OU student group promotes 'kink' with sex toy demonstrations

An Ohio University student organization hosted an on-campus event Wednesday to normalize BDSM and sexual “kink,” complete with an interactive sex toy demonstration.

A spokesperson from OU told Campus Reform that the group, POWER/GAMMA, is made up of “nationally-certified peer educators who aim to deliver peer-facilitated health programming to the University community on topics such as alcohol, sexual assault, tobacco, stress, healthy eating, and more.”

According to The Post, resident assistants from the university’s Martzolff housing complex asked POWER/GAMMA to host the “50 Shades of Martzolff” event, so-named in reference to the BDSM book 50 Shades of Grey.

OU told Campus Reform that resident assistants (RAs) are student staff members charged with “helping students, coordinating educational programs, [and] developing community,” adding that the RAs sponsoring the BDSM event have budgeted $20 to pay for pizza.

Apparently fitting into GAMMA/POWER’s group’s “and more” category, the event sought to normalize perceptions about BDSM and sex toys, even instructing attendees on proper use and maintenance of the devices.

The Post points out that BDSM can vary in levels of intensity—from spanking to flogging, though participants were able to experiment with different types of sex toys depending on their preferred actions or intensities.

[RELATED: Duke offers sex toy ‘demonstrations’ at ‘after-hours location’]

“People with vulvas” enjoy using vibrators, while “people with penises” like to use “pocket pussies,” POWER/GAMMA member Ashley Miller explained to The Post.

Another member, Phoenix Crane, elaborated that a sex toy is “any non-human object” used for either physical or psychological pleasure.

Crane also complained of the societal assumption that “if you aren’t conforming to the social norms of vanilla sex...then there is something wrong with you,” asserting that “vanilla” sex is very narrow and traditional, while any other type of sex, including BDSM, is “kink” sex.

Crane believes there is a stigma associated with sex toys, as well, saying POWER/GAMMA hopes to combat such stigmas through events like the one at Martzolff.

[RELATED: All-women’s college offers sex toy training]

Miller pointed out, for instance, that many women mistakenly believe that sex toys will “stretch their vagina,” while men fear that owning sex toys will “demasculinize” them.

The event also addressed some of the risks involved with using sex toys, such as injury and infection, offering advice on proper cleaning and potential allergic reactions, as well as instructing students in the correct way of using BDSM sex toys, which Crane pointed out can cause injury if they are misused.

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