Thumbs up to the University of Toronto sex club
Emily Manns | Fulcrum Staff
Illustration by Brennan Bova
At this very moment, students all over the world are having sex. Even if they aren’t actually having sex, they’re thinking about having sex. Just try to turn on a TV or flip through a magazine without being bombarded by sexual images. In a sex-crazed world, what are students to do? Having fornication on the brain is unavoidable. What is avoidable is students having sex without being prepared or informed.
The University of Toronto’s annual Sexual Awareness Week started off with a bang (no pun intended) this Monday, by opening the doors to the Oasis Aqua Lounge, a downtown adult spa and water-themed playground. In conjunction with the university’s Sexual Education Centre (SEC), the lounge will offer students discounts during the week, as well as providing “information, programming, safer-sex supplies, and peer counselling in a welcoming environment,” according to the Toronto Star.
Not everyone is on board with the idea, though. The buzz among opponents is that the SEC is giving students an excuse to act sexually reckless. But maybe it’s best to have this kind of activity happening under one roof—more for the students’ safety than anything else.
Some students may not have received proper sex education in middle school or high school. Others might lack a parent who feels comfortable enough to talk about sex without resorting to the awkward “birds and bees” approach. It’s a taboo topic, but in the right time and place, there’s no reason why students shouldn’t explore their curiosity and further educate themselves on their sexuality.
No one is being pushed, forced, or coerced into having sex at the Aqua Lounge. Think of it this way: when people started to fall ill with terrible diseases, they came up with the idea of having a building where they could be quarantined from the healthy population: a hospital. People didn’t go to hospitals if they weren’t sick. Doctors didn’t convince the public they should go and catch pneumonia just so the hospitals could make more money. The fact that these facilities exist doesn’t mean people have to use them, nor should they feel obligated to. Likewise, the Aqua Lounge will be there for students who are curious, want to learn more about sex, and want to experiment in a safe space. There will be no mandatory shuttle rounding up the first years.
Offering condoms, sanitizing wipes, and a variety of different rooms, the lounge is easily accessible and inclusive to people of any sexual orientation. The bottom line is that if students are going to be doing it anyway, they might as well make it safe—and fun. When’s the next chance a student will get to work a stripper’s pole, anyway? They certainly don’t come with the dorm rooms.
