By Remi Watts
The Taylor Family Digital Library opened to considerable fanfare, but its study spaces are absurdly busy, noisy and in short supply. The majority of MacKimmie Tower closed, robbing us of a study place of solace. Coupling these concerns with the record enrolment numbers and the bureaucratic hodgepodging of both the su and campus administration, students are realizing that our campus has woefully inadequate study space. However, there is an equally pressing concern that most students haven’t yet considered: the woefully inadequate lack of sex space.
The studying of sexuality and sex in all of its scholarly manifestations is ubiquitous in the fields of academia. But in our university the having of sex and exploring of sexuality have been denied a constructive outlet. This has condemned campus sex and sexuality to secretive trysts and regretful dorm room encounters.
If our school really wants to achieve “excellence” they need to affirm sexuality and create sexual space. Sex space would undoubtedly reduce the amount of pointless and often painful one-night stands that result from the immature sex rituals of ThursDen. If we had sex space students would waste less of their days and nights ogling their fellow students, searching for a human connection or for a fuck. It’s understood that sex is a wonderful option for stress relief. I’m certain most students don’t need the benefits of stress relief explained to them. With less nights and days wasted, with our focus regained and our stress reduced, grades and emotional well-being would improve. Our burden upon services such as the Wellness Centre would certainly be reduced. The practical element of establishing sexual space would be an incredible adventure that only a closed mind would not appreciate. While there is something to be said of clandestine rendezvouses in empty classrooms, sex space would foster a better relationship to sexuality.
Sexuality is an essential aspect of humanness– it expresses itself in a bountiful plurality of beautiful possibilities. However, perhaps resulting from the hyper-sexualized sexist corporate media, sexuality within our campus has, almost entirely, been relegated to the darkest recesses of our school. Sex space is a possible means by which we can reverse this trend. Our university needs to graduate from its immature understanding of sex– a coital convocation that affirms genuine sexual values.