How to be better sexual citizens

Sexual projects, Hirsch explained, are “what people are trying to get out of sex.” This can range from simply gaining experience to impressing friends to sharing pleasure and intimacy. Sexual citizenship, as Hirsch defined it, is “people’s understanding of their own right to choose the sexual experiences that they engage in, but also...their understanding that other people have the same equivalent right to choose their sexual experiences.” Finally, sexual geographies refers to the role that space, including physical spaces like dorm rooms and libraries, plays in shaping sexual interactions. “Sexual geographies also have broader implications in terms of who controls valuable social spaces on campus,” Hirsch clarified.

“We use these three concepts in a way that we think can be applied to a place like Exeter,” added Khan, a professor of sociology and American studies at Princeton University. “It doesn’t need to be in a college setting or in an urban environment.”

Vargas asked what the authors learned in terms of “marginalized populations…such as LGBTQ students and students of color,” and what that means for their sexual citizenship. “Gender is not the only form of power on campus,” Khan responded, acknowledging that “multiple different people who are in disadvantaged positions are at risk for all kinds of harm,” including sexual assault.

“We need a language and analysis of power and inequality to make sense of assault,” Khan argued. “If we begin to think about conditions of transforming our communities…equity has to be at the center of it.”

Asked for advice for Exeter students preparing to go to college, Hirsch urged them to use the three core concepts in the book and think carefully about how they applied in their own lives. “Think about the people with whom you’re interacting, sexually but also socially, and try not to be a terrible person,” Hirsch said. “Recognize that they are also not just self-determining people, but people with feelings.”

Hirsch and Khan later met with faculty members and administrators to discuss their work in a meeting organized by Christina Palmer, Director of Student Well-Being.

EASA co-head Lyric Zimmerman ’22, who helped organize the student panel discussion along with other upcoming events marking Sexual Assault Awareness month, was looking forward to the ongoing conversation about the issues covered in Sexual Citizens. “I think [Hirsch and Khan] found a way to connect and speak in a way that students could hear,” Zimmerman said. “A way that didn't paint a victim and a perpetrator or a clear bad and good, but put everyone on the same communal level of understanding.”