Think Progress
7.12.15 | Tara Culp-Ressler

If you could give one piece of advice to a younger sibling about sex, what would you say?

That’s the question that Josy Jablons, a student at New York University, posed to her classmates this year. She wanted to get her fellow college students thinking more seriously about how to address campus sexual assault — an issue that has recently garnered national headlines, provided fodder for documentary films and public performance art, and inspired a presidential task force.

Particularly with more attention on the subject, there’s been a huge push to reform the way that college administrations handle rape cases. Some states, like New York and California, have worked to implement an “affirmative consent” standard in student conduct codes — emphasizing that individuals engaging in sexual activity should make sure their partners say “yes,” rather than assuming the lack of a “no” means it’s okay to proceed. (This approach has its fair share of critics.)

Jablons is supportive of affirmative consent standards in college. But she ultimately hopes the ethos behind the “yes means yes” movement — encouraging more open conversations about sexuality, boundaries, and consent — may help facilitate these discussions long before kids set foot on campus. That would lay the groundwork for sexual literacy before students end up in a dorm room after having a few drinks.

“To me, it’s unfathomable that consent as a concept isn’t mandated in sex ed curricula,” Jablons said in an interview with ThinkProgress. “Sexual coercion is something that flies under the radar when people are talking about gender-based violence. I wish what that looks like, and how to recognize it, was more emphasized when you’re learning about sex for the first time.”

Sparked by an interest in the potential intersections between art and activism, Jablons decided to partner with a student photographer to explore what more meaningful sexual education might look like. But, instead of asking participants which topics they think should be covered in high school sex ed classes, she framed her question in a more intimate way — which resulted in “more personal and emotional responses” from students.

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