“Sex is not a dirty word; ignorance is!”
This is what Cosmopolitan magazine columnist Ana Santos told students in the University Town during her lecture on the many misconceptions that surround sex. Her lecture, titled Puro na lang sex! focused on sexual and reproductive health and women’s rights.
The forum by Social NetWorth, which began as a four-day workshop for college students in February 2012, was created to educate the youth and promote development through the power of social networking websites, such as Facebook and Twitter. As part of their Visayas tour, Social NetWorth visited Silliman University on Sept. 27, and talked to students, including those from Negros Oriental State University and MetroDumaguete College.
Santos explained that as a sex columnist, she was often asked questions about where to get tested for HIV-AIDS, or how to know when one is ready for sex — which troubled her. “If you want to change our thoughts about sex, we need to change the way we view it. You should be able to get information about it, regardless of your age, sexual orientation, race, or social class.”
She added that sexual health should be thought about in the same way that people think about the health of their body. She reminded the students in the University Town about positive sexuality, which involves “acknowledging that we are sexual beings, and that sex is natural.”
Santos, who grew up in San Francisco, California, admitted to being shocked at how Filipinos reacted to sexual issues when she visited the Philippines years ago. She noted that her concern for sex education stemmed from her job as a columnist, when she started getting basic questions about sex, and realized that her readers had nobody else to ask. “It made me want to educate others,” she said. “People need to know these things.”
She stressed the importance of being educated about sex to be able to make informed choices about it, citing ‘the girl effect’ which promotes the value of education to young women, so that they may pass it on to other women, including their future children.
“Studies show that when women stay in school, they make informed choices and delay pregnancy and marriage.” Santos pointed out that having a dream to strive for is the best form of natural contraception. “Sex morality is not about how long you wait. It’s about how you treat yourself and those around you.”
She ended the lecture by saying that she gives out condoms, not to promote sex, but rather, to promote safe sex. “Other people see a condom, but I see a choice,” she said. “What do you see?”
The Social NetWorth forum included a lecture titled Responsible Social Media Use by Michael Josh Villanueva, director of Rappler.com. He talked about the use of social media for information dissemination and social change.
The event was hosted by Silliman University’s College of Mass Communication. (Mariella S. Bustamante)
