What: The Female Orgasm

Where: Union Grand Ballroom

When: 7 p.m. Today

The event is free.

“I love female orgasm” t-shirts, hats, buttons, and books will be available for sale at the event. 25 percent of the proceeds from t-shirt sales support Breast Cancer Action.

Dorian Solot was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 26.

She found the lump herself while absent-mindedly stretching in bed and running her hand down her arm and across her chest.

Solot, a sex educator, was familiar enough with her body to notice this small change.

Solot, along with Marshall Miller will be presenting “The Female Orgasm,” as part of University Board’s cultural arts series.

The sexual education program begins at 7 p.m. today in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union Grand Ballroom.

Solot hopes women will become more at ease with their bodies after the presentation.

“I’m convinced that at least in some cases, helping women be more comfortable with their own bodies isn’t just a nice thing — it can be life-saving,” Solot said.

Miller and Solot’s program is designed for both men and women of all sexual orientations.

Miller said students are sometimes surprised that they do cover it all – “the G-spot, multiple Os, how to have your first, how to help your girlfriend.”

“I believe being well-informed about sexuality is important, whether students are already sexually active or are choosing to be abstinent,” Solot said. “Students who have accurate information are more likely to make healthy decisions about sex, whenever the time is right for them.”

Solot and Miller are a couple in real life and joke that they have both professional and personal experience with the subjects they talk about.

Both Miller and Solot are sex educators and together have written “I Love Female Orgasm: An Extraordinary Orgasm Guide.”

Miller majored in sexuality and society at Brown University and Solot was also trained as a sex educator at Brown.

They started out giving sessions at conferences and then spoke at colleges occasionally. Over time, Miller said they got more and more popular and it became their primary occupation.

“We’re the only people I know who can say that our mortgage is paid by female orgasms,” Solot said.

Ceci Brinker, director of student life, said UB brought this comedy/lecture to campus because it was a very unique and different approach to the subject of male and female relationships and sexuality.

Brinker said that oftentimes, she thinks people miss out on being educated about sex as a whole, and it is sometimes looked on as taboo to discuss.

“I think students will find it to be both very educational but entertaining,” Brinker said. “I mean, they do it very tastefully in terms of the message and the information they are trying to share to the public.”

Sydney Stanhope, a junior business management major and cultural arts coordinator, said it’s good to get students involved in something that’s new and hasn’t really been brought here before.

She said the event has seemed to get a lot of attention already.

“It’s been very controversial, I think – just the name of it,” Stanhope said.

She said the controversy is that people don’t like to talk about female orgasms.

“Just bringing something like that to everyone’s attention, I think some people are a little leery,” Stanhope said.

She hopes after watching the lecture everyone will realize it’s not something to be ashamed of.

Miller said he hoped people would leave more relaxed about the subject they discuss.

“I hope women and men will leave more comfortable with female sexuality, and more empowered to talk and learn more, regardless of whether they are sexually active now or won’t be for a long time,” Miller said.

Fun Female Orgasm Facts:

– Average length of time it takes a woman to have an orgasm: 20 minutes. Average length of time it takes a man: 2-5 minutes.

– Half of girls have had an orgasm by the time they’re 16 years old.

– 44 percent of men say their female partners always have orgasms when they have sex. 22 percent of women say they always have orgasms when they have sex.

– About 1 percent of women are able to achieve orgasm solely through breast stimulation.

– 63 percent of college women say they’ve had multiple orgasms.

– The G-spot is named after Dr. Ernst Grafenberg, the first modern doctor to write about it.

(Found at http://www.sexualityeducation.com/femaleorg/index.php.)\

Emily Zulz can be reached at 581-7942 or at eazulz@eiu.edu.