Sexual relationships improve with age

Sex is a large part of many college students’ lives. Our sexual lifestyle from freshmen year to senior year and beyond can change immensely. Everyone becomes more comfortable with their bodies and with their sexual interactions with other people. This generally makes a person more willing to experiment and try new things. One’s notions and views on sex and their sexual partners change as people begin to understand more about how they function and how they expect their partner to function in bed.

In modern society, there is a strong focus on the number of sexual partners you have had and how often you have sex with them, rather than concentrating on finding one or two people you really feel comfortable with—people who respond to your needs to your full advantage.

The goals and expectations that students may have had early on in their sexual history may grow or change with time. Oftentimes, in the beginning of the relationship, a person will be too reserved to properly communicate their needs or wants with their partner. As a result, they might come out of the sexual experience feeling unsatisfied.

Many straight women—when having sex at an early age—tend to look up to their partner in order to provide the most satisfaction possible. The male partner will often take the lead in sexual activities, and as women get older, they become surer about what they want and take charge more.

If there is disparity in attention when regarding the needs of sexual partners, it might make the sex feel disjointed and bland. Sexual experience plays a big part in what you may expect from a sexual encounter and in what you’re looking for in a partner.

As you get older and become more selective about your sexual partners, you may feel more comfortable with them. People are willing to slow down, relax, enjoy every part of sex, experiment with new sexual techniques and fully understand how you respond to each other’s touches. As people age, they may become more comfortable with their bodies and have less insecurities about themselves.

Many people feel it is easier to talk about sex and to engage in sexual conversations as they become older. Sex used to be an activity seldom spoken about—a secret kept between you and another person that was never really discussed. Now, it’s a topic you can openly discuss—and work to improve. It transitions from being awkward to relaxing and enjoyable.

Overall, sex does get better as you get older due to a greater awareness of your personal desires, increased openness to being vulnerable and a stronger understanding of how to communicate with your partner when engaging in an intimate affair.

Sexy Egg Hunt promotes safe sex practices

For the past six years, Geneseo Late Knight has hosted the Sexy Egg Hunt. The event was held on Friday March 25 in the MacVittie College Union square lobby this year. The egg hunt was a seasonal event for all to enjoy.

The eggs were used to hide sex toys instead of the usual candy surprise, which was well received, clever and funny.

“[The egg hunt is meant to] destigmatize sex toys and pleasure, in addition to making sure that people are using safe sex practices when they use sex toys,” VOX president and event coordinator senior Stephanie Gerspacher said.

While many college students are sexually active, this does not necessarily mean that they are practicing safe sex and may also have multiple sexual partners per month. Having unsafe sex with many sexual partners increases the likelihood that sexually transmitted infections will be contracted and also increases the risk for unplanned pregnancies. The Sexy Egg Hunt seeks to combat this by promoting safe sex practices and sexual sovereignty by distributing sex toys such as vibrators and anal beads. It also encouraged the idea that sex doesn’t always have to be with someone else.

The eggs were hidden in a myriad of places all over the Union. The organizers split up attendees into two rooms in order to have a discussion before the egg hunt. Everyone was entitled to receiving one egg and would redeem the prize for the number that corresponded with the egg. The prize tables were lined up from one end of the lobby to the other. There was a total of 25 prizes that one could claim, ranging from toys—such as different colored dildos and vibrators—to cock rings and anal toys. All the prizes were made from body safe materials, so there is no risk of use.

This event usually has a huge turnout with eager participants filling up the lobby and this year was no different. It was an exciting way to teach sexual education, as well as an interesting way to promote safe and fun sexual activities.

“This is a very fun event and I’m excited to see what kind of prizes I could receive,” participant sophomore Rachel Davis said.

Overall, the function was very successful and everyone appeared to whole-heartedly enjoy the egg hunt. This get-together should continue for the following years, as not everyone receives proper sex education. It offers a fun way to learn about safe sexual practices while sharing an experience with friends.

Sexual health is an important concern for all college students. Knowing what’s safe and receiving support from your campus community in order to make informed decisions regarding safe sex is a great way to maintain your sexual health and to continue to enjoy your sexual practices. 

Ghana Gala provides entertainment, fundraises for Ghanaian school, hospital

Hosted by the Ghana Project, the eighth annual Ghana Gala took place in the MacVittie College Union Ballroom on March 5. This event provided attendees with a spectacular glimpse into the culture of Ghanaian people, looking into traditional dances, food and apparel from Ghana while raising money in order to donate and to improve education and healthcare in the country. Over the past two years, this event has generated over $3,000 for the Besease Village School and Agogo Hospital.

