Luminato Festival explores sex and sensuality
Lasting from June 6 to 15, this year’s annual Luminato Festival in Toronto focused on the steamy theme of “sex.” According to Luminato Festival artistic director, Jorn Wesibrodt, the erotic theme incorporated many boundary-pushing performances including one portraying strange, and even lethal, animal mating practices by actor Isabella Rossellini.
In addition to sex, the festival’s theme covered subjects such as as birth, love, pain, and passion. Love was explored as the second-most important theme, “as the sister phenomenon of sex.”
With files from The Varsity
Social media syphilis in Saskatoon
After a serious syphilis scare earlier this spring, Saskatoon may be in the clear. As of April 2014, there were nine confirmed cases, six more than were reported in all of 2013. The outbreak appears to have ended, however, with no new cases as of May.
Saskatoon Health Region’s deputy medical health officer, Johnmark Opondo, pointed to the increased use of social media sites and apps in searching for a sexual partner as a possible reason for the outbreak.
“It seems individuals are able to get to that point where they want to have intimate contact a lot faster,” he said. “[They] don’t always remember that sexually transmitted diseases can still be present and they still need to use caution.”
With files from The Sheaf
Teen angst affects future love life
Research from the U of A shows that depression in young adults may impact their future romantic relationships. Findings showed that those with high rates of depression and anger at age 18 struggled with intimate relationships 25 years down the road.
Assistant professor of human ecology and study author Matthew Johnson stressed the importance of providing aid for these issues in adolescence: “This speaks to the need for addressing those problems early, because they don’t just necessarily go away and even those early experiences will still affect you in the future.”
With files from The Gateway
UK universities score on sexual health
A national report ranked each of the UK’s most prominent universities based on sexual health. The report was in response to cuts to public services that have lead to increased rates of STIs across the country; this was clearly reflected in the results, with some schools not reaching a passable grade.
Schools were graded on a scale from A to F in various categories, such as, “sexual health information services near or on campus,” “clinic drop-in availability,” “sexual assault service,” and “sexual health information on website.” This report card aimed to shed light on how universities can better serve their communities when it comes to sexual health.
With files from The Exeposé
