A (sex) toy story

Last night, Jacq Jones strapped on a dildo over her kelly green sundress and told students to lube up.

Her hour-and-a-half-long speech, which took place in Tydings Hall last night, wasn't your average sex talk.

It opened with information on sexually transmitted diseases and explored condoms, oral sex, different types of lubrication and vibrators, in detail. Jones, who owns a sex-toy shop with her partner in Baltimore, came prepared with a wide collection of props that she used to demonstrate and explain all the dirty details.

"What's great about sex toys is that they give you ways that you can be sexual with others that are completely safe and do not involve the exchange of bodily fluids at all," said Jones, 40, who has been a sex educator for more than a decade.

About 30 people were in the audience; most were members of the Pride Alliance, Feminists Without Borders or Terps for Choice — the three organizations that sponsored the event. The talk was billed as educational, aimed at empowering women to take control of their own bodies and sexual desires. The dildo and dental dam demonstrations, organizers said, made the event.

"I was really glad that the presenter was so casual about the display," said Mary Yanik, a junior chemistry and government and politics major who is a member of all three organizations. "Some people make a big deal about them, but having the physical replica parts there made the speech more effective than a teacher with diagrams and a chalkboard."

According to Yanik, Jones' casual tone and background as a sex shop owner made her speech more than just a horny health class.

"I like how she connected safe sex to fun sex without emphasizing fear of being another statistic in an STD study," said Yanik. "She made prevention seem relatable and practical and not at all anti-sexual."

While sex toys are not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Jones emphasized using products made of body-safe materials, such as silicone, that can be cleaned easily to prevent the spread of infection.

Throughout the speech, she handed out the various props she brought with her and described positions and techniques that would yield optimal pleasure.

"I kind of expected her to just hold up crazy sex toys; that wasn't quite what happened," said freshman mechanical engineering major Will Dunham. "I was more like, ‘Hmmm, I wonder how that works,' or ‘Oh my God, that thing is huge!' And sometimes like, ‘That goes where?!'"

Pride Alliance director of programming A.J. Short said the event was extremely successful and is looking forward to inviting Jones back to the campus for a repeat performance.

"When we were planning our events for Radical Rush Week last year, we were looking for things that would bring out new people to our groups," said Short, a sophomore women's studies major. "The talk was great, and we're thinking of making it an annual event."

hemmati@umdbk.com