Nicole McNichols

I am great, Max.

Thank you so much for having me.

Yes, sex.

Let's get into it.

Yes, University of Washington.

Yeah, it's 1,200 a quarter and then a few hundred over the summer.

So it's 4,000 undergraduates total each year that I have the pleasure of teaching all about sex.

that the only kind of amazing sex that exists is what they see in porn, which tends to be really rough sex where it's portraying gender stereotypes to a dysfunctional level and with tons and tons of choking.

I think students right now, that particular cohort, they have a hard time showing up in their sexual lives as authentic, whole, connected human beings.

It is.

And as a sex educator, it's a really hard position for me to be in, Max, because on the one hand, I am sex positive.

I do believe that human beings are incredibly imaginative and creative and that we can enjoy sex in a variety of different contexts and different people, different positions, different accoutrements, whatever it is.

Let's just normalize enjoying it.

But when we're engaging in sexual experiences because it's just what we see in the media and, you know, you have to remember these kids, they've never had, most of them have never had access to sex positive, comprehensive sex education.

So they don't really have anything to counter all these images they're seeing in the media that just aren't real, right?

And there are just portraying like really, really rough sex.

So, you know, again, I want everyone to enjoy what they can and want to enjoy.

But I just hear so many students who are like, you know, I get into bed with someone and I feel like I'm expected to kind of like act like a porn star and get wildly turned on and orgasm immediately as soon as someone starts pushing me around, you know, or choking, which is really normalized among 20 and 30 year olds.

I've heard that.

What's that about?