Campus sexpert touches on taboo topics during sex talk

Human sexuality expert or comedian? Robin Sawyer may be a bit of both.

Laughter was plentiful and no subject was taboo as Sawyer, the associate chair of the public and community health department and author of Sexpertise: Real Answers to Real Questions About Sex, spoke to a crowd of more than 100 students and faculty members in a packed special events room in McKeldin Library yesterday.

Sawyer spoke for about 40 minutes about his favorite parts of the book before opening up the floor to questions. While answering students' questions, the award-winning professor - who is married and has four children, including a daughter who is a freshman at the university - stressed the importance of sexual health education.

"Information never hurt anyone, but ignorance does," Sawyer said. "I don't have any problem with parents who believe their kids should not be exposed to sex education. But when a small group of conservatives is taking sex education away from my kids and all the other kids, then that is not OK."

Many students who attended the lecture agreed, saying that Sawyer's openness with sexual issues is helpful for an educational environment.

"It's important for these issues to be discussed, and often society doesn't allow open discussion on sexual health, especially for women's sexual health," said Erin Lester, a university alumnus with degrees in American studies and women's studies. "Lectures like this are great opportunities to have those discussions.

During his talk, Sawyer - who said he became a health teacher when his dream of being a professional soccer player failed - discussed how the current generations of college students has very different patterns, behaviors and attitudes about sex than past generations, a phenomenon he explores in Sexpertise.

"Technology has really created what I like to call the 'two-beer effect,'" Sawyer said. "It used to be that you always had to speak with someone on the phone before you saw them in person. Now, with text messaging, people can [be] flirty and say something spicy that they would never say out loud. By the time you're actually physically with the other person, it's like you've already spent two beers worth of time with that person."

Homosexuality and gender identity were also touched on during the discussion, and Sawyer said he hopes the subjects will one day be more socially accepted.

"I mean, do we care [about same-sex marriage]? Why can't they get to be happy, too?" Sawyer said. "Don't we have more important things to worry about - like the economy - than stopping gay people from getting married? I think by the time you have grandchildren, gay marriage will be legal in every state."

Sawyer also talked about the future and encouraged students to continue thinking about and exploring sex and sex-related issues as they grow older.

"What you think about sex today is going to be the same you'll think about sex when you're 65," Sawyer said. "You'll be glad that some British guy said it's OK to be sexual at that age."

The event was the latest in a series of talks at McKeldin Library titled "Speaking of Books: Conversations with Campus Authors," which librarian Tim Hackman said provides a good opportunity for faculty to present their books and interact with their readers.

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