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SEX & GENDER ISSUE SEX & GENDER ISSUE SEX & GENDER ISSUE

UVic 'Modern Love' stories

Students bare their hearts in unique personal essays inspired by the New York Times column

Continue reading on pg. 6 & 7.

"Tough love" "Answers in God's country" "Dancing with hearts" "Deal or no deal"

COOPER ANDERSON SENIOR STAFF EDITOR

Mabel and I always boasted how we met in a baby group, before our brains were solid. There’s a picture to prove it: in a 2000’s carpeted living room, seven babies sit in Halloween onesies. She was a pink piglet; I was a bumblebee.

Fate placed our university dorms side-by-side, causing us to meet again and I bonded when the toilet overflowed into our rooms. We contacted our residence leader and felt very heroic (the plumbing issue did not improve).

PAUL VOLL SENIOR STAFF WRITER

I pulled into Nakusp just after the sun slipped behind Saddle Mountain, and was met by a deserted main drag. Ten hours before, hungover, possibly still a little drunk, I’d scribbled my signature on some paperwork in Victoria and swiped an almost maxed-out Visa to rent a 2019 Accord, splurging on “economy” over “compact” — fancy me. I was dead set on a sort of “impromptu pilgrimage” to Nakusp, a town — I told myself — that held the answers I needed.

A mid-week catch-all-crusade, a Hail Mary throw from a thirtysomething's aging arm who was beginning to forget his playbook in life. And yes, this all sounded better in theory the night before, at a drinkcluttered table blubbering to my friend’s glazed face, than it did driving the Coquihalla, rehearsing my sick voice to call in for work...

LISA BASSON CONTRIBUTING WRITER

It started with a story and became so much more.

I know Robyn through my sister. A friend of a friend-turned-friend, I’m shown a photo of them at the Halloween showcase their dance studio does every year, where Robyn wears a red cape and smiles broadly. My sister tells me Robyn is an anthropology PhD student at the university and that they dance drag and burlesque.

My sister looks over to where I am sitting in her apartment, “They do something with monkeys, I think?”

I’m instantly curious.

I remember Robyn when I’m sitting in office hours with my university writing professor, fumbling around for a story idea that will make his eyes twinkle...

PASCALE GRENIER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

If you haven’t yet seen Aquamarine, I’m about to spoil the end, so skip the next paragraph if it’s on your watchlist (and it should be — it’s a classic of the teen-girl early 2010s genre).

At the end of Aquamarine, Aqua (the mermaid heroine) sits on the beach ready to become a mermaid again after a brief stint as a human, defeated that she couldn’t prove that love was real. Her father, the king of the ocean, gave her three days to prove love existed if she wanted to stay on land, and in the end, Aqua couldn’t get her three-day situationship to tell her he loved her. In the scene, she sits crying with her friends Claire and Hailey, there to send of platonic love.

And when they confess, suddenly everything is okay again...

ERIC KWAKERNAAK VOLUNTEER STAFF WRITER

I swore I’d never be the dating app guy. Of course, I made that promise to myself when I was in the middle of a easier to swear on the guys you’ll never be when you have a long-term girlfriend. I also swore that I’d never be the going out every weekend guy (guilty), that I’d never be the guy who gets really into rock climbing (guiltier), and that I’d never be the health nut guy who gets super jacked and looks incredible (I haven’t done this one yet, but it’s coming, I swear, just give me six to eight months and a steady supply of creatine).

Illustration by Sage Blackwell.

KIERA CLARK VOLUNTEER STAFF WRITER

In 2024, the UVSS announced that gender affirming care coverage is available through the undergraduate health and dental plan — but long wait times and a lack of awareness of available services creates unnecessary barriers.

The Gender Affirming Care (GAC) Program through the Student Wellness Centre (SWC) has options for medical, surgical, and social gender affirming care, with nurses, counselors, and physicians available to support students.

Students who sign up for the program through their online form are added to a waitlist, and are contacted in chronological order. In a written statement to the Martlet , a UVic spokesperson said that “from the date that a student completes the online form, the wait time to initiate medical or surgical GAC can be up to one year.”

While the waitlist is currently full, students can still submit the online form and will be automatically added when a spot becomes available.

Students must be on the waitlist to access hormone readiness assessments and the possibility for a hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prescription, for over a year, and to get surgical referrals for procedures like top surgeries, orchiectomies, and hysterectomies.

Without being added to the waitlist, students can access other services such as prescription refills, mental health support, learning how to safely inject hormones, and instructions on how to

Under the UVSS Enhanced Health & Dental Plan, eligible undergraduate students also have access to two types of coverage: medical and legal.

COOPER ANDERSON SENIOR STAFF EDITOR

The other night, I — a gay — tried to attend the glorious sapphic event,

moving truck ceremoniously parked across the street (we’ll never know if that was truly was on purpose or not), the event’s name represents the whimsical lesbian tendency to move in with your partner ridiculously fast.

Queen after queen in feathers,

approached from the east that night, and dropped their jaws staring at the parade of lesbians down Johnson Street. Whether from good advertising, January cabin fever, or a space actually dedicated to queer people, the Vicious Poodle has created a swirling vortex on their dance floor, sucking in every hot masculine woman I’ve ever seen. I nearly shed a tear at the number of glistening carabiners on belts and cigarettes between fingers (for looking cool, not for smoking).

Everybody there knew they weren’t going to get to pet the Poodle the second they finished the hike to the back of the line. The queue was frozen all night because, packed and popular.

So, the question is: where else can we go if not the Vicious Poodle (or, heaven forbid, Paparazzi)? Good news: there are vacancies in three venues downtown, and I want the LGBTQIA+ community to move in.

This might seem like a trick.

