What's the only day where a student can pick up free condoms, have their picture taken in a giant painting of a vagina, enter a vulva coloring contest, read sex bloopers from other students and play with larger-than-life sex organs? The answer: the second annual Sex Out Loud Health Awareness Fair held Thursday at the Illini Union.
"It all started with our giant vagina," said Trisha Pruis, senior in LAS and president of Feminist Majority, the student group that organized the event.
"There are a lot of phallic symbols in society, and we wanted to put a vaginal one out there," Pruis said about the giant vagina structure that students could pay a dollar to stick their head in and have their picture taken. "After that, we thought 'Let's have a sex fair!'
"It makes sex and sexuality less taboo and gets people to understand," she said. "In our country, sex is not talked about. It's important for students to understand and know their bodies and their options. It's just about being comfortable with sex."
Pruis said the great response to last year's fair made the Feminist Majority decide to do it again this year, but with more tables. While a large majority of the tables set up at the fair were run by students, there were also booths from McKinley, Planned Parenthood, the Counseling Center and local churches.
"It's a fun event, but a very serious event," said the Rev. Karen Bush, a campus minister from United Church of Christ located at Sixth and Daniel streets.
http://dailyillini.com/news/1292
"It all started with our giant vagina," said Trisha Pruis, senior in LAS and president of Feminist Majority, the student group that organized the event.
"There are a lot of phallic symbols in society, and we wanted to put a vaginal one out there," Pruis said about the giant vagina structure that students could pay a dollar to stick their head in and have their picture taken. "After that, we thought 'Let's have a sex fair!'
"It makes sex and sexuality less taboo and gets people to understand," she said. "In our country, sex is not talked about. It's important for students to understand and know their bodies and their options. It's just about being comfortable with sex."
Pruis said the great response to last year's fair made the Feminist Majority decide to do it again this year, but with more tables. While a large majority of the tables set up at the fair were run by students, there were also booths from McKinley, Planned Parenthood, the Counseling Center and local churches.
"It's a fun event, but a very serious event," said the Rev. Karen Bush, a campus minister from United Church of Christ located at Sixth and Daniel streets.
http://dailyillini.com/news/1292
