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Jay Friedman is a sex educator from Seattle, Wash. whose job is to go to campuses all across the country to teach students how to have better sex lives, and to talk about the politics surrounding sex. 

Friedman said that he enjoys traveling all around the country and seeing the different student reactions.

“I go to these conservative campuses and talk about how to have a better orgasm, and students laugh, clap and cheer,” Friedman said. “But the moment I talk about the government taking away your rights to these orgasms, I can feel the tension in the room.”

Not all his experiences have been great. 

“I was at Georgia Tech last semester, and a group of about 18 students walked in with rosary beads and just chanted the whole time,” Friedman said, “I finally called them out on it. I try to be respectful of everyone.”

During his presentation, Friedman highlighted the differences between the sexual cultures of Europe and the U.S. 

“In London, a group put together this aphrodisiac ice cream. It has a sprinkling of aphrodisiacs of the herbal kind, [and] it has some Viagra in it – $20, limit one per person,” he said. “I don’t think you’d see something like this in America.”

Friedman also talked about the obsession Americans have with sexuality. 

“I’m fascinated in the connections between sex and food,” Friedman said. “I do a column for my local newspaper called ‘Sexy Feast,’ which takes me to one restaurant a week. I try to figure out what the dishes teach us about sex.”

One attendant found the lecture to be thought provoking. 

Sophomore Asya Cook said her favorite part about the lecture was seeing the difference in how Americans and Europeans perceive sex.

“It gave me great insight into how sheltered American society is from sex. I feel like it’s an important issue to address, but we hide from it instead,” Cook said.

Sophomore Nikki Rosa talked about how she enjoyed the segment on food/sex comparisons.

“I thought I was the only one who wonders what foods may be aphrodisiacs and how they might affect your sex life, but I also really enjoyed the whole talk,” Rosa said. 

Friedman visited the campus on March 15 in the Sugar Maple Ballroom, and was hosted by the UVM Program Board.

Speaker Jay Friedman can be reached at [email protected] and can be found on Facebook to answer questions.