Blog lets college women share perspectives on sex

Many college women have sex, but few feel comfortable talking about it — a problem seniors Laura Arias-Gomez and Deena Fulton said they are trying to change.

To encourage discussion about sex, the two co-founded an anonymous blog titled “College Women Speak” in January.

Arias-Gomez and Fulton said they hoped to use the blog to air real women’s perspectives on sexual experiences in college.

The two said they decided to create the blog after both realized they had become the “go-to” girls within their circles of friends. Although friends always approached them with health scares or funny experiences, they realized not everyone has a friend with whom to share stories.

“When you read about hook-up culture today, it is predominantly top-down,” Arias-Gomez said.

But by gathering stories from real women, they said they hoped to create a sharing environment.

“The taboo on talking about sex — whatever you’re saying about it — is outdated, or at least should be,” Fulton said.

She said bloggers can reflect on their experiences and gain better self-understanding by posting on the site, collegewomenspeak.com.

Arias-Gomez said the blog aims to help women realize they aren’t alone in how they experience sex.

“Its powerful to see how many people are doing and thinking the same things as me,” she said.

The pair said they have come to cherish their decision to keep all blog posts anonymous.

And with visitors from Barbados and Australia, they said their project has expanded from a forum used mainly by their friends to one that affects people worldwide.

“We have no idea who the posts are anymore. It’s fun!” Arias-Gomez said.

Arias-Gomez and Fulton said they hope to expand the project to include on-campus writing workshops. These workshops would aim to help women become more comfortable sharing their experiences.

Karen Booth, assistant professor in the department of women’s studies at UNC, said she believes the blog shows a lot of promise.

“Anything that works to empower women in a personal way by giving them an individual voice is great,” said Booth.

Arias-Gomez said she hopes that women of all sexual orientations will post on the blog.

“Funny, horrible, romantic, very boring — we want it all posted,” she said.

After all, Arias-Gomez and Fulton said, the purpose of the blog is to make discourse about sex of any kind socially acceptable.

“We only want to normalize things that are normal. And sex is normal,” Fulton said.

Contact the University Editor at university@dailytarheel.com.