It has come to my attention this University has no weekly column revolving around everyone’s favorite subject – that awe-inspiring trifecta of love, sex and dating, and everything else in between … Well, worry not. We have one now.
I’m sure you’re wondering why I, of all people, have the right to tell you about these topics. Allow me to assure you; I will not start calling myself the new Dr. Phil, nor do I expect to be dubbed The Love Guru. In fact, I don’t plan on giving myself a trite nickname at all. I am just your typical college student who also happened to grow up around my mother’s quite atypical, quite innovative small business.
While no topic was left unexplored in my household, I will be the first to tell you my siblings and I didn’t love every minute of it. Often times, as we endured the challenges of adolescence, it was embarrassing for us to talk about what our mom chose to do with her life, besides raise us, of course. Now, it’s become quite an interesting topic to bring up on first dates. In fact, I can tell instantaneously by my date’s reaction whether or not the relationship will go anywhere after this conversation. When asked what my parents do, I smile as I say, “Well, my dad’s a psychiatrist and my mom makes all-natural love products.”
Pause. “What?”
Yeah, you heard me right. My mom makes all-natural love products at her office in Eugene, and sells them all over the country. She also writes an advice blog about the importance of healthy, equal sex lives in sustaining love and relationships.
Now that I’ve got your attention, the fact I’ve accepted what my mom does gives me no qualms about being completely honest about what this column will cover. ExpOsed will cover pretty much everything. I’ll deliberate over problems that span from love to dating to inquiries about sexual health, and, well, the sexual agendas of college-aged adults in general. I know not all of us had the type of sexual education we wanted in high school, leaving us lost and confused when we later found ourselves in particular “situations.” If you have questions or issues you want further explored, please, write to me anonymously. ExpOsed will strive to unwrap and reveal the answers to the honest and wonderful mysteries of the things we all seem to crave the most: love and sex.
Before I go any further, I should point out that I believe, whether you want to admit it or not, sex and love are intertwined. And, since we are in college, which teaches us open-mindedness is the key to learning, I urge you to do away with any preconceived notions you might have about love and sex.
For the rest of this week I challenge you to start thinking differently about sex and love. Love does not always have to be scary and sex does not always have to be looked at in the way much of today’s popular culture frames it.
And with that, I take my leave this week. But I invite you all to come on an adventure with me, to explore the sometimes playful, sometimes dirty, but always fascinating ecstasy that is sex and love intertwined.
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