Bailey Thompson | News Editor

After much anticipation and hard work from the numerous campus organizations who sponsored the event, renowned sex educators Lindsay Fram and Marshall Miller brought the program “I <3 Female Orgasm” to Western on Feb. 7. This event packed the Columbia Room in the Werner University Center, with a number of seats being added and still having several people standing in the back of the room.

“Presented over 500 times to over 100,000 people in 44 states, the female orgasm program has become one of the most popular college sex-education programs in the country,” said Abby’s House Peer Advocate and senior community health education major Keith Mathew while introducing the program.

From the get-go, Fram communicated that this event would cover things that were lighthearted, but also serious at times.

“This is a fun topic, but it’s not only a fun topic. There are a lot of really important health reasons that we all need access to good information about our bodies and our sexuality,” said Fram. “There’s this lie all around us that there’s just one way to be sexual. That all of our bodies work the exact same way — that we all want the exact same thing. Or even the lie that says that we’re all interested in being sexual. Because if we can reclaim our pleasure … that’s a huge act of resistance.”

In this way, the talk began by acknowledging the diversity of experience that would likely be in the room — both in terms of sexuality and gender identity.

“One of the questions that some people may have had even before they got here tonight is ‘how are they going to define female?’ And we define it super inclusively,” said Fram. “We’re going to talk about people who were assigned female at birth, people who identify as women — we know sometimes those categories overlap and sometimes they don’t.”

With this established, Fram and Miller set out to explain a variety of things about the female orgasm: the science behind it, the different strategies to achieve it and the myths that surround it.

One thing that the presenters said was valuable for people to note is that there is a physical difference that exists surrounding orgasms for males and females, which some women may not fully realize.

“On average, it takes someone with a vulva and clitoris about 20 minutes of direct stimulation in a way that feels good to them to reach an orgasm,” said Fram. Miller then contrasted this idea by saying that, “it takes a person with a penis two to five minutes.”

Taking this into consideration, Miller and Fram expressed that it is important that partners are willing to take the time to make sure that they are both being fulfilled when they are intimate.

“It’s really important to do the hard work and listen to what your partner is trying to say and to try and see things from their perspective. That can really give a huge boost to your sex life,” said Fram.

However, the pair also emphasized that this kind of experimentation with pleasure is also something that people can pursue on their own.

“If you have never had an orgasm before and you are interested in learning how, a lot of people say that masturbation is the fastest and easiest way to learn,” said Fram. “By the age of 15, only about half of people with vaginas have figured out how to have an orgasm, but a lot of people with penises have figured that out. So, it’s totally normal to be college-aged and still figuring out how to have an orgasm.”

The overarching message of this presentation was that there are many ways to experience pleasure, so people should not get too caught up in the rules and limitations that they have heard from society.

“We really hope that you’ll say goodbye to taboo and hello to more pleasure because, whether it is by yourself or with someone who you respect and respects you back, orgasms are awesome,” said Fram. “They reduce stress, they relieve headaches and menstrual cramps, they burn calories, they relieve junk food cravings and they are a great way to spend a Thursday night.”  

For anyone who is interested in learning more about the “I <3 Female Orgasm” program, they can find additional information at ilovefemaleorgasm.com.

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton