Amidst shifting norms, Speak About It empowers students at James Madison College at Michigan State University to think and talk about what healthy relationships really look like.
Even in the past year, the national dialogue around consent and sex has changed. With increased media exposure, spurred on in part by the ongoing #MeToo movement, more and more young people have heard about consent. A silence is broken; sexual violence is being addressed in popular TV, movies, and young adult literature. But sexual assault statistics remain high: 1 in 5 women and 1 in 18 men still experience assault while on campus. More and more young people experience sexual harassment, especially online and through social media. Schools across the country are struggling to create healthy campus communities as sexual norms shift. The question is: If we know consent is good and sexual assault is bad, how do young people actually apply these lessons and lead healthier, happier lives? With this question in mind, the non-profit Speak About It begins their tenth year-long tour across the country, hoping to shed some light through their thought-provoking consent-education performances and programs.
On August 27, James Madison College at Michigan State University will be one of over 100 stops that the Maine-based organization will make in the upcoming academic year. James Madison College at Michigan State University is one of the almost 50 colleges where Speak About It will perform its flagship show about sex, sexuality and consent in the next six weeks during the busy college orientation season.
“This isn’t your typical 60-minutes of finger-wagging where we tell people ‘Don’t have sex. Don’t drink. Don’t do this or that.’ We know that kind of education doesn’t work,” says Program Manager, Oronde Cruger. “Speak About It is a show about affirmative consent, a show that affirms people’s identities. Our show is about how complex sexuality is, and how the way to wade through the sometimes murky waters of sexual discovery is by having open and honest conversations.”
These open and honest conversations are at the core of the ‘consent culture’ Speak About It helps campuses build. For many colleges on the tour, this is the fifth, sixth, even ninth year the group has returned to campus. “It’s amazing to hear RAs tell us they get their students jazzed about the show. They take us seriously because they saw us when they were a first-year and our show made a difference to them,” says returning tour manager, Ella Mock.
“If we can get young people to talk about sex, gender, and the pressures they’re feeling day to day, that’s one step closer to getting them comfortable talking about what they need and want in the moment.” says Cruger. “Likewise, if they’re used to hearing people needing and wanting different things sexually, they’re more likely to hear and respect people’s boundaries.”
Empathy and community are values Speak About It wants to instill in the students with whom they work. Part of the empathy-building process is helping students understand difference. “Everyone’s experience with dating and sex is unique, and we build our programs to reflect a diversity of experiences. We embrace the complicated nature of sexual identity and ask young people to identify the choices that feel right in their own lives,” says Executive Director, Olivia Harris. This diversity of experience is captured in over 20 monologues that five actor-educators deliver throughout the show. The monologues touch on topics from assault to asexuality, first dates to first sexual experiences, supporting a friend to searching for one’s own identity, and more.
Speak About It is excited to see that these conversations are becoming normal on campuses and across the media. This is Speak About It’s second visit to James Madison College at Michigan State University. “We love working with JMC to provide a framework for their first years to have campus dialogue. We want students to walk away thinking about their own relationships, but also about what a positive, violence-free community might look like for their peers too.” Harris reflected.
You can learn more about Speak About It at www.speakaboutitonline.com or on social media at @wespeakaboutit. For media inquiries, please contact Catherine Buxton, Communications Manager at catherine@speakaboutitonline.com, 978-382-2629.
Press Release from Speak About It.