This is the new sex column, and let's be clear: this will be a SEX column. I know all relationships have an important emotional element, and college is an important transition period in one's life, but seriously, AU kids have a lot of sex. And we definitely have a lot of questions. If you want to know how your boyfriend can last longer, how you can pleasure your girlfriend to orgasm (it exists) or what to do if the AU Health Center says you're pregnant, you need someone you can ask. Often, you can't ask your roommate or even your best friend.
We're a campus of feral, tech-savvy, at-risk youth as Dan Savage, an openly gay American sex advice columnist, puts it. We like to fuck, suck and do everything else, and this is the time we're supposed to learn how to do it all correctly. Why can't we talk about it? God bless The Eagle for being an independent student publication. Let's make this a public conversation. Write your anonymous questions to piercehardcastle@theeagleonline.com, and I'll do my best to answer them in this space every Thursday.
That being said, I'm no guru. I'm a straight, white, undergraduate male, and that's as specific as I'll get. This is a small campus, and I don't want you all (professors included) to think when I ask a question in class, "Is that the guy who said that thing about anal beads in the paper?" But I do want to be the guy who said the thing about anal beads!
Moreover, I obviously can't represent every demographic on campus. It is generally accepted that the majority of students are female, and a lot of males here are gay. But I promise if you ask a question, I will do my best to answer it however I have to. I'll be talking to Health Educator Kathy Haldeman at the Wellness Center and other health professionals so I can do this column justice.
As an example, I want to do a quick guide to lube. Everyone knows about it; there's even a Vagina Monologue about getting K-Y Jelly lubricant all over the sheets. But if you're in a sex shop and looking at all the different choices, it can be really daunting. My advice is to think about what you really want the product for. Do you want something to add flavor - literally - to oral sex? Or do you want something that will take away friction during intercourse? There are water-based, oil-based and silicone-based lubricants, and they are all significantly different.
Water-based lubricants are the most common; it's your K-Y or your Astroglide and a lot of the flavored stuff. These usually work best with condoms and are great for keeping vaginas and anuses wet. However, as a warning for anything you add to the mix, check the label and read about it elsewhere to see how it interacts with your contraceptive of choice. Oil-based lubes, like Vaseline, are cheaper, but they dissolve latex. You don't want to have to find that out the hard way. Silicone-based lubes tend to last longer than the rest in terms of wetness and often work well with condoms, but they can be less slippery on the whole and have issues with "silicone" sex toys, so keep that in mind.
There's also a lot of other stuff people like to put inside themselves to keep them wet, but I can't really speak to any of it. If you want to put egg whites in your vagina before sex, let me know how it goes.
Anyway, send your questions to piercehardcastle@theeagleonline.com and have some good, safe fun.
