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Culture

Pick: Publishing pivot

It goes without saying that the coronavirus pandemic has altered life as usual, but for area creatives the show must go on. Taking the place of her scheduled book release appearances, local author Laura Lee Gulledge is hopping on Facebook Live to discuss The Dark Matter of Mona Starr, a YA graphic novel that explores anxiety, depression, the hurdles of high school, and creativity through evocative and sometimes surreal imagery. Gulledge will be joined in the discussion by fellow YA author M.K. England.

Saturday, April 4. 1pm. Facebook.com/lauraleegulledge.

Categories
Culture

Pick: Fly at home

Don’t let social distancing deny you the benefits of feeling strong and present in your own body. FlyDog Yoga is offering three to four live classes a day, plus on-demand Power Vinyasa, Yin, Flow, Barre, Power Sculpt, Yoga Nidra, Meditation, and more. In addition, studio co-owner Brad Whiteman, an Army veteran who learned to manage his injuries through yoga, remains committed to “sharing the positive physical and mental benefits” of regular practice with service members, veterans, and first responders through a free livestream class on Wednesdays at 6:30pm.

Ongoing. Other classes $7-29.99. Flydogyoga.com/livestream.

Categories
Culture

Pick: Concert on your couch

Live music in the comfort of your own home? Sounds too good to be true, but rest assured, it isn’t. As a temporary replacement for in-person concerts and events, The Front Porch streaming series Save the Music welcomes Charlottesville native Genna Matthew, whose bittersweet lyrics and soothing folk-pop vocals earned her the 2019 grand prize award at Nashville’s Music City SongStar competition.

Friday, April 3. 8pm. Facebook.com/frontporchcville

Categories
Culture

Pick: Art lessons

“The world always seems brighter when you’ve just made something that wasn’t there before,” says graphic novelist Neil Gaiman. Second Street Gallery has brightened our community for over 45 years, and while we cannot currently enjoy its compelling displays in person, SSG offers us plenty to look at through its digital initiatives and art exercises on Facebook and Instagram. #SecondStreetSketches welcomes you to follow daily art prompts inspired by past gallery exhibitions, and encourages you to contribute your own works by posting them on Instagram using #SecondStreetSketches, and tagging @secondstreetgallery. Facebook.com/SSGCVILLE.

Daily, beginning April 1.

Categories
Culture

Homecoming: Sex and self-love during the coronavirus pandemic

By Lisa Speidel

Navigating the coronavirus pandemic has proven challenging as we figure out social distancing, homeschooling, Zoom meetings, maintaining our health and minimizing breakdowns from cabin fever. Sex may be the last thing on our minds. Maybe we have kids at home and little privacy with our partners—or by the time the kids are asleep, exhaustion and feelings of anxiety dull any interest in sex. If our sex lives are not great to begin with, the coronavirus crisis could make it more difficult to address those issues.

Sex allows for connection, pleasure, comfort, stress release, and an opportunity to experiment with each other. Maybe you are on your own and content with exploring self-love, or struggling with how to date during enforced social distancing. Those in long-distance relationships, or who practice ethical non-monogamy, may be feeling uncertain while waiting to be with partners or lovers again.

Should anybody be having sex during this pandemic? The New York City Health Department recently posted guidelines for “Sex and Coronavirus Disease” as a resource to address concerns.

Similar to health education programs on sexually transmitted infections, the NYCHD lists a straightforward spectrum from the safest sexual practices to the least safe. First, community members are reminded to stay home and minimize contact with others to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The department then details how the virus can spread when a person coughs, sneezes, or through direct contact with saliva or mucus. While further research is needed about the virus and sex, it has been discovered in feces, but not in semen or vaginal fluid. In addition, other coronaviruses do not “efficiently transmit through sex.”  

My favorite section, titled “Have Sex With People Close to You,” emphasizes that “you are your safest sex partner. Masturbation will not spread COVID-19, especially if you wash your hands (and any sex toys) with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before and after sex.” The NYCHD also assures readers that being sexual with a partner at home is acceptable as long as that person is not sick. In addition, it encourages limiting partners outside of the home, and says certain sexual acts, such as rimming, may spread the virus. The use of condoms and dental dams to reduce contact with saliva and feces is recommended.

