The Harm of Sex Negativity

Sitting at her desk in ninth-grade theology class, Charlotte Beatty, now a Boston University senior, was given a piece of tape to put on her sweater. She was instructed to keep the tape on until it collected lint.

“This tape is a metaphor for our vaginas,” said Beatty’s teacher. The lint symbolized the idea that the more people women had sex with before marriage, the more dirty they would be. As part of the curriculum at her all-girls Catholic high school in Hamden, Connecticut, Beatty questioned the anti-abortion, homophobic, and sex-negative ideologies.

“We live in a sex-negative culture that maintains male privilege – and other forms of inequality through the policing of women’s bodies and inhibiting bodily autonomy,” said Margot Abels, Northeastern University Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies professor. 

Abels emphasizes the “sex-negative culture” adolescent women are exposed to. Sex-negative refers to the mindset that sex is dirty, dangerous, and risky.

Growing up Beatty realized that “accessible reproductive healthcare is a fundamental right to all people.” The more people are able to liberate themselves from shame, the happier and healthier they become in their future relationships and themselves.

“I became deeply angry and alarmed by how harmful sex-negative discourse can be mentally, physically, and emotionally,” said Beatty.

Beatty’s anger turned into something stronger than she could ever imagine. “My reproductive rights activism forced me to unlearn what I was taught, finding comfort, self-respect, and pleasure in myself and the world around me,” she said.

Beatty found a way to break out of the stigmas she was taught by joining the Students for Reproductive Freedom Club (SRF) at BU her freshman year. After being a part of the e-board for three years, she secured the spot as co-president her senior year.

SRF’s mission is to promote reproductive freedom by educating and energizing students on campus, aiming to translate their activism into community service and to help promote reproductive justice at every level of government. They seek to create a network of reproductive justice that facilitates advocacy in the BU community. 

“BU has taken important strides in providing reproductive healthcare for students,” said Carrie Preston, BU English and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies professor. 

SRF has been recently successful in installing the new emergency contraceptive vending machine in the basement of the George Sherman Union. “After a culmination of five years, we were finally able to finish what many people before us in SRF started,” said Beatty.

Co-presidents Beatty and Baker were invited to present their emergency contraceptive machine at BU School of Medicine International Conference on Contraceptive Research and Development. 

“We were so excited to have the opportunity to connect with physicians, researchers, and public health advocates doing groundbreaking work in the world of contraception,” said Beatty and Baker.

In the vending machine comes a generic version of Plan B that costs $7.25. Plan B consists of the hormone levonorgestrel progestin which prevents ovulation and blocks fertilization. This price is significantly lower than prices at typical convenience stores, which is around $50 without insurance. 

“[We] break down the barriers to reproductive healthcare access around campus as much as we can,” said Beatty, about SRF’s goal in getting the vending machine installed. 

The biggest barrier SRF had to cross while getting this machine installed was the COVID-19 pandemic. “The emergency contraceptive vending machine project started to get rolling in the 2019-2020 school year but then we got sent home,” said Baker. 

After being away from campus for a year and coming back on campus in the 2021-2022 school year, Beatty and Baker decided that installing the vending machine was their number one priority.

“It’s so important for women to have control over their own bodies. The only way to successfully give that control is by giving them the healthcare they need without any delays,” said Abels.

SRF’s values are to be inclusive and have a brave space, they are welcoming to all identities, and respectful of everyone’s backgrounds. They open doors to uncomfortable conversations and have open arms to different perspectives. 

“The new [emergency contraceptive] vending machine is so convenient and cheap. Now I don’t have to make an appointment with the health center or Planned Parenthood when I have an emergency,” said a BU student.

Preston agrees with SRF’s values and understands how uneasy some people may feel when talking about their sexuality. “There’s this veil of embarrassment around these topics, people are afraid to ask questions.” 

SRF emphasizes the importance of feeling welcomed; everyone in SRF comes out of the club learning something new about themselves and the people around them. “Everyone brings something different into our discussions that help us all learn and grow together,” said Beatty.

Beatty’s role as co-president is to help lead weekly meetings, and plan and host events on and off-campus. She also oversees long-term visions, operations, and planning. 

Beatty’s favorite event hosted by SRF is the Good Vibrations Sex Toys 101. “Play, exploration, and affirming identity are all huge parts of sex and self, so it makes me happy to host events where students can walk away with new ideas of how to better love and explore themselves personally,” said Beatty. 

Good Vibrations is a local business that SRF loves to support and spotlight to students. Workshops like these are taught entirely in gender neutral terms. They talked about the anatomy of different body parts, including how to touch, clean, and care for them.

“Shame-free pleasure is our birthright, it is so special to watch people become more comfortable with that idea and the topic of sex,” said Beatty.

As Beatty comes close to the end of her time with SRF, she ensures that SRF’s beliefs and values will continue to inspire future generations to break down the stigma surroundings safe sex.

“We’ve created an SRF survival guide to make sure that people understand where we want the club to go in the future,” said Beatty.