Early on Tuesday night, when the sun had completely set and the temperature dropping by the minute, the room slowly fills with chattering students. Some sink into beanbags. Others stretch out on one of the many couches in the cozy, lamp-lit space. At first glance, this could just be a get-together of friends about to watch a movie on the pro- jector or the weekly meeting of one of the College numerous clubs. Then Becca Hicks ’15 stands up, smiles and introduces this ses- sion’s topic of conversation.
“We are focusing on female pleasure to- night,” she said.
Clearly this is not just any old gathering.
At 6 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, between twenty and thirty people gather in the Gamut Room to partake in the student-run J-term workshop Cliteracy. Founded by Priscilla Odinmah ’15, Hicks,
Cupcakes decorated with clitoris frosting served at the student-led sex positive workshop.
Stebbins ’14.5’s bread-making process involves more than just dough: it is a craft, a science experiment, a recollection of childhood memories and a basis for friendship.
Cliterary Devices, Rhetorical Phallacy
Jeanette Cortez ’15 and Eriche Sarvay ’15, the program aims to provide a safe space to talk about something considered largely taboo in most cultures today: female sexuality.
“I felt like the conversation was miss- ing at Middlebury,” said Odinmah, explain- ing why she wanted to start Cliteracy, which was inspired by a 12-week long workshop called FemSex at the University of California, Berkeley.
“Occasionally there are cool talks on the subject and they are usually really well- attended, but there’s nothing consistent.” Hicks agrees. “At Middlebury, we’re so good at feeding the mind,” she adds. “But we need to know how to feed the body as well.”
The organizers also cite female empow- erment and discriminatory societal norms as a motive for starting the discussion group.
“Female sexuality is an area in which there is more shame, more taboos and more
compromise than male sexuality or sexuality in general,” says Odinmah.
She further explains that so much of what is talked about in modern culture is about women trying to please their partners, and that girls are taught that sex is something that should be done to them, rather than by them.
The overall goal of the workshop is to cre- ate a safe space for women to discuss subjects that people find uncomfortable or unladylike. In order to do this, the informal sessions con- sist of watching videos, playing ice-breaking games, sharing stories, asking questions and the occasional guest speaker. Each hour-and- a-half meeting focuses dialogue on a different topic. So far the workshop has covered sex myths, anatomy and pleasure and will turn next to periods, followed by language and body language.
Designed as only a J-term workshop, the leaders and participants will use the last meeting to look to the future.
“One of my goals personally is planting a seed,” Odinmah said. “Just hearing the word ‘cliteracy’ roll off the tongue is a big thing for me.” All four of the workshop’s organizers are seniors, but they hope the issue won’t die when they graduate in May.
“The more people know, the more that conversation can be spread,” Hicks said. Hav- ing received strong initial turnout and over- all positive feedback from the mostly-female group of attendees, the leaders want the pro- gram to be expanded in the future.
“My dream is for Cliteracy to exist on the same level as FemSex with a 12-week long syllabus, facilitators and guest speakers,” Odinmah said.
They also express the hope that males on campus would continue to attend.
“The way we envisioned it, it is mainly a female space. But that’s only half the popula- tion,” Hicks said. “Guys refer to a vagina as a sort of fearful black hole, but chances are, you came out of one. Just because you don’t have a clitoris, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t know what it is.”
Comments
