Jerry: "I slept with Elaine last night, and I'll tell you, it was pretty passionate."
George: "Better than before?"
Jerry: "Yeah, she must've taken some sort of seminar."
Using clips from TV's "Seinfeld", an excerpt from the movie "Wayne's World" and showing a wide variety of slides, sex expert Jay Friedman attempted to simplify the sometimes confusing world of sex in the 1990s.
"Welcome to what may have been Elaine's seminar," Friedman said, referring to the popular sitcom character in a lecture at the U-Club in the Michigan Union last night. "I'm here because learning about sex is a fun, lifelong process ... all of us are sexual beings, from the womb to the tomb."
Friedman's lecture, titled "Sex Matters: Insights and Outbursts on Love, Sex and Dating," was sponsored by the Michigan Union Program Board and University Health Service. It featured multimedia insights into safer sex, AIDS and a host of other sexual issues.
Friedman combined the sexual wisdom of pop icons such as Jerry Seinfeld and Wayne and Garth to create a forum for students to discuss various topics.
"It was a different approach than you get in high school or from other educators," said LSA first-year student Barbara Mann.
"He really gets the whole audience involved," said John Mountz, program coordinator for the Michigan Union. "He's got a message that everyone can relate to in some way."
Friedman covered everything from masturbation to homophobia. "It's not just a fear of homosexuality, it's a fear of being perceived as gay," Friedman said. "It's a disease of suspicion."
"I liked the way he handled the issues," LSA first-year student Leah Thurm said. "He was really fair in showing all sides."
Pleasure was also stressed as an important issue. "The challenge to women is to get to know your own bodies," Friedman said. "Penile-vaginal intercourse is not the greatest show on earth to most women. ... The challenge to men is to find ways to make condoms work and feel better.
"It's dull lovers, and not condoms, that make for dull sex," Friedman continued.
Friedman introduced the importance of romance by throwing Hershey's kisses into the audience. "Shower the person you love with kisses," he said. "It's okay for romance to be cute and corny."
Friedman, who belongs to the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists, stressed that scare tactics do not work for young people. "AIDS is a crisis," he said, "but sex does not equal death - sexual ignorance does."
Friedman said he got involved in sex education after a personal conflict changed his life. "My girlfriend called me up and said two words I'll never forget: 'I'm pregnant,'" Friedman said.
"This is my opportunity to help people like you so you won't make mistakes like the one I made.
"Only when I was faced with that crisis of unexpected teen pregnancy was I shaken to change," Friedman said. "I was invited here during this important week to shake you up and to challenge you."
JENNIFER BRADLEY-SWIFT/Daily
Jay Friedman humorously discusses how to make wearing condoms more pleasurable. Friedman shared his insights on love, sex and dating last night as part of AIDS Awareness Week.