she/her/hers
Class of 2022
English, Math Minor
Asian American Organizing Projects (AAOP)
This summer, I partnered with Asian American Organizing Projects (AAOP) and their Gender Justice team to work on a social media zine/campaign called “The Sex Talk”, a project that explores and uplifts the voices of Asian Americans on the topic of sexual educational and reproductive health. In my personal understanding and in research sex-ed within Asian American communities, I found saw that there was a lack of sex-ed in both schools and families. There was a general avoidance of this topic in many Asian American families/communities.
“The Sex Talk” challenges how Asian Americans talk about and view sex and reproduction. I conducted 15 interviews/conversations with volunteers from the community who shared about their experiences with sex/reproduction in their own life, through their school education, and from their families. My project highlights, once again, the inability to address sex/reproduction directly in families, yet also a lack of comprehensive sex-ed in schools. But my project also openly addresses sex and reproduction, and is hopeful for the future generation in changing the way we talk about sex and reproduction with our own children.
Having the chance to meet new people, talk about the experiences around sex and reproduction, and being able to write this summer has been an opportunity of a lifetime. I’m glad to have made a connection with AAOP, who connected me to the Asian American community across Minnesota. I’m also glad to all my professors and the cohort for encouraging me to pursue a project that I am interested in. There is still so much I have to learn, and I hope to continue in helping educate young people in the future about sex and reproduction, to help create an environment where they can make decisions for themselves with proper knowledge and education.