‘#BetterSexTalk’ Project Focuses on Knowledge Gaps

Sexual education advocates took photographs of Harvard students and asked them to share advice on healthy relationships when the #BetterSexTalk project came to Harvard on Sunday.

Stationed in Lowell Grille, the project organizers prompted a few dozen students with the question, “If you could give one piece of advice to a younger sibling about sex, what would it be?” The students were then professionally photographed for #BetterSexTalk’s ongoing photography campaign.

The online campaign, which features portraits of students with their respective pieces of advice superimposed, has attracted national media attention for emphasizing the link between poor sexual education and sexual assault.

“We’re here to highlight a lot of the gaps most students on college campuses had in their high school sex ed classes,” said Josy J. Jablons, the director of #BetterSexTalk who helped facilitate the Harvard photoshoot.

The brainchild of Jablons and fellow New York University student Meghan Racklin, #BetterSexTalk aims to spread information about sexual resources and healthy relationships on college campuses.

After two acclaimed exhibitions at NYU, #BetterSexTalk made Harvard its first stop as it branches out to other campuses. The visit to campus comes just months after Harvard released the results of its sexual conduct survey, which reported levels of sexual misconduct that University President Drew G. Faust called “deeply disturbing.”

Jablons pointed to the differences in the breadth and quality of high school sexual education courses nationwide as an oft-overlooked cause of sexual assault on college campuses.

“It’s ridiculous to expect students to understand consent and safe sexual conduct in college after never having been taught it in their prior schooling,” she said. “When it’s so stigmatized, when are you going to learn it?”

Students who took part in the campaign often drew from personal experience when offering advice.

“One of the most important things to keep in mind for me regarding a positive sexual experience has been comfort,” said Amalia A. Salcedo-Marx ’17.

Both Harvard and NYU student organizers praised the campaign’s personalized, casual format meant to appeal to students.

“The individuality we’ve been able to capture in this shoot is twofold,” said Emilio Madrid-Kuser, the #BetterSexTalk photographer. “Everyone makes their own message, and each portrait is unique. It’s truly a tailor-made outcome.”