The event featured coordinator of the French Language program and assistant professor of French Kodjo Adabra and Ghana Project president senior Aoife Forde as guest speakers and showcased performances by various dance groups in Geneseo. The gala opened with a performance from Ghanaian dance and drum ensemble group Korye Geneseo, led by fellow guest speaker Yahayo Alhassan. The group preformed native African dances with various drums and instruments, capturing the intensity and spirit of Africa.

An authentic Ghanaian dinner preceded the initial performance. With the menu ranging from caramelized plantains to Jollof Rice, it successfully fostered the traditional Ghanaian cuisine. The “red-red”—a bean stew made with tomato base served with plantains—was also delicious.

Alongside the dinner, Alhassan described his adventures and experiences with building schools and helping children in Ghana receive formal education. With education, these children can become more engaged with the expansive world around them—one that they could not otherwise experience. Alhassan helped build primary schools and also purchased students their first laptop computers. He explained that he wishes to create unity across Cape Coast, Besease and Geneseo. Following his speech about unity and aid, there was another African dance performance.

In a visual presentation, Adabra highlighted the myriad of ways that the media misrepresents Africa globally. He depicted many beautiful and wonderful landmarks in Africa, as well as traditions and culture. He repeatedly asked the audience the rhetorical question, “Is Africa invisible?” talking about how Westerners typically view Africa as a land filled with starvation, poverty and disease and neglect to recognize its unique cultures and beauty.

After the informative speech on the significance of Africa, Geneseo Gospel Choir—led by senior Geneviva Dodoo—sang a poignant and soulful song about God, followed by a well-choreographed dance routine from the hip-hop and Caribbean-influenced Geneseo group Original Expressions.

Concluding the night was the highly anticipated fashion show. Most of the models were Geneseo students who wished for—and finally realized—their chance to strut down the runway in modern and traditional Ghanaian fashion. The fashion ranged from brightly patterned tops to dresses to pants. It was a stunning end to an already wonderful night.

“I initially came for the food and to support a good cause, but the performances were amazing and I learned so much about Ghanaian culture that I had not known,” sophomore Rachel Davis said.

The Ghana Gala is an engaging annual function blending fun with improving the health and education of children in Ghana; a tradition carried on successfully in this year’s event. 

“Rock Your Semester” assists students, provides scheduling guidance

Hosted and funded by the Student Association Academic Affairs Committee, “Rock Your Semester” was held on Monday March 22 in the MacVittie College Union Lobby to provide “peer-to-peer advisement” for students about the the classes they might be taking next semester. This was an important event, as many students struggle with creating class schedules—sometimes students will even end up either not taking enough classes for their major requirements or taking classes they don’t need.

This event’s main goal was to prepare students to think about how they wanted to construct their upcoming semester and to interest them in possible classes outside of or within their major that might not have been part of the requirements.

Students were provided with syllabi for all of the classes listed at each department. Additionally, there were individual tables used to represent each major and a list of classes offered the following semester. Refreshments and snacks were provided for students to enjoy while they explored the classes offered.

Some departments were missing from the function, however, such as the physics department. There wasn’t an extensive class list for all the departments, as what was primarily addressed on the list were general requirements for most college students in that major.

There were students stationed at each major’s table who were very helpful in looking up classes and giving insight into specific professors. They were able to provide advice on the workload to be expected or the intensity of the course. Some students were also answering questions on registration and how to select and plan your course schedule ahead of time using KnightWeb and MyGeneseo. Students were able to get an idea of what their future classes may be like by talking to other students who had previously taken the same courses.

The student element helped to make the event more relaxed and less intimidating to participants who may have been uneasy about expressing uncertainties to their department heads and advisors. Having students representing each major was a great and efficient way to engage other students who might have questions about the major as well as the workload of future classes they might have to take.

“This event is a helpful way students to get more information about their major and their classes,” AAC peer advisement coordinator sophomore Alyssa Forbes, said.

“Rock Your Semester” seemed to succeed in this endeavor, giving generous guidance and advice to students who will most certainly benefit from peer help with registration right around the corner.

The psychology of casual sex

At some point in almost every college student’s life, they’ve had to make personal decisions regarding the time they’ve spent between the sheets. Young adults are often caught trying to figure out what kind of sexual relationship they seek from another person—whether it’s emotional, purely sexual or somewhere in between.

These decisions and choices are somewhat made through societal constructs, as well as through one’s own personal expectations. This stirs up the debate about how we have evolved as a society; a society that has somewhat shifted from perceiving casual sex as wholly immoral to one where casual sex is seen as an activity just as common as eating pizza.

