The Unsexiness of Sex Positivity

I first noticed the epidemic of sex positivity when I was a freshman at Stanford. One day after orientation, the entire class is shuffled into the largest auditorium for “Beyond Sex Ed,” which can only be described as a sexual TEDx conference. Student volunteers recount, in graphic detail, some personal experience that the administration judged worthy of being included. My year, a boy described an “adventurous summer” where he tried over 40 partners and was finally penetrated in a public bathroom stall; a girl recalled her most recent encounter in the same voice that one might use to give a valedictorian speech. The event had all the aesthetics of a TED talk, complete with the Patagonia-clad presenters and bright stage lights.