Sexpo on “The Power of Touch”
Posted on 11 April 2011.
By Lauren Groh 
Calm. Cozy. Intimate. These three words describe the atmosphere in UW-Milwaukee’s Fireside Lounge during Tuesday’s Sexpo event “Skin Hunger: The Power of Touch.”
The mood definitely fit the topic. Laura Stuart, a sexuality educator at Northwestern University and owner of the Tool Shed on Murray Avenue, and Michelle McClellen, senior psychologist at Norris Health Center, led a discussion on physical contact between humans.
Students started filing into the dimly lit room just before 7 p.m. on Tuesday evening. Many were psychology and sociology students, and most appeared to be in their early 20s.
Stuart began by talking about sexual education for young people and how the emphasis is usually placed on a limited number of topics such as sexually transmitted diseases, abstinence, safe sex and sexual reproduction.
“Sensuality is talked about the least,” Stuart said. “We don’t have a lot of skills in asking for [nonsexual] touch.”
Stuart used a Planned Parenthood chart on holistic sexuality to define sensuality as “physiological and psychological pleasure from one’s own body and the bodies of others.” She highlighted terms like “touch,” “smell,” “taste,” “aural and visual stimuli,” “body image,” “pleasure” and “fantasy.”
McClellen went on to explain which parts of our brains are at work when we are young, and which ones haven’t fully developed.
“Pain and touch activate our brains more than anything else,” she said.
While Laura “Sexy Lady” Stuart conducted the sexual side of the discussion, McClellan took on the psychological angle. Together they covered all the bases and swiftly transitioned back and forth, when necessary, to bring new information to the table and to answer questions.
Stuart led a few exercises to explore nonsexual touch between audience members to promote sensual communication. The first exercise required pairs of people to ask each other how they would like to be touched on their forearms. She encouraged audience members to be specific about what they wanted, whether it be a light tap or a tight squeeze.
The second exercise was also based on touch, but also on other senses like smell. Stuart passed around certain props, like warming and scented massage oils, for audience members to investigate and test, based on their own discretion.
McClellan closed with a valuable and somewhat humorous piece of advice: “Feel your feelings, and touch people.”
Sexpo is a series of events dedicated to “sex, sexual identity, and healthy relationships,” says Rebecca Grassl, the UWM Union programming manager.
Grassl and Jen Murray, the director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center, are two of the founders of Sexpo, which started about five years ago.
“Some [events] are smaller workshops,” explained Grassl. “Some are larger.”
There are usually two to four events per semester, and all are free and open to the public. Some past Sexpo events include “I <3 Female Orgasms” and “Like a Virgin.” There have also been events like the Multicultural Panel last semester and speakers like Helen Boyd.
In May, Dan Savage of the sex-advice column “Savage Love” will be coming to UWM for the next Sexpo event.
(source: uwmpost.com)
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