Over 200 UMass students crowded into the Student Union Ballroom on Tuesday night for a sex talk by certified sexologist Megan Andelloux. Her sex website Oh Megan! has been touring colleges across the country for over a year through her Study Sex College Tour.

The tour provides various sex education workshops for students, and the leader presented UMass with her most popular one, which revolves around female sexual pleasure. Andelloux didn’t waste any time diving into her program by encouraging students to laugh at or interrupt her. The goal was to make students as comfortable with the material as possible.

Andelloux rewarded brave souls for their participation with prizes. The first audience member to speak, a male, was given a Tenga masturbation sleeve.

The sexologist discussed types of orgasms, stages of sexual response, variations of arousal and basic female anatomy.

Andelloux presented her information with blue PowerPoint slides which turned orange in warning before a video involving nudity was shown. She had been previously told by another college that one of her videos was pornographic and that she was banned from using it.

Andelloux proceeded to show a short clip of the banned video, titled “Viva la Vulva,” an educational film by renowned sexologist Betty Dodson. The film follows a group of older women displaying and examining each other’s genitalia.

A member of the unfazed audience commented that the video should be shown in sex education classes. This sort of reaction is why Andelloux feels compelled to explain her reasons for showing the video in the first place.

Andelloux refused to accept the college’s allegations that the film was pornographic “because that shows our deep disconnect with acknowledging bodies as natural and healthy.”

Andelloux sees this disconnect firsthand in her presentations.

“A lot of individuals are completely shocked when I show basic anatomy,” she said. “That astounds me. People are 19, people are 45 and they still don’t know this stuff,” she continued.

Considering the somewhat taboo nature of sex in Western culture, Andelloux is not surprised. The sexologist emphasized that modern culture often only discusses the negative impact of sex to the point that people are terrified. Andelloux fears that these people cannot be expected to live healthy, happy lives if they are terrified of sex.

The sexologist believes sexual pleasure is a reproductive justice issue, saying that when information on bodily function is denied, people’s ability to control themselves and their rights is limited.

The UMass chapter VOX: Students For Choice agreed with Andelloux’s informational crusade, which is why they brought her presentation to campus.

“It’s really important to educate college kids about safe sex and to have them know the facts,” said Lindsay Gartner, VOX president. “I think a lot of college kids are really misinformed or…they haven’t gotten the right amount of sexual education, whether it be in high school or in college.”

At the end of the presentation, Andelloux asked students to tell her what they learned. Outside of basic female anatomy, responses included sex tips and specific techniques.

At the end of the program, students excitedly formed a long line around the ballroom waiting for free vibrators, condoms and lube.

“I thought it was much better than most school presentations about sex,” said Katie Murphy, a freshman who attended the talk. “More schools should be like this and be open and willing to talk to people about these kinds of things.”

Sarah Fonder can be reached at [email protected].