire presentation was very interactive and Solat left nothing to the imagination. Questions were asked by many enthusiastic students like, are there better orgasms than others? Solat said, “Throw rankings out the window because you’re the only one that matters because its your orgasm.”
An important part of the program was for women to understand their bodies and get information about safe and good sex.
“Many women don’t even know how to think about sex in a healthy way,” said Solat. Vaginas are a thing of mystery and we are often socially taught to self loathe our anatomy. Two books were given on the resource list for this topic, Petals and Famalia, photographic images of women’s vaginas.
The men then left with Marshall to have their own discussion, the women stayed in the auditorium.
The men discussed different places they learned about sex and unrealistic expectations of porn.
The women discussed the types of things they heard about masturbation as a child. Solat then asked for suggestions about certain “things” that help women orgasm like feeling beautiful, love, foreplay, confidence and oral sex. A heterosexual couple who attended the event said that it was very “educational.”
“She did not want me to sit with her,” said freshman communication major Jacob Decoti. “I wanted him to sit with the boys, it was fun, it was real” said freshman fashion merchanidising major Sarah Bizzoco.
Some facts that were given include: 70 percent of women do not orgasm through intercourse; from a 2000 person survey masturbation was voted the fastest way to achieve orgasm, while the best for a woman is oral. The G spot, Kegel exercises and female ejaculation were described as these myths that only exist in movies.
Marshall and Solat gave “directions” about how to “reach” these mysterious tales of multiple orgasms.
Vibrators were a fun subject that kept everyone laughing; the Rabbit (made famous by Sex and the City), and an unexpected “toy”, the Harry Potter Nimbus 2000 by Mattel Toys. Reviews read by Marshall said, “I am 32 and enjoy riding the broom as much as my daughter, it is a very magical adventure!” The crowd laughed hysterically as Solat and Miller ended with, “We wish you good health, long life and plenty of orgasms!”
From the overall crowd the experience seemed to be very positive.
English major, Allison Morris said, “That was amazing and I learned a lot, it kept me entertained the entire time!”
Ash-Lee Henderson, a member of FMLA said, “I am impressed with the diversity in the audience. This has not happened in a while here, even at Rock the Vote. All the organizations that came together to bring this made all the difference.”
Dorian Solat was asked what she thought about ETSU? She replied, “It seems to me that ETSU is all about the O, it was a great turn out and a wonderful night!