Sex Week: a time to hoard free condoms, attend R-rated workshops instead of doing your homework and see your classmates bear it all in RSA’s annual Sex Week Magazine. The majority of Northeastern students never get the chance to pose nude (unless Playboy is currently recruiting co-ops), but you’ll find a few brave Huskies in this year’s issue, themed Road Trip,that can cross this off their bucket list.
Each year, RSA holds auditions for Sex Week in which a (lucky) panel gets to watch Northeastern students strip down to their underwear, ask them a few questions, and take a picture. This is no time for granny panties. Eileen Rice, a junior who posed this year, made sure she, “put on nice underwear, wore a good bra” and, “talked while taking [her] clothes off.”
Taylor Hogan, a freshman student who ended up posing in three photos this year, wanted to make sure he did something extra to get RSA’s attention. “I came straight from a meeting, but I have Superman underwear and they were back in my dorm. So I ran, changed and came back so I would stand out. The photographer liked them immediately and we made a connection.”
Rachel Sides, a senior, admitted that the audition was, “awkward but funny. You just have to walk in and strip to your underwear, they take your picture and you’re done. No big deal.” Rachel posed in last year’s Sex Week as well.
Finding yourself naked in a room full of strangers sounds more like a reoccurring nightmare than a typical night at Northeastern. So why the desire to strip down to your skivvies (or your skin!) and show the Northeastern campus your goods? Eileen “wanted to do it just to see if I would actually have the guts to go through with it. In October I did the underwear run. It was a way of taking my body back for myself. College women our age don’t have many role models that are proud of their body. It’s important that they see their body as something that is hot and awesome… you don’t see that in the media.”
Stephanie Pratti, a senior, said she thoroughly enjoys being naked, so it was a no-brainier for her to audition. While Taylor decided not to tell anyone about posing and let them stumble across the picture themselves (a la Where’s Waldo) Stephanie told everyone-including her parents. “My parents are really easy going and they knew how excited I was about it. I actually had to double check with the photographer to make sure that all of the photos that were taken would be run in the magazine because I was afraid mine would be cut or something and everyone would think I made it up!”
Even though these models may have felt comfortable at the auditions, trying to pose in front of the camera proved a little harder. Eileen tried to model around her room before the photo shoot, but still “felt like a squid out of water. It was really awkward. I was making weird faces.” After dealing with big, cold fans blowing on her naked body during the shoot, one great shot worked, which Eileen said made her feel beautiful.
In last year’s issue, themed Time Warp, third year student Nick Merry “had to imitate a monkey and hold a really painful crouching pose for about 10 minutes while they got all the shots they needed. By the end of the shoot, I could barely stand back up.” Like Stephanie, Nick shared his new modeling career with his parents. Nick even gave his mom one of the calendars last year at her birthday party. Nick admits that there is a draw in the self-esteem boost of having a whole selection committee tell you that they want to see you naked.
Beyond getting the chance ogle at your naked classmates, why is Sex Week important? According to Nick, “sexuality is something that many people are ashamed to talk about on their own. As a former HIV/STD hotline worker, I’ve heard firsthand many of the questions that people have surrounding sex that they’re too afraid to ask anyone. I think that Sex Week is extremely important because it helps people to learn a lot of important information that they might not learn otherwise.”
Eileen likes that Sex Week creates dialogue. “It brings up conversations. Everyone, college students especially, thinks that they are an expert. Sex Week offers the chance to have an open conversation.”
For Rachel, Sex Week removes the “taboo label off of something so normal to human behavior. Our bodies are all beautiful and sex is a normal thing. So why not have some fun with it?”
Interested in posing next year-even a little bit? Stephanie says, “Do it! Unless you become famous and get an offer from Playboy, when will you have this chance again?” Eileen agrees. “There’s nothing to lose. At the least you’ll have a good story about auditioning. It’s just about having fun. That’s what this whole week is about, having a good time, safely.” Rachel’s advice for those trying out is simple. “Be yourself. That’s the whole point of Sex Week: to be comfortable with yourself, with your body, and to have confidence in that.”
For more details on all the Sex Week events, check out the Facebook event here!