I have never seen a government document actually encourage masturbation, let alone as a safety precaution. This got me thinking of all the other benefits of masturbation, such as decreasing stress, alleviating cramps, helping with insomnia, burning calories, and enhancing your immune system. 

According to Laurie Mintz, in her book Becoming Cliterate, it is especially beneficial for women, given the pleasure gap between men and women. Mintz writes, “we overvalue men’s most common way of reaching an orgasm (intercourse) and undervalue women’s most common way (clitoral stimulation). Our cultural over-focus on the importance of putting a penis into the vagina is screwing with women’s orgasms.” It is estimated that only 18 percent of women can achieve orgasms through just penetrative intercourse, and the pressure that they should orgasm this way can lead many women to fake orgasms. In contrast, women having sex with women report having an orgasm with their partners 86 percent of the time. Mintz emphasizes that masturbation is one of the best ways for women to learn about their bodies and discover what it really entails to orgasm. This can happen through practicing self-touch exercises or using sex toys such as vibrators, and may help increase honest communication between partners about their sexual needs.

Self care in the time of the coronavirus typically prioritizes mental health and wellness tips, but it can also encompass finding a way to safely be sexual. Perhaps a silver lining to being homebound is having time to experiment and explore on our own or with a partner, while washing our hands—and our sex toys—regularly.


 Lisa Speidel is an assistant professor in the Women, Gender and Sexuality Department at the University of Virginia. She is an AASECT certified sexuality educator and co-author of the book The Edge of Sex: Navigating a Sexually Confusing Culture From the Margins.

Categories
Coronavirus News

Whiskey, guns, and SpongeBob: The University of Virginia goes digital

 

“I’m going to kill a fifth during this lecture,” announced one student, holding a bottle of whiskey aloft as his classmates tuned in for a Zoom meeting of a UVA data science class.

“I can hear you,” the professor said back.

As coronavirus has swept the nation, universities across the country have had to go digital, ditching in-person class meetings in favor of video conferencing. The transition has come with plenty of thrills and spills: Clips have circulated of college students confidently striding naked through the frame, getting their hair braided, or taking bong rips while the professor rambles on. As the above anecdote from recent grad Alex Hendel suggests, UVA students and faculty have taken their fair share of digital pratfalls in the two weeks since online classes have begun.

Politics professor Allen Lynch sent an email to his class on Thursday afternoon, admitting that he had delivered his entire 75 minute lecture without pressing record. Only the first six seconds made it online. When a student pointed out the error, “my heart sank,” Lynch says.

He forged ahead and delivered the lecture again the next day—but once again, after concluding, noticed he had failed to hit record. “One more time tomorrow!” said the respected Russian politics scholar, before finally managing to upload the lecture on his third try.

Second-year engineering student Nora Dale says the distance makes her advanced math classes harder. “I can’t show someone my screen easily, to show them my code or a math problem, in an online format,” Dale says. “A lot of the time I would swing by office hours to ask one question, but now office hours—you have to meet over video, you have to join the queue, it just takes so much longer.”

“The golden lining is that sometimes people show their pets on camera, which is always cute,” she says.

Participants might be scattered thousands of miles apart, but in a sense, online learning provides an unparalleled intimacy. Sometimes these glimpses into the lives of colleagues are lovely. “I learned my English professor color codes her bookshelf!” says fourth-year Gracie Kreth.

Other times, such peeks are unsettling. Third-year Emmy Monaghan says that in her anthropology class, a student was disassembling and cleaning a gun on screen during the lecture. “It was so wild…it seemed very intentional.” Monaghan says. “My professor sent out an email yesterday telling us that we need to have our cameras off from now on.”

Some students have taken it upon themselves to provide a bit of levity in these difficult circumstances, with pets or otherwise. First year Aidan Reed noticed a Zoom feature that allows users to project a digital background on their calls, and attended his English seminar from a pineapple under the sea—projecting the inside of SpongeBob’s house behind him as he sat in class.

“One of my favorite shows of all time is “SpongeBob,” and I thought it would be funny because everyone’s in their house right now,” Reed says.

With the world in disarray, and everyone forced to learn a new system on the fly, it’s as good a time as any to relax the rules a bit. “I wanted to make people laugh,” Reed says, “because I’m sure everyone’s pretty miserable going through all of this.”