Sex Week 2017 is coming to the University of Calgary

By Claudia Wong, January 31 2017 —

It’s that time of year where a giant penis and vulva roam MacHall — Sex Week!

From Feb. 6–10, the University of Calgary’s annual Sex Week will feature workshops, events and discussions surrounding sexuality. Now in its sixth year, the event is a collaboration between the Women’s Resource Centre, the Q Centre, the Students’ Union, the Faith and Spirituality Centre and Career Services.

SU vice-president student life Patrick Ma said Sex Week helps make conversations about sex easier for students.

“The SU is always looking for ways to promote diversity and inclusion on campus [and] Sex Week is a great way to do that,” he said.

According to Ma, Sex Week’s appeal is its wide range of topics. While the most anticipated event is usually the annual BDSM workshop, he said there is something for everyone.

This year will include discussions surrounding asexuality and transgender identities. For those who are not sexually active, a religious discussion on healthy relationships without sex is another option.

Another new feature is the “Fantasies and Desires” workshop, which will incorporate anonymous polling. Toronto-based sex and emotional literacy educator Karen B.K. Chan will help participants find what turns them on in a confidential way.

“We will be using tech to do group polling. By [crowdsourcing] to ask questions, you can see where interests are [and] mould the discussion around that,” sophomore leadership program ambassador Ashley Morrison said.

The “LGBTQ+ in the Workplace “event on Feb. 9 is also new. The event had a similar spinoff previously, but will expand this year to include a segment on networking for LGBTQ+ individuals.

“We partnered with Career Services for ‘LGBTQ+ in the Workplace.’ It’s for LGBTQ+ [individuals] to get the upspeed for what they can do when they graduate. It gives an idea of places they can work, as identifying as queer publicly can be a barrier,” Q Centre coordinator Mélanie Trudeau said.

For a full schedule of sex week activities, visit https://www.su.ucalgary.ca/sexweek/