Yale’s Sexual Literacy Forum (SeLF) — a student-run course that aims to “create an open and respectful environment for discussion of boundaries, desires, identities, and experiences” in sex — will be hosting a lecture entitled “Why do we watch porn?” this coming Friday. The event features a speech by Nica Noelle an “award-winning writer, producer, and director of adult films,” as a promotional e-mail describes her. Noelle is also a pornographic actress and sex columnist for Hustler. Snacks will be provided at the event.
SeLF has previously hosted discussions entitled “Anatomy, Hormones, and Menstruation” as well as “Masturbation, Pleasure, and Orgasm.” Their website also “likes” websites such as “Midwest Teen Sex Show” and “Autostraddle,” and offers multiple “resources,” offering information on topics from abortion, contraception, and sex toys (though each list of resources includes a disclaimer that “the opinions expressed are solely those of the individual authors and do not represent views of SeLF”).
SeLF was recently founded in the spring of 2012 and inspired by female sexuality programs at other universities, according to a Yale Herald report. SeLF has led discussions at Yale’s Sex Week, an event that was banned for not focusing on its stated intention of sexual education and instead featuring “titillating displays, ‘adult’ film stars, and commercial sponsors of such materials.” Sex Week was later revised, its corporate sponsors barred and pornographic focus curbed, and reinstated.