However, Western = Cowboy = Gay. I don’t make the rules. Country

the Duke celebrates everyone on their dance floor. The live music is full and loud with the same few comfortable bands falling into their lively rhythms, and two different bars make drink queues short. Many people legitimately formally ask others to dance, twirling around and holding hands like it’s middle school. Butches: take your femmes to swing dance at the Duke. You know they would want to.

Queer history lesson: Judy Garland, who played Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, was an advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights throughout her career after singing “Over the Rainbow.” So, in the 50s, when gay people asked each other: “Are you a friend of Dorothy?” they were actually secretly asking: “Are you queer?”

Friends of Dorothy is perfect: small in a cozy way, with tables to sit at so you can get drinks with friends and hang out. They have drag shows featuring local artists, as well as other events like karaoke nights and happy hours. Lesbians, I’m looking at you: Friends of Dorothy has Sapphic speed dating this should be your backup location!

Medical care through the UVSS’s insurance partner GreenShield covers up to $5 000 per eligible procedure, to a lifetime maximum of $10 000. Procedures covered by GreenShield in B.C. include facial feminization, tracheal shaving, laser/electrolysis hair removal, vaginal dilators, and vocal surgery. In order to qualify, students must provide a gender dysphoria diagnosis

practitioner. Further, the expenses must not be covered by existing provincial healthcare, as GreenShield’s coverage is intended to supplement coverage from existing provincial health insurance.

The program can also connect students including legal advice on gender and name changes. Students interested in form and select GAC as the request reason.

Following the addition of gender

UVic’s Graduate Students Society (GSS) passed a referendum to add a similar policy to the graduate plan, led by Jitendra Palaparty, the GSS Director of External Relations.

In an interview with the Martlet, Palaparty explained that after learning about the gender affirming care for undergraduates, she noticed that graduate students were paying more for their health plan, but they did not have the same coverage.

A lack of awareness could be partially responsible for this lack of coverage.

seems to be something that a lot of people don’t seem to understand,” Palaparty said.

students have a lifetime maximum of $15 000 for eligible procedures, including tracheal shaving, electrolysis/laser hair

removal, and vocal surgery. Unlike electrolysis/laser hair removal to the face and chest.

Like the UVSS plan, the coverage is intended to complement provincial health plans, and students must provide a diagnosis of gender dysphoria or gender incongruence from an approved practitioner.

“products that are medically necessary for the treatment of gender dysphoria or gender incongruence which are subject

Palaparty noted that one thing missing from both the UVSS and GSS health plans is coverage for fertility treatments such as sperm preservation or assisted fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Although many procedures are covered, there are still barriers to accessing them, Palaparty said. “[Most

complicated to access.”

Access to gender affirming care is

care,” Palaparty said. “It is necessary exactly for the reason why any other

UPCOMING FILMS

This gem, like many secret buildings in Victoria, is hidden down a strangely long flight of stairs, which is why many people miss it when passing on the street. Despite the Mint’s casual appearance and marketing as a Himalayan restaurant, they have a bar with signature cocktails, beer on tap, and are open until 2 a.m. every night. When my friends and I visited last month, we walked straight into a drag queen’s birthday party. We talked to the staff as they opened doors for the impromptu smoke machine, and they told us, “These are our favourite regulars!” If you want to really feel safe on your at the Mint and try one of their many flavours of pakoras.

I’ll update you if I ever get into these chic, underrated places rather than shivering in the cold lineup with the rest of the LGBTQIA+ community.

WICKED

MARCH 2: 3:30 & 6:30 MARCH 3: 4:30 & 7:30

MARCH 5 & 6:

QUEER

MARCH 12 & 13: 5:00 & 7:30

LOST

MARCH 26 & 27: 5:00 & 7:30

Illustration by Monty Pear (@theMontyPear on Instagram).

UVIC LIFE

The covert and innovative history of vibrators

HANNAH LINK SENIOR STAFF WRITER

You might have heard of the myth that vibrators were invented by doctors treating female hysteria. You may have even seen it play out on the big screen in the 2011 movie Hysteria , starring Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Well, it turns out that this commonly-held perception about how these toys came to be is simply not true. The rumour originated from a book published by Rachel Maines in 1998, where she posited a theory that was taken as truth.

According to sex historian Hallie Lieberman, the reality is much simpler. After turn-of-the-century medical vibration tools were invented and distributed en masse – meant to cure various ailments, not associated with sexual gratification – women took these tools into their own hands, and used them to masturbate.

So, how have vibrators evolved over the years? The Martlet took to investigating the evolution of these coveted devices.

BEES IN A GOURD – 100S BCE

There’s a popular myth that Cleopatra invented the first “vibrator” by placing a swarm of bees in a gourd, using their buzzing to stimulate herself. This story was popularized in the 1990s, but is not proven by any real historical evidence. Some people point to the creation of this

Local

myth as a contribution to the societal hyper-sexualization of Cleopatra.

MEDICAL DEVICES – 1890S

It’s true that Dr. Joseph Mortimer Granville invented a vibrating medical device to treat his patients. He did not encourage its use on female genitals, however, and marketed it as a cure-all for medical issues, like muscle aches and pain. His invention did lead to the sales of these tools in a direct-toconsumer market, though, so he can still be credited as the inventor of the intended purpose.

The “Handy Hannah Vitalator” and other barber vibrators were intended for use as scalp massagers, but also quickly changed purposes upon being sold en masse. Famous sex educator Betty Dodson, responsible for guiding the sex-positive revolution of second-wave feminism, credits this tool as central to her personal sexual journey.

MAGIC WAND – 1968

Possibly the most famous and iconic vibrator – the Magic Wand – was invented by Hitachi in 1968.

It was also marketed as a tool for relieving sore muscles, but people found relief through its powerful vibrations in other ways. Betty Dodson further popularized the tool through her masturbation workshops in the 1970s. The toy is still sold today, including smaller iterations which are much lighter and less cumbersome than the original.

RABBIT – 1983

The rabbit-style shape of vibrator was invented in 1983 by sex toy company Vibratex. These were the first toys to feature both internal and external stimulation – and

they were certainly a success. The iconic “Rabbit” debuted the next year, this time with stimulating pearls for added pleasure, and the famous bunny branding that we’re all familiar with.

WOMANIZER – 2014

This revolutionary sex toy was invented by a German man in 2014. It works through the use of suction – different from vibrations on the clitoris used by other toys. The air technology used for the tool is patented, and a plethora of similar devices have been created since.

LIONESS – 2017

Science and masturbation met in 2017 to create the Lioness, a vibrator that puts sexually empowering data in the palm of your hand. These tools track orgasms through sensors, delivering information to its user about the length and strength of climax through an app. If users are interested, they can also share their data to participate in large-scale sex and health research.

SILENT BULLET – 2024

In the last year, popular companies like Bellesa and Womanizer have launched lineups of completely silent vibrators. These toys are designed to be used discreetly – meaning no one else needs to know what’s happening under your sheets.

transgender tattoo artists speak on the intersection of trans joy and tattoos

RAE DAWSON OPERATIONS MANAGER

A 2021 study by the National Library of Medicine revealed that 45 per cent of transgender individuals reported having tattoos. Canada’s national average for tattooed individuals is close to 33 per cent. Transgender participants in the study reported “gender identity expression” and “body ownership” as common reasons for getting tattoos.

The Martlet sat down with transgender tattoo artists in Victoria, B.C. to ask about the relationship between their trans identities and tattoos.

“Tattoos can be like touching a sacred object that you keep in your pocket,” shared Grae Salisbury (they/ them), who has been a tattoo artist since 2021. “To remind yourself and centre yourself, and be like, ‘I do understand where I am, and how I’m standing, and who I am,’ when people around you have no idea, and do not get it,” they said.

Coen Nobel (he/they), another local tattoo artist, echoed this sentiment. “Tattooing was a huge part of coming to terms with my transness,” he said. Nobel, who has also been tattooing since 2021, recounted how tattoos gave him control over how people perceived him, helping him express who he truly is.

“Having tattoos has made me feel like myself,” he said.

In addition to having their trans identities affirmed by their own tattoos, artists also emphasized the community connections they are able to make with other trans and queer people through the art of tattooing.

Geri Kramer (she/her) owns Tattoo Zoo downtown, and has been a tattoo artist since 1997.

“I tattoo a lot of trans people because I think we just like to support each other,” Kramer said.

Salisbury recounted waiting to get lesbian tattoo artist came to their town. “It was really important to me to get tattooed by queer people,” they said.

Before that, they experimented with queer friends. “It was a way we could bond and share something intimate, and it was a way for us, through

community, to decorate ourselves and be seen.”

Legislation threatening transgender care is on the rise right now, both in the United States and Canada. Gender Health Organization, is “a number of social, psychological, behavioural or medical (including hormonal treatment or surgery) interventions designed to support and affirm an individual’s gender identity.”

Trans people’s use of tattoos to feel at home in their bodies and build community can be considered a part

care for anyone, whether you’re trans or cis,” Salisbury explained. “Just like wearing clothes that make you feel euphoric is about gender and care.”

Kramer also shared her belief that, although tattooing is non-gendered, often the motivations behind getting gender presentation.

“[With] a lot of the people I tattoo, there is some aspect of gender in what they’re doing and why they’re doing it,” she said.

becomes stricter, pushing trans and queer bodies further into the margins, tattoos are a method of resistance.

of not conforming,” Nobel said of his trans journey. Kramer also shared that her start in tattooing was motivated by not wanting to conform to the status quo — even before she came out as a trans woman.

“Subcultures do transform the mainstream, and being a part of that at all is being a part of something kind of political,” Kramer said.

It’s an act of joy and care. It’s not only self-care, but it is communal care to be visible in public,” Salisbury said, adding that there were times in their life that they felt safer because of others’ tattoos, which visibly signalled that they were also queer.

“Being visibly trans or queer more gives people evidence that they will be alive later, and that life’s going to be okay,” Nobel added.

A growing transgender clientele and workforce are changing the tattoo industry, claimed Kramer. “Trans things, bringing in a lot of bodily autonomy talk.”

As censorship of the transgender community continues to rise in legislation, being visibly trans and queer through tattoos is becoming vital to transgender visibility and resistance.

“You can still have a job. You can still live your life,” said Nobel. “I have silly little tattoos all over me. It doesn’t make me any less.”

BARBER VIBRATORS – 1950S

Photo by Rae Dawson.

Photo via wikimedia.org.

Cartoon by Freyja Zazu.

Landmark environmental ruling in Peru aided by CanadianPeruvian documentary, UVic law faculty

ETHAN BARKLEY SENIOR STAFF WRITER

“The river is not just a river for us,” says Mariluz Canaquiri Murayari in People of the River. “It’s a living being that deserves respect.”

Canaquiri is the President of

is an organization representing Indigenous sovereignty and protection of vital natural resources.

in a legal battle to recognize the Marañón River — the primary mainstem source of the Amazon River — as a legal person about similar legal arrangements in helped achieve this verdict.

of Loreto, Peru, ruled in favour of the Federation, granting the Marañón legal Peru has ever recognized the legal rights

Peruvian government, including the Ministry of Environment, appealed, leading to more hearings. Finally, in reached and the court upheld the original ruling.

Although more than 7 500 kilometers

the form of an amicus curiae (friend of the

recognized as a legal person. Rivers in the have previously been granted legal rights in

2021, the Magpie River in Québec granted legal personhood.