In a world where casual sex is so easy to partake in—thanks to such social media outlets as Tinder and Grindr—technology has allowed for non-intimate relationships to blossom and to grow increasingly prevalent worldwide. Something this omnipresent should be examined from a psychological standpoint—examining whether or not there are psychological or emotional repercussions to having casual sex.

A lens that can be used in order to examine the repercussions of this behavior can be through gender binaries. For instance, the 2014 Journal of Sex Research study “Risky business: Is there an association between casual sex and mental health among emerging adults?” looked at heterosexual college students between the ages of 18–25. In the study, they compared the number of men who had engaged in casual sexual relationships to the number of women that had engaged in the same activities. The study showed that 18.6 percent of men—compared to the 7.4 percent of women—had casual sex in the past month.

These types of studies lead people to believe that men engage in more casual sex than women. But in a society where sexual activity is often more oppressive to females than it is to males, more males typically welcome sex as a normal healthy addition to their daily lives.

The mental repercussions from casual sex may only affect females based on the societal restrictions put on a female’s sexuality. She might feel it is wrong to engage in a sexual act when there isn’t an emotional connection with the other person. The same kind of pressure could be put on a male because the predominant heteronormative male culture promotes constructs that encourage men to engage in copious amounts of sex with numerous sexual partners.  

An additional study published in Archives of Sexual Behavior in 2015 examined the idea that there might be multiple factors in which casual sexual activity affects people. The study found that casual sex that was done for non-autonomous reasons had psychological repercussions. For example, if someone was casually having sex with someone else for revenge purposes or solely to make the other person happy in an abusive relationship, that reasoning could lead to psychological issues. But if a person was having casual sex for autonomous reasons—purely for self-satisfaction, for example—they were, for the most part, unaffected by this activity.

The conclusion of the question of whether or not casual sex is good or bad is that it’s purely subjective and changes from person to person. Overall, when engaging in casual or emotional sex, it should always be done with consent and will give you the most satisfaction when done for self-fulfillment.

Snow Ball dance dazzles, entertains students in safe space

Events on campus often endeavor to create a space for students to engage in some type of fun activity while also collecting donations for a charitable cause. Suffolk Hall Council did just that with their “Suffolk Hall Snow Ball” event at the Knight Spot on Friday Feb. 19.

Snow Ball not only provided entertainment to students, but also served as a fundraiser for the Livingston Mobile Food Pantry. The event was organized by Suffolk Hall president freshman Barak Stockler and co-organizer freshman Ashley Lara, who both aimed to organize a night that would be both fun and philanthropic.

The event had a semi-formal dress code, giving students—particularly freshman—who may not be as well-acquainted with groups as other students or who wished to engage in weekend nightlife other than the typical “going out” routine a unique and friendly space to dress up and have a good time with their peers.   

Lara reiterated the idea that the comfortable atmosphere was a draw for many students. “The music is good and it’s a safe space,” she said.

Suffolk Hall residents and a myriad of other students came together at the Snow Ball, dancing the night away amidst a winter wonderland of decor. Sparkling lights and snowflakes were in abundance, bringing light and a little bit of pizzazz to the beginning of a spectacular night. The event also served as a nice getaway from the harsh winter air. A DJ played popular music for students to dance to, while a wide array of appetizers and drinks were available for attendees.

Suffolk Hall Council successfully provided the opportunity for students to have fun in a more reserved social space and to take part in nightlife without having to put themselves in any situations in which they were uncomfortable. In addition, with The Statesmen recently transitioning to only admitting those who are 21 and over, Snow Ball gave underage students a place to dance to their heart’s content without getting ID-ed to do so.

Students looking for a more relaxed, more familiar method of interacting with fellow students may frequent various Knight Spot events—such as the Snow Ball—on weekends. At these events, students can meet others with similar interests and possibly spark new friendships.

Everyone who attended the event came dressed in their best attire and danced all night. Although attendance was fairly low—possibly due to the entrance fee for the event—participant freshman Emily White said that, “If the event had more publicity and less Resident Assistants, it would have been more popular.”

White added, however, that she was encouraged to come to this event by her friends and thoroughly enjoyed the event.

Overall, the students at Snow Ball all seemed to be very friendly and welcoming to each other. The snacks were a hit with hungry attendees and the music was both raging and engaging. Organizers of the event demonstrated their dedication to the creation of an entertaining affair for their fellow residents through the considerable amount of effort that was put into the decoration, advertising and overall organization.

The charity cause behind the entrance fee was the cherry on top, as it allowed attendees to make a difference in the community and to help feed those in need.