Over a hundred students attended the ninth annual Consent Turns Me On Carnival hosted by the Women and Gender Advocacy Center and Residence Life.
The carnival offered many ways to talk and learn tips about safe and consensual sex. Many booths at the carnival offered games that incorporated all different types of ways to show and give consent.
“Sexual assault has always been a problem within our world; to bring attention to its impact and how to prevent it is essential in creating a world where [sexual assault] doesn’t exist,” said Justina Perez, a CSU student who attended the event.
All throughout the month of April, the WGAC has hosted events pertaining to sexual assault awareness. The focal point of this event was to bring attention of the significance of asking for consent with a fun and interactive carnival.
“Having an organization as powerful as the WGAC on campus is pretty impactful,” said Paula Olsen. “Not many colleges have establishments like this on their campus and that says a lot to how advanced CSU is as a college.”
The state of Colorado defines consent as cooperation in act and attitude, exercise of free will and knowledge of what is happening.
“Events like this are important because in our society there are a lot of ways to go about sexual interactions in ways that can go especially wrong and events like this make sex a positive and encouraging thing,” said Chelsea Johnson, a C.R.E.W.S. member. “This event helps open the conversation up about sex and the questions that come with it.”
The Durrell Center was filled with carnival games, prizes, snacks and a photo booth. Cards Against Sexual Assault, a modern twist on Cards Against Humanity, a sex toy memory game, knocking down gender roles, fishing for consent and consent Jenga were all games that were included in this year’s carnival.
Campus groups including Men in the Movement and the Red Whistle Brigade were also there in support and were involved with the carnival. Men in the Movement is a group of men who want to learn more about masculinity and what it means to be masculine in today’s society.
Another on-campus group that showed their support at the carnival was the Red Whistle Brigade, who are a troupe of students who inform other students about gender socialization, sexual violence prevention and sexual health. Also, to join in on the fun were C.R.E.W.S. and S.U.R.J., which stands for students united for reproductive justice.
“Sex should never be a put down or an interaction that makes someone feel less of a person because they have it,” said Jake Edwards. “Sex is a normal activity and it needs to be talked in a normal way in society. People are scared to talk about engaging in sex because of the negative perceptions that come with it and this carnival is a way to destroy how society negatively views sex.”
Collegian Reporter Mareena Winchell can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com or on Twitter @mareenaaaa_.
