Popular YouTube personality speaker dispels pervasive dating myths

It's September 15, and Arizona Western College is abuzz with excitement as seats begin to fill up in the North Schoening Conference Center.

A young blonde woman sporting a low side-pony and wearing black-framed glasses sets up her podium, reviews her notes and prepares her presentation for an audience of enthusiastic college students. As the program begins, the woman is introduced to raucous applause.

What's all the hubbub about? Everyone's favorite topic, of courseÖ

"Best Consent Ever" is the name of the program starring guest speaker Laci Green, a quirky, amiable woman who originally gained fame and exposure through her popular YouTube video channel. Aside from bringing up issues concerning sexual consent and rape, Green is also a crusader for social justice, especially women's rights.

"I think education is very necessary," said student leader Brenda Velarde. "There's still a lot of ignorance, and students are going to be dealing with this for the rest of their lives."

In your face

Before Green begins herseminar, she offers a brief disclaimer about the heavy sexual content and gives a fair warning about the type of material she discusses.

"I had an audience member actually faint at one of my shows," Green proclaims. "If you feel as though you might be offended or unable to handle the heavy content, I would strongly suggest walking out right now."

The purpose of Green's program is to dispel cultural myths and educate people on all topics relating to sex, ranging from the social stigmas surrounding body image, to what constitutes consent and knowing that "no" means "no."

Green also discusses at length sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and how to prevent them and as well as unwanted pregnancies. Aside from discussing the obvious (and not so obvious), she also addresses class inequalities and injustices regarding minorities and gays, especially when it comes to getting treatment. She also mentions the social stigma surrounding those who have HIV/AIDS.

Green covers all of these topics with a clarity and directness not typically associated with the discussion of such a weighty subject. In fact, the very first pictures she shows on her screens are of sexual organs, to the surprise of the audience.

"It's a lot of in-your face and shocking!" said psychology major John Ryan. "I feel as though I learned more here than in an entire semester of human sexuality class."

"I'm glad Laci is helping us learn," said Nursing major Clarissa Hernandez. "I know many people don't care, but maybe with this program they won't risk consequences and will think twice!"

Shout it out

At various times during the seminar, Green asks the audience questions and gets the students to participate in the discussion. When the students correctly answer questions, she hands them hand-crafted flowers, sparking cheers from the audience.

At one point, without revealing her intentions, she asks if any members of the audience would like to come up on stage. CAMPSA student leader Tito Barrera volunteers to help with the demonstration of a contraceptive device, while the audience erupts with hoots and whistles, goading him on.

"I wasn't embarrassed to go up on stage, but I did not expect to be demonstrating," Barrera said. "I had lots of fun though. It was a blast!"

Nearing the end of the show, Green shows the audience a parody video of the popular song "Gangnam Style," dubbed "Condom Style," instrumentally played entirely with condoms. She also had various cards with consent quotes placed on student's seats and asks them to read out loud. Some students seem uncomfortable, but most of them are openly enthusiastic about shouting out the quotes.

A brush with fame

"The students here are very participatory," Green commented after the show. "They are a very engaged audience but at the same time very talkative.

"I think that has a lot to do with the embarrassment some of them might feel. But it's like, come on, guys, get it together!"

At the end of the show, Miss Green summarizes her program and tells the students to go out and make sure that, when they have sex, that they have the "Best Sex Ever!"

"It's great that we have these types of programs here," Jorge Pizano, a human development major said. "I find it weird that not a lot of people know about this stuff. It was a great performance though, and she's kind of famous, so it's really cool."

After the show the famous visitor signed autographs and took pictures with members of the audience.

Photo by Connie Garcia