The documentary Karuara, People of the River

recognize and protect the Marañón River.

both face as a result of pollution and

For more than 40 years, as Canaquiri

to mining companies,” said Boyd. “He came looking for me and asked me if I'd

struggling to protect their river.”

uses for humanity. It has a sacred side that most of us in our culture have attention,” she said.

documentarian and freelance journalist

to “thorn” in Quechuan languages. “The idea is that a thorn is small, but if you get one in your foot, then it really hurts. It’s the idea of the impact of the an impact,” she said.

paintings by Boyd’s husband and

create a book of illustrated stories about

Years prior to the final verdict, B.C. important contribution to the case. In submitted to the Peruvian court, responsible for the case on behalf of the

looking at statements from the Canadian federal and provincial governments of Indigenous peoples to protect natural the case to the Peruvian court.

decisions about our lives for us,” Canaquiri says.

Leonardo Tello Imaina, director of a

live under the river’s surface. Boyd told the Martlet

Rivers University and a founding member

In addition to recognition of the also requested the establishment of an Indigenous guardianship arrangement over the river — similar to those seen in some parts of Canada.

amicus in this kind of situation is to provide court: ‘This is possible. Another jurisdiction is doing this,’” she said.

Canadian precedents for Indigenous establishment of Indigenous guardians,” the Martlet.

Both Peru and Canada are signatories

to the amicus.

use resource development,” Chiong told the Martlet. “The amicus ended up being

he said.

and her organization are asking the Peruvian government to actually implement the court’s ruling. Boyd said company, Petroperú, has not yet submitted their environmental monitoring plan, updating their pipeline infrastructure. Further, the necessary governance committees have not yet been formed. Huaynakana currently has an open petition online, asking the government to favor of the rights granted to the Marañón culture.”

Crisis pregnancy centres hamper reproductive health access for vulnerable communities

true goal to prevent abortion access

FERNANDA SOLORZA SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The Abortion Rights Coalition reports seven of those centres operate in B.C. prevent people from having abortions. The CPC movement emerged out of her baby has no right to information that has been providing love and support for pregnancies.”

Birthright chapters operate in B.C., one in Vancouver, and the other in Victoria.

In Canada, abortion has been considered years after Birthright’s establishment. regulations as charitable organizations. But, for many years, these organizations have continued to operate disguised as medical clinics that provide services including pregnancy testing and counselling.

Canadian government introduced legislation requiring organizations like not provide abortions, birth control, or these organizations risk losing their charitable status.

The Canadian government states that CPCs “often look like clinics or support centres, but they are designed to discourage people from getting an abortion.” Other reputable institutions like the Vancouver CPCs “try to influence vulnerable individuals to continue their pregnancy anything to have you keep your pregnancy.”

member at VIWC, said that the misleading information and resources can “make patients feel guilty or judged for considering abortion, causing delays as people may need time to recover from the emotional distress caused by the interaction.” said.

The Victoria Birthright chapter advises that “chemical abortion” — referring to abortion” — is available in B.C. for up to Vancouver Island Women’s Clinic, “your the beginning of your last period” to have

to perform surgical abortions, meaning face many challenges to get the healthcare they need.

to surgical abortion is limited, the time lost by visiting a CPC can lead to missed

may be the only viable option in their city,"

“I have lots of patients from vulnerable populations, such as refugees, students,

The Canadian government also recognizes that youth, Indigenous and

CPCs use deceptive tactics to present themselves as legitimate healthcare

pregnancy support,” “pregnancy options,” and “young and pregnant” resources. But upon further inspection, they encourage people to talk to them directly, stating that

People searching “Victoria abortion to a CPC, rather than a legitimate clinic.

right for me, I had a supportive partner,

trying to access healthcare and instead ending up at one of these places.”

The deceptive tactics of CPCs are a serious concern for reproductive health access, especially for marginalized challenging, but there are key signs to look state the full range of reproductive healthcare services they provide, including abortion, contraception, and prenatal care. abortion. medical care for Canadians, and this includes access to safe and timely abortion care.”

Photo by Miguel Araoz Cartagena.

Why do you want to touch my muscles? Those are mine!

What should we learn about porn? The case for a porn literacy mandate in B.C.'s public education curriculum

PAUL VOLL SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Canada consistently ranks among the top consumers of videos on Pornhub, the most visited pornographic website in the world — owned by Canadian entertainment conglomerate Aylo. As of last May, Canada ranked seventh worldwide with over 320 million visits to the site.

It’s fair to say that Canada has an intimate relationship with porn. Its prevalence within our nation’s psyche has led to debate about whether porn literacy should be a part of our provincial Physical Health and Education (PHE) curriculums.

porn literacy as “a framework from which young people can critically examine and make sense of the sexual images they see.”

Jennifer Gibson is a community education services coordinator at Island Health. Known as “The Sex Lady,” Gibson’s job includes coordinating sex education services for Victoria’s middle school classrooms.

“Literacy in general is about [providing] information to help us navigate the world,” Gibson told the Martlet. “So, when we think about porn literacy, it's information that's going to help our young people navigate, inevitably, the sexual messages they're going

A Canadian poll of 425 Grade 8 students showed that 88 per cent of boys and 72 per cent of girls had been exposed to sexually explicit material online. So, for many, the question is, why not implement porn literacy in our health curriculums in B.C.? And what exactly is porn literacy trying to address?

From early cave art to the invention of photography in the nineteenth century to [pornography] back to time-immemorial,” said Gibson.

However, the challenge today is when erotic content is connected to

Within this context, Gibson wants students from this content? Is this portrayal realistic,

or showing a performance? And, most importantly, what is not being shown?

“[Pornography is] not showing the most important parts of human sexuality, which is consent, which is care, which is communication, and comfort,” she said.

Because porn’s medium applies to only two senses — sight and sound — it

performance in intimacy, while, according to Gibson, dismissing the human, relational aspects.

This can be problematic for young people with less sexual experience and context through which to judge what they’re viewing. Research shows that the more “real” someone perceives pornographic content to be, the more likely they are to enact the behaviours they see.

“One of the things I hear a lot from … pornography for them sets up an idea of performance; an idea of what their body should look like, what their partner should look like, [and] what sex is going to look and sound like,” said Gibson.

So, is pornography bad?

“That's a values call,” said Gibson. "And our job as sexuality educators isn't to educate you on values, it's to give you information; and then your job is to pair it with your

values and beliefs,” explained Gibson. She said that using porn to learn about sex is as misguided as watching Fast & Furious to learn how to drive.

educator who also teaches in UVic’s Public Health and Social Policy program — is also a proponent of teaching porn literacy.

“Students have these questions and are clearly able to access porn very readily, but [they] aren't having open conversations about what it is that they're seeing.”

Like Gibson, Tidey likes to explain porn with analogies: “I liken [porn] to the Olympics — it's exceptional bodies doing exceptional things. And for us normies out here, that's not really what's happening.”

The bottom line? Porn is performative, and skimps on the “feelings” part of intimacy.

But still, pornography literacy is currently not a mandated part of B.C.’s PHE curriculum, which focuses on “healthy sexual decision-making.”

A spokesperson from the Ministry of Education and Child Care (MECC) told the Martlet, “Our key K-12 education partners have not indicated any support for adding pornography as a mandatory topic, and it is not currently being planned for.”

The Ministry’s Supporting Student

Health guide for secondary high school teachers does include a one-page section on pornography.

“The mention of it [in the secondary guide] is not helpful,” said Gibson. “The way they talk about it is like, ‘We mention it to [students] and tell them: ‘Don't rely on them with the literacy or [to] understand what they're seeing or not seeing.’”

In fact, because the province’s curriculum teachers to respond to local contexts and meet their individual students' needs,” the mention of pornography within a classroom’s PHE will come down to individual instructors.

Historically, MECC has been undecided within its curricula. Over the years, “sex-ed” has fallen under the umbrella of PHE, Career and Personal Planning, and Career and Life Education. In 2015 it returned to PHE.

“One of the challenges is [that] they haven't necessarily supported the [PHE] educators as well as they should,” said Gibson.

For Tidey, who teaches Promoting Healthy Sexualities (HLTH 352) at UVic, the issue is cut and dried: “For me, porn curriculum's healthy sexual decisionmaking].”

However, the current research on porn literacy may not yet be thorough enough. According to a 2023 academic report called Problematic Pornography Use in Adolescents: From Prevention to Intervention, “there appear [to be] only three published quantitative studies on pornography education.”

“Is porn literacy going to solve something? a post-doctoral research fellow at UVic. University in psychology, where he researched the differences in sexuality across porn, sexual fantasy, and in-person sexuality.

“More literacy, more critical thinking around porn is never a bad thing. It's just

a question of, ‘Are we in a state of crisis?’” research has yet to develop a consensus for how porn literacy should be delivered, and

notion that people — even those without porn literacy skills — wouldn’t naturally pick up on the performative qualities of pornography.

“Based on the data that I've collected, people do a pretty reasonable job of necessarily what's normal or normative to

For now, the consensus on porn literacy is scattered. While some care-providers and educators see the need for it increasing technology further intensify the virtual sex experience — others view porn literacy in the school curriculum as unnecessary or even promotion of the porn industry itself.

Young people have their own related concerns.

“There's been a lot of focus on the porn addiction side,” said Gibson, who admits that young people often ask her if viewing porn will change their brains. “The research is still pretty new…. I wouldn't want it to be you have young people who [do] use it, and [they would] feel even more shamed.”

Gibson doesn’t foresee porn literacy being included as a mandatory part of PHE anytime soon. In fact, there is currently no mandatory sexual education training for teachers in B.C., let alone porn-literacy-

“This is also why I have a job, sadly,” said Tidey, whose hope is that one day all educators providing mandatory sexual health information in public education will be properly trained.

“It's not necessarily that you have to know all of the information. [But] are you getting comfortable talking about these things? Because that's far more important.”

Illustration by Link Bechtold.

UVic 'Modern Love' stories, inspired by the Students bare their hearts in unique personal

"Answers in God's country" "Dancing with hearts"

COOPER ANDERSON SENIOR STAFF EDITOR

Fate placed our university dorms side-by-side, causing us bonded when the toilet overflowed into our rooms. We contacted our residence leader and felt very heroic (the plumbing issue did not improve).

Mabel had a long-distance boyfriend, Jacob, when I met her, and she often needed help escaping spirals of self-doubt he’d send her into. He’d make comparative comments about friends or celebrities, and it would hurt her badly. She used his face covered by mounds of blankets. Mabel would run to rainbow LED lights on in his room. I wished he would talk to her more.

I helped Mabel break up with Jacob in November, sitting in the common room as the dial tone buzzed. She bit her nails. When we heard click and Hello?, she looked at me with blank eyes full of horror. I mouthed prompts to her. The phone call.

After Mabel grieved Jacob, she downloaded Tinder for the downloaded the app on my 18th birthday with my heart in my throat (I got about three matches in a week, because there are no lesbians on there.)

Once Mabel had Tinder, she used her swipes in an hour.

regularly confiscating her phone so she wouldn’t break no-contact with Jacob, but we noticed now that she wanted it back. I convinced her to donate Jacob’s clothes to the thrift, rather than burning them on the beach.

gardens during the day, which we deemed safe. Then I found included the phrases “baby girl,” “push you on the swing,” and “I want to.”

and a round face, with full, blushed cheeks. She always wore black leggings or sweatpants, and patterned crop tops with tee sleeves. When she saw you, she would beam with her eyes closed in your direction. She was a classically beautiful girl. He was a man.

PAUL VOLL SENIOR STAFF EDITOR

Mountain, and was met by a deserted main drag. Ten hours before, hungover, possibly still a little drunk, I’d scribbled my signature on some paperwork in Victoria and swiped an almost maxed-out Visa to rent a 2019 Accord, splurging on “economy” over “compact” — fancy me. I was dead set on a sort of “impromptu pilgrimage” to Nakusp, a town — I told myself — that held the answers I needed.

A mid-week catch-all-crusade, a Hail Mary throw from a thirty-something who was beginning to forget his playbook in life. And yes, this all sounded better in theory the night before, at a drink-cluttered table blubbering to my friend’s glazed face, than it did driving the Coquihalla, rehearsing my sick voice to call in for work, and calculating the several hundred dollars I’d already spent on the car, ferry, and fastfood gut-rot on the way (two stops).

But I went. Because Nakusp is two things.

First, it’s a remote village in the West Kootenays of B.C.

It’s the nearest town to my grandparents' property that we summer- and Christmas-vacationed at during my childhood (in short, one of those overly romanticized “anchor places” that’s inexplicably stitched into the fabrics of our subconscious).

Second, it’s where Ron lives.

A couple of days before leaving for Nakusp, I’d broken up with my girlfriend Mandy in her room — surprising, in a way, us both. A sort of classic, self-defense panic maneuver that those of us with a little baggage and a self-defeatist attitude whip out when things get serious. She sat on the carpet beside

The night before, we’d texted about getting sandwiches from an Italian deli and eating them on the rocks that overlook

about the sandwiches, then I left and cried in my car outside her place. The whole thing felt beyond my control, like movements from an old script that had been written and rehearsed in past relationships. Stale and dated and easy to follow. But she didn't know that. She was blindsided.

Later — when I came to my senses about this all being a very troubling “me thing” — I was brooding about it to my friend at the pub. When he left to use the bathroom, I listened to a voicemail that had been sitting on my phone for a couple days.

I recognized the voice immediately. It was Ron, singing a crackling version of Janise Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee” into the receiver.

he loves me. Then he hung up, and the whole thing hit me harder than the seven per cent sour I was holding.

LISA BASSON CONTRIBUTING WRITER

It started with a story and became I know Robyn through my sister. friend, I’m shown a photo of them their dance studio does every year, and smiles broadly. My sister tells PhD student at the university burlesque.

My sister looks over to where “They do something with monkeys, university writing professor, fumbling that will make his eyes twinkle.

“Could I do an immersive story Twinkle. Victory.

Gigi’s Cafe is warm and loud. audio. It’s not that there are many the day, so the wooden tables sparsely occupied by laptop-slapping milk steamer that has me on edge.

I think I’m early. I shoot Robyn repeatedly picking up my sandwich unbitten. I’m hungry, but I’m wearing I can’t decide if the food is worth I am stuck in this limbo until over.

“Hi! I think you’re here to talk Robyn wears a grey sweater and and bring it over to Robyn’s table. Now that I’ve met Robyn, the

if I was going to do this, I should immersed.

The class, at Robyn’s dance studio, Studio C. It is taught by an energetic that I am later informed is Leo Moon, and “the island’s premier tap-dancing

There are about seven people 22 to 80, and they can all probably

Leo is a proponent of “king and of drag in binary terms of kings perform as a wide array of genders elves, and more. Robyn’s stage persona

During the class, we practice their next showcase. As a person I’m thinking about what performing this space and outside of it. I’m surprised persona that comes easy to me,

the New York Times column personal essays about sex, gender, and love

"Deal or no deal"

became so much more. sister. A friend of a friend-turnedthem at the Halloween showcase year, where Robyn wears a red cape tells me Robyn is an anthropology and that they dance drag and where I am sitting in her apartment, monkeys, I think?” I’m instantly curious.

fumbling around for a story idea story on drag? I know of a performer.”

Wonderful atmosphere, terrible many people, no—it’s the middle of near bursting cork boards are laptop-slapping tenants—it’s the shrieking edge.

Robyn a text. I’m sitting at a bar table sandwich and then putting it back down wearing smudgeable lipstick, and worth the aesthetic risk. one of the laptop tenants walks talk to me?” and a carabiner on their belt loop table.

the story feels real — although my should do it right. I needed to get studio, Passion and Performance,

energetic person with lime green hair Moon, one of Robyn’s drag parents tap-dancing clown.” people in the room ranging from ages probably fall comfortably under the and thing” drag. Often, people think kings and queens, but people can genders and bugs, clowns, monsters, persona is nonbinary clown “Robyn

a bit of the dance they will do at person pretty left of feminine myself, performing gender looks like to me in surprised that it’s not a masculine but a hyper-fem one as we move a strange kind of joy.

PASCALE GRENIER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

If you haven’t yet seen Aquamarine, I’m about to spoil the end, so skip the next paragraph if it’s on your watchlist (and it should be — it’s a classic of the teen-girl early 2010s genre).

At the end of Aquamarine

half-human-half-mermaid heroine) sits on the beach ready to become a mermaid again after a brief stint as a human, defeated that she couldn’t prove that love was real. Her father, the king of the ocean, gave her three days to prove love existed if she wanted to stay on land, and in the end, Aqua couldn’t get her three-day situationship to tell her he loved her. In the scene, she sits crying with her friends Claire and Hailey, platonic love.

And when they confess, suddenly everything is okay again. Through the love and friendship of Claire and Hailey, Aqua has just proven that love is real.

I watched the film at ten for the first time, and didn’t understand then how platonic love could ever measure up to romantic love. Eleven years later, it was another ocean-

Shark Tale

And no, I was not inspired by the friendship that blossomed

who I watched the movie with.

When I met Sarah and Tessa, I thought my love quota was full. We became close at the beginning of fourth-year university: the year when not much is supposed to happen, because it’s the last year of school. The wrap up. But for us, it was the start.

Sarah and I had been casual friends all through university, championing the French program together. We became close when she wrote vulgar words in the margins of my notebook, and showed me how to make beaded earrings. She knew a lot about medical history, and reminded me of a bright spring day.

friends with her after realizing that we wrote the same type never outgrew her Greek mythology phase. Her presence made me feel like I was being wrapped in a warm blanket.

The next time we met was at Sarah and Tessa’s new place, the Argyle Street Basement Suite, which became a haven of microwave popcorn and letting inside thoughts seep outside. of us thought twice about singing along to every song in Pitch Perfect. They say love feels like coming home, and I found it with them, right in the beginning, when we all laughed at Boomer telling the Bellas they are “awesome-ly horrible.” I’d like to think it struck us all at the same time, when we realized this was it. Every great love story starts with an excuse to keep seeing each other; and so began the “Feminist Film Club”.

ERIC KWAKERNAAK VOLUNTEER STAFF WRITER

I swore I’d never be the dating app guy. Of course, I made that promise to myself when I was in the swear on the guys you’ll never be when you have a long-term girlfriend. I also swore that I’d never be the going out every weekend guy (guilty), that I’d never be the guy who gets really into rock climbing (guiltier), and that I’d never be the health nut guy who gets super jacked and looks incredible (I haven’t done this one yet, but it’s coming, I swear, just give me six to eight months and a steady supply of creatine).

The beauty of a committed relationship isn't just stability. It’s equally the ability to be delusional. There’s this little voice in every person’s head that whispers, at some point or other, you could do better. If you haven’t heard that voice yet; don’t worry, it’s coming for you. And depending on your ego, it’ll range from a polite murmur to a full-blown internal TED Talk, one with slides and those stupid pointer sticks and a Q&A session at the end. If I was on the open market, you think, surely, they’d be lining up out the door

You sit next to a cute girl on the bus or catch a hot guy’s

I don’t know your life), you’d walk up to them, give them your number, and they’d be over the moon to have been gifted the simple presence of your company. You’d never have to get on the apps, you convince yourself, because you’re a goddamn treat. If anyone was going to bring back old school dating, it would be you, the serial monogamist, with your secret belief that you’d be an all-star single person.

Except here’s the thing: You’re a moron.

Because the truth is, that cute girl on the bus? She didn’t notice you. And that guy whose eye you caught across the just for you? He was zoned out, daydreaming about being the GM of the Seahawks, and unless you can run a 4.3-second 40-yard dash, you don’t stand a chance.

But I don’t blame you for believing. I was the same way. I knew that little voice too, and it was TED-talking more often than not. When my relationship ended, a huge part of me

I was seventeen. Here I was, king of the mildly attractive among Cessnas. A hawk among pigeons. A moron

Illustrations by Sage Blackwell.

Mormonism is at the root of strict gender ideals and beauty expectations everywhere

HANNAH LINK SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Chances are, a Mormon has crossed your iPhone or laptop screen today — and there’s an interesting reason why.

The ever-so-prevalent church’s ideals and standards are creeping into our lives, causing damage to our already-narrow perceptions of beauty, gender, and family.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), or the Mormon Church as it’s commonly known, is a conservative church that was created in the United States in the 19th Century. Today, the church is known for its mysterious temples, strict moms on TikTok.

It’s not some strange coincidence that Mormonism dominates the world of social the church which actually encourage vlogging and posting.

A key element of the church is genealogy — the practice of tracing back family histories and keeping close records of them. This is because Mormons believe in performing baptisms for the dead, where

Nobody

ancestors and strangers alike can be “saved.”

To complement the gathering of histories, Mormons are encouraged to closely document their lives. Young members of the church are often taught to keep diaries. It was even a Mormon in the 1980s who

As technology evolved, it was only natural

for Mormons to begin documenting their lives with home-videos, blogs, vlogs, and eventually, social media.

Some argue that Mormonism promotes success is considered a sign of God’s adoration. Therefore, social media proved to be the perfect place for Mormon video

creators, because of the monetary reward for success. These factors make content creation the perfect breeding ground for problematic church messages to spread into our daily lives.

The LDS Church encourages its female members to strive for beauty in all that they do. Young girls are taught that their role in life is to attract and appease a husband, and their doctrine does not shy away from the idea that presenting yourself well is crucial.

As such, beauty standards are incredibly high in Mormon communities, and particularly among Mormons online. Many are already succumbing to the pressures of picture-perfect social media.

This convergence of Mormonism and media contributes to incredibly high levels of plastic surgery among Mormons, who promote these procedures, and their aesthetic results. While I sympathize with these women, I also believe we need to acknowledge how the normalization of these procedures affects audiences everywhere.

Diet culture also permeates Mormon culture, where multi-level marketing schemes (MLMs) run rampant, selling

seems to want kids these days Is the world too broken for children, or do you just hate them?

FERNANDA SOLORZA SENIOR STAFF WRITER

In conversations with my peers about children, it has become more and more common for people to plan for a childfree lifestyle. While I’m supportive of their decisions, it irks me how violently people need to assert that those who decide to have children are inherently selfish, moronic, or stupid. While I don’t want to argue about the morality of human reproduction, it has become clear that the issue doesn’t lie with the current era; but the fact that people openly hate kids.

There has never been a perfect time to

Yet, people have chosen to continue to reproduce for various reasons, despite the external calamities. In my opinion, arguing whether or not 2025 is the best or worst time to have children is a futile battle, because every era has had its own crises. People will continue to have kids anyway. The real issue isn't whether or not the world is falling apart—it's that we've created a society that resents and isolates children, instead of supporting them.

