Sex educator Laci Green to speak at Duke's first SexFest Monday

The event will kick off One Sexy Week

<p>Junior Ilana Weisman, DSG vice president for equity and outreach, coordinated Monday's event.</p>

Junior Ilana Weisman, DSG vice president for equity and outreach, coordinated Monday's event.

YouTube video-blogger and peer sex educator Laci Green will speak at Duke's first SexFest Monday at 6:30 p.m.

During the compilation show in the Reynolds Theater, student groups and university centers will talk about sexual health, pleasure and safety. The show—sponsored by Duke Student Government, Duke Student Wellness Center, Duke University Honor council and the Women's Center—will kick off One Sexy Week, which is intended to promote conversations about sexual health. Monday evening's event is coordinated by junior Ilana Weisman, DSG vice president for equity and outreach.

“We already have so many great groups on campus that also promote sexual health and fight against gender violence,” Weisman said. “We turned it into this compilation show and we’re going to have different University departments giving their own presentation that’s fun, inviting, compelling and not mandatory."

In the past, One Sexy Week has included film screenings, workshops and discussions on sexual health. This event page for this year's said "there may or may not be lube wrestling" at the show.

"With the name SexFest, we figured people would want to be involved," Weisman said. "If they’re taking the right messages out of it, that’s all we could really ask for.”

Weisman explained that the theme for the week is "talk flirty to me," in order to raise awareness about communication and consent.

One Sexy Week launched in 2012 and is led by Maralis Mercado, the program coordinator for Health and Wellness. She noted that preparations for the event begin over the summer.

“This year we’ve had the most student involvement in the planning process than any other year, except for that first year,” Mercado said.

Following SexFest Monday night, there will be a sculptural art installation in the Bryan Center called Better Impressions, which will be on display until Wednesday.

“The goal for that is to encourage students to celebrate their bodies and have good conversations with their partners about how they want to take care of their bodies as an individual, and how they want to share their bodies with someone else,” Mercado said.

There will be a student panel discussion Wednesday about “self-love, desirability and personal values” that will include both graduate and undergraduate students, according to the event's Facebook page. 

One Sexy Week will conclude with “Talk Flirty to Me: The Clapback” Friday evening.

Mercado explained that event will feature storytelling to expand people's perspectives on sex and intimacy. She said she hopes having a week with several arts-themed activities will make students less intimidated by the topics.

“We just want to get people’s creativity involved because that makes talking about sex in general less scary. And that’s one of the messages we want to send: you can have this conversation, it doesn’t have to be awkward, and can be totally chill,” Mercado said. “We want to send positive messages regarding sex, sexual health, relationships and intimacy.”

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