• Safer sex with Sue Johanson
• Article by Katherine Luczynski on September 29, 2009

• On September 22, UTM and the Sexual Education Centre welcomed renowned sex expert and sex thera- pist Sue Johanson to lead a discus- sion about sex. Johanson has previ- ously hosted the Sunday Night Sex Show on the Women’s Television Network (WTN) and writes a week- ly column for Health section of the Toronto Star newspaper. Johanson, who has launched her own line of sex toys, combines her knowledge of the subject with a sense of humour in her discussion that has proven to be popular with all age groups. Johanson has also written several books on matters of sexual problems and concerns. Penguin Books has published three of her books titled, Talk Sex, Sex is Perfectly Natural, But Not Naturally Perfect and Sex, Sex, and More Sex.

  

  Sue Johanson speaks to students in CCT 1080. Edward Cai/The Medium

  Approximately 100 students gathered in the CCT 1080 lecture hall to hear what Johanson had to say on the topic of sex.
  Im here to fill in the gaps, said Johanson, To tell you what your parents and teachers never told you about sex. She asked the audience to think back to grade nine sex edu- cation class. Most students remem- bered learning only about anatomy. A picture of a moose coming through the bush wont tell you much about yourself, said Johanson on the topic of diagrams of female anatomy.
  Johanson told the audience that learning about sex is the hardest thing youll ever do because its embarrassing to talk about. Beginning with female genitalia, Johanson worked her way through the female body, the male body and the importance of practicing safer sex. There is no such thing as safe sex! Johanson said. She offered tips such as always using condoms and birth control. Guys should be just as responsible as girls are for birth control, Johanson warned the crowd. No condom equals no sex!
  Other topics of discussion were communication and trust between partners. Wham, bam, thank you maam just wont cut it. According to Johanson, the five things a girl needs to hear before having sex are: I love you, I need you, I want you, Baby, youre the greatest and Ill never leave you.
  Johanson stressed the importance of knowing ones body before becoming sexually active. Many girls are taught that they shouldnt look down there, but Johanson believes they should because its a necessity in order to remain healthy, especially for the sake of knowing when something is wrong.

  

  Johanson incorporates healthy humour into her sex talk. Edward Cai/The Medium

  The sex talk included discussions on issues such as homosexuality, anal sex and oral sex. Along with the educational talk, students were given Dear Sue cards where they could write a question anonymous- ly and have it answered by Johanson herself.

  For more information, students can access Sue Johansons website at www.talksexwithsue.com or UTMs Sexual Education Centre Website, www.utmsec.ca, or visit them in person in room 150 at the Student Centre.

  • 

Tags: Hot Topic, Issue 4, Sex, Sue Johanson, Talk Sex, volume-36-issue-4

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3 Comments

1. jude said this on September 29, 2009 | Permalink

   It is problematic that homosexuality is not only framed as an “issue” by Sue Johanson but subsequently by this newspaper. Oral and anal sex are not issues, they are sexual practices. Homosexuality is about sexual identity and expression. Students at this campus and the other two campuses deserve a much more progressive and informative speaker on sex and sexuality, to better make informed, realistic and pleasurable choices for themselves. Perhaps spending less money on the name brand and more on the messaging would truly serve student interests.

2. Katherine Luczynski said this on September 29, 2009 | Permalink

   When I wrote “issues”, I didn’t mean problems. I myself am a member of OUT@UTM and would never address homosexuality as a problem. Sue Johansson did not say oral or anal sex were problematic or wrong. She did educate the students on those topics as well as talk about homosexuality in a positive way. Unfortunately all the details about what she said could not be included within the article, however a link was included to her website where she does address homosexuality and not in any negative way.

3. Afi Browne said this on September 30, 2009 | Permalink

   I felt a bit uncomfortable when Sue talked about sex between lesbians. Uncomfortable because, I am a lesbian and Sue talked as if lesbians are only a minuscule percentage of persons who have sex and are not worth talking about. She talked in the same way about gay men. Before she answered a question about lesbian sex positions that night, she first started with a spiel about how she doesn’t have time to speak at length about homosexual realtionships, so just in our minds replace the appropriate pronouns (ie him for gays and her for lesbians) and we would glean what we needed to know. Her answer to the question was that any hetero position wud be good for a lesbian couple.

   Sue Johanson did not come across as queer positive to me.

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