Posts by Monica Bruinsky

For many of us, reading period and finals are a stressful time of papers, exams, all-nighters, and little else. And though, as we posted about last semester, it is important to give yourself a little self care, you can’t afford to blow off steam like you may have earlier in the semester. Getting drunk and going out seems nearly impossible when you’re pulling consecutive all-nighters trying to get your shit done. You can’t afford the day-long hangover, nor can you stomach a diet of Powerade and Pepto-Bismol.

If bodily destruction isn’t in the cards right now, you need an alternative. Instead of hurting your liver, why don’t you give a gift to your body this time around? Why not do it while simultaneously enhancing your studies? We know that sexual activities have all sorts of stress reducing and health beneficial properties (that don’t include destroying any internal organs), and you can do them while still being productive.

So here are Caitlin’s ‘creative’ methods for studying and being sexy:

Strip paper: We’ve all heard of strip poker, strip monopoly, strip crazy eights (okay, maybe some of us haven’t heard of that one)—now it’s time to welcome strip paper! All you need is any form of a written assignment to work on, and the concept is simple: for every paragraph you write, you remove an article of clothing.  For all you kids out there with ten-page papers: things are about to get sexy. [Read more →]

As the semester winds down, many of us are finding that it’s now or never to get to know (biblically, that is) that special someone in our comp lit class that we’ve been eyeing. Or maybe there was a really enjoyable hookup during Spring Weekend that we want to re-acquaint ourselves with. And, if we’re lucky, we’ve managed to get that person’s phone number but are now at the point where we begin the dreaded texting game. I’m sure many of you know the one I’m talking about: you’re trying to formulate a text message that is equally coy and flirty. You’re trying to seem cool and aloof while still indicating interest, and you definitely don’t want to seem creepy and desperate. So here are my tips on how to craft the perfect text message to your person of interest. The key, I think, is to be honest. And to utilize some semblance of grammar and punctuation; put question marks at the ends of your sentences, folks. Please.

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We hope your Spring Weekend was as wild and as full of debauchery as ours was. Not so surprisingly, both of your lovely Sextion writers managed to get some action this weekend and we’re here to tell you about it.

Monica Bruinsky: So, Margaret, it sounds like you had a really eventful Spring Weekend. Wanna tell our readers about it?

Margaret Snatcher: Well, Friday night started out pretty normally as far as Spring Weekend goes. I was just pre-gaming with my friends before the concert, brought a flask, and was wearing clothes that I would never let my parents see me in…the usual. However, I went into the evening with high expectations, and let’s just say they were met. [Read more →]

Menstruation itself is a taboo subject, let alone engaging in sexual activity during those days of the month when Mother Nature is wreaking havoc on a woman’s uterus. Honestly, I couldn’t help but laugh when, during a not-so-sober evening, one of my guy friends leaned over and said to me, “You’re not a real man until you get some blood on your sword.” While this is mildly chauvinistic and heteronormative, there is some truth in suggesting that sex should not be entirely written off when a woman has her period. For all of those interested, we have listed some pros and cons of having sex when a woman is on her period below. Find out how you can ensure that you are doing it cleanly and safely after the jump. 
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I hope you all had an amazing spring break. If you’re one of the many people that went home over break, you may have realized that vacation is the perfect time for your parents to bombard you with questions about your sex life. Or maybe they got a little too wine-drunk during Passover and shared too much information about their own experiences in the bedroom. Either way, our parents say some pretty horrible and hilarious shit stuff when it comes to sex.

Fortunately for me, my older siblings have had to bear the brunt of the majority of my parents’ sex talks, and I was spared some of the worst questions. Like when my dad asked my oldest brother if he masturbated with his whole hand or just the top two fingers. Poor kid. But because my parents know about my passion for sex and sex education, they actually end up asking me a lot of questions. My dad watches a lot of South Park, so when he learns of a new word like “teabagging,” he likes to quiz me on their meanings. And the time I had to explain to my mom that, no, oral sex on a woman does not have to be performed exclusively on a bed. I don’t know if I have to blame my mom or my dad more for that question.

In any case, our parents took on a major role in our sex education, whether by passively giving us books to read like The Naked Ape, or by sitting us down and giving us the dreaded “Talk,” so I thought I’d ask some fellow bloggers about the best/worst/most ridiculous things their parents ever told them about sex: [Read more →]

We hope you had a fantastic time exploring your sexuality during Sex Week last week. We certainly had a lot of fun. And though we, your two lovely Sextion columnists, see ourselves as “sexperts,” we definitely learned a thing or two. Like how to put on a condom with our mouths, for example. Didn’t get to make as many events as you had hoped? No worries! Here are the top 10 things Margaret and Monica learned during Sex Week: [Read more →]

If you’re an upperclassman, you probably remember Aida Manduley walking across campus in her bright orange tights and pink metallic Doc Martens. She may have approached you and handed you a condom. If you don’t know Aida, you’re in luck: she’s back on campus to present a workshop on sex toys for Sex Week. Queering the Toybox will take place TONIGHT (Wednesday, March 13) in Metcalf Auditorium from 7-8:30 p.m.

If you’re a sex toy expert, or if the thought of using a hunk of plastic to pleasure yourself freaks you out: attend the workshop! Aida will introduce some new cutting-edge sex toys, like eco-friendly items and toys using microchips.

Mags sat down with Aida last week to learn about her time at Brown and her life as an alum. Aida hails from Puerto Rico. Her sexual development began online, finding comfort and support through online forums and communities. When she got to Brown, she immersed herself in work with the Queer Alliance, eventually branching out into broader sex and sexuality topics. SHEEC, the Sexual Health Education and Empowerment Council, started in 2007, Aida’s freshman year. The next year, Aida became SHEEC Chair and Sex Week became her brain child.  Sex Week has started some amazing events, such as Spoon Me, Fork Me: An Evening of Sensual Pleasures (a discussion of food porn). It also has featured amazing speakers like Megan Andelloux, the founder of the Center for Sexual Health and Pleasure (CSHP) in Pawtucket, RI. [Read more →]

Mag the Vag and I could not be more excited to announce that SEX WEEK HAS ARRIVED. Below you will find a schedule of events throughout the week, but be on the lookout for happenings on the Main Green as well. Even if you’re just walking through, it doesn’t hurt to pick up a condom or taste test the many different brands of lube! This week is going to be AMAZING and we hope to see you all at these fun and informative events and presentations! Here is the Sex Week website with all the information you’ll ever need!

Note, asterisks denote that the event will include a sex toy raffle. (Find the schedule of events after the jump.) [Read more →]

Most of us are aware of the plethora of “Brown buzzwords” that circulate on campus. They’re words that are perhaps used more frequently here than at our friends’ schools: hegemony, discourse, unpacking, spectrum, and social construct, to name just a few. Not only do they set us apart from other schools, but they make a wicked set of Halloween costumes, as we saw from this year’s costume contest.

One of the many words in the quintessential Brown vernacular is heteronormativity. Heteronormativity is the belief system that assumes heterosexuality to be the norm and rejects or ignores individuals or relationships that do not fall into the strict man-woman paradigm. It also, according to Karen Lovaas and Mercilee Jenkins in their comprehensive book Sexualities and Communication in Everyday Life: A Reader, assumes “that there are two sexes and therefore two genders” and therefore “requires that all discussions of gendered identity and opportunity be framed strictly in terms of this dichotomy” (98). We inclusive Brown students openly reject this notion.

But how inclusive are we as a whole? How much does each of us truly know about the LGBTQ community? Probably not as much as we think, considering that the acronym is much longer than that! The acronym, as I know it now, is LGBTQQIAAP2S. So click on the image of the Sporcle quiz below to test your knowledge of the entire acronym, and then read below for a description of each of the components!

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Editorial Disclaimer: This post has been created by college students for college students.  It has been rated NC-17 for its sexual nature and anatomically graphic references. Please proceed at your own risk. Thanks for reading! Love, BlogDH

Just imagine your romantic Valentine’s Day: you’ve used our Dating Approval Matrix and have managed to plan a successful and thoughtful date this Valentine’s Day. Maybe you’ve just eaten an amazing dinner full of foods that double as aphrodisiacs, and you’ve got the perfect mood music playlist planned out. Now it’s time to take it to the bedroom so that the V-Day action can commence. Yeah, we’re talking enjoyable V-Day action. What better day to learn more about the most erogenous zones than on this beautiful day? [Read more →]