SPECIAL HEALTH & WELLNESS
SEXPRESS
Am I Normal— And What the Heck is Normal, Anyway? BY HUDSON NUMMERDOR
B
eing a sexuality educator is pretty much a guarantee that you’ll rarely have dull cocktail party conversations. It also means fielding lots of questions about sex in a variety of different venues. In my case, this ranges from formal classroom settings to question-and-answer events at colleges, church basements, and bars (and informally at those cocktail parties). The idea of question-and-answer events will often pique folks’ curiosity. What kinds of things do people ask? Is it like Jeopardy, but with sex trivia? (I’ll take Fetishes for $400, please.) At Q&A sessions, participants ask about anything that is on their minds, and questions are submitted anonymously—thus removing any embarrassment factor. Topics range from lighthearted to profound, often reflecting vulnerability and honesty. While there are usually a few quiz-show-style entries (i.e., “How many calories are in semen?”), a large portion of submissions can be categorized as “Am I Normal?” questions. “Am I Normal” questions can sometimes overlap with what seems like the pursuit of trivia, but they are undergirded by concerns about what is considered “normal,” either socio-culturally or medically. Queries such as “How big is the average penis?” or “When does menopause start?”—while asking for data on their face, are also asking larger questions about where we fit in with our peers. “It is OK that one of my breasts is bigger than the other?” or 66 | SHEPHERD EXPRESS
Illustration by Michael Burmesch.