At some point, it became socially acceptable to blatantly declare yourself as a child hater. I agree that some of the arguments against human reproduction hold somewhat true. Yes, there are over eight billion of us, and climate change is driving everything into extinction. Not everyone is fed, and the political state of

our world is not remotely close to “perfect” for bringing children into this world. Nevertheless, these issues have little to do with the matter of reproduction and children itself; conversely, they can all be tied back to late-stage capitalism.

“Children should be seen and not heard” is a common saying from the Victorian

era that represents the child-hating perspective. But it seems there are more and more people today who legitimately believe this — it’s not new information that many completely despise seeing children on airplanes, in restaurants, and in parks.

While I agree that there should be adultonly spaces, the sentiment that we should separate families in order to not discomfort certain people is discrimination.

I don’t want to be misinterpreted. If you do not wish to have children, good for you. But the unearned bigotry against children needs to stop; they are people too. In fact, and parents easy to hate are similar to common ableist and discriminatory speech. Disliking children because they are loud, dependent, or requiring accommodations mirrors the same biases used to justify the mistreatment of disabled people, the elderly, and other minority groups.

The language surrounding this vulnerable group has become increasingly alarming. People online refer to both children and pregnant people as “disgusting,” and they call children “crotch absolutely dehumanizing, reflecting a

weight loss supplements and health elixirs. Many major MLMs are headquartered in Utah — the epicenter of Mormonism in the United States — and it’s for a reason. These types of companies thrive in environments with women who want to earn their own income while working from home, since Mormon doctrine discourages them from “non-traditional” female jobs. Mormon values are seeping into our social media feeds now more than ever, especially after the hit show “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” and tradwifery becoming mainstream.

There are serious consequences to pushing heteronormative, white beauty ideals onto global audiences. What’s more is that so much of this happens without us really knowing what the root of the problem is.

For young girls who see their favourite TikTokers get married young, promise to bear many children, and get forehead Botox injections — they might have no idea that these values are set by a powerful religious organization, whose goal is to control and dominate.

broader cultural disdain for vulnerability and dependence. It is one thing to choose not to engage with children, but expressing hatred to a group of people simply for existing is always wrong.

The real issue to attend to is our capitalist and individualistic society, which pushes vulnerable people to the sidelines. There are limited resources available not because we can’t accommodate our people, but because some people are hoarders. There is no issue with humanity surpassing eight billion people; our skewed destruction and distribution of resources is the problem.

We continue to lose third spaces like libraries, parks, community centres — as well as the community aspect that made lost “the village” to raise our children with. No matter how much people try to disguise their resentment towards children as “caring for the future,” the truth is that people don’t want kids to be part of communities anymore. It is children who will end up paying the price for this attitude as well. Until this mentality changes, I think I will have to agree with the children

Illustration by Sona Eidnani.

Player poll reveals concerns about gender gap in UVic varsity's funding 'We are not the curtain raisers'

ERIC KWAKERNAAK VOLUNTEER STAFF WRITER

When UVic Athletics and Recreation was asked to provide the Martlet with annual budgets of the men’s and women’s varsity basketball, rugby, and soccer teams, a spokesperson responded that “at UVic, our varsity team budget is distributed equitably across all 15 teams.”

As anyone who’s ever played a high level sport will tell you, money matters, and money talks..

So, we turned to UVic athletes themselves to give us their opinions on what exactly Vikes varsity budgets are saying.

The Martlet polled 22 varsity athletes across a range of sports and genders on their thoughts about the difference in university spending habits between men' s and women's varsity teams. We granted each player anonymity so they could speak their mind freely.

they were with the funding their team receives on a scale of one to ten. The most scoring the university's varsity funding above an eight.

Next, we asked athletes whether they believed that the men’s and women’s teams

university. The answers were basically split down the middle, with nine athletes saying yes, nine saying no, and four saying they weren't sure.

Lastly, we asked athletes a series of written answer questions regarding funding, promotion, and gender-based inequalities:

surprising, per diem funds. A number of athletes alleged that the men’s teams receive more per diem money for away trips, with one player saying that the men’s team receives “almost double the per diem for food.”

However, a spokesperson from UVic said that “regardless of team or gender, all athletes receive the same daily per diem for overnight away trips.”

Comments from players about the availability and size of scholarships were also common, with three players expressing displeasure in the amount of scholarship funds available to men’s teams compared to women’s.

“The men get way more scholarship money,” said one athlete.

“Vikes adhere to all current regulations regarding scholarship distribution mandated by USports,” said Nick Clarke, Director of Varsity Performance Sport. “USports mandate[s] institutions to awards to female student-athletes and a minimum of 45% to student-athletes on men’s teams.”

Clarke did not share the exact makeup of UVic’s scholarship spending. It is also unclear whether additional revenue, attained through funding and alumni donorship, can go towards scholarships.

the better time slot for Thunderfest games, with parachuters/fireworks for the beginning of their game with a much bigger crowd,” said one varsity player. “Women start with much less fanfare and a smaller crowd before the ‘real’ event of the men’s game.”

“It’s as if we are curtain raisers,” echoed another.

Athletes equally had issues with the way their teams are advertised on social media.

“I don’t think varsity is doing enough to promote the women's teams compared to the men’s team,” said the athlete. “[They] women’s programs.”

can go shirtless, women must wear a shirt).” in attire based on gender,” said Nick Clarke. These are the subtler ways that inequities manifest — through potentially tacit agreements that regulate women’s appearance and behavior more strictly than men’s. From Serena Williams' catsuit controversy in the 2018 French Open to the 2021 fines of the Norwegian beach handball team for wearing shorts instead of bikinis and most recently the discussion surrounding the U.S. women’s track team an ongoing and consistently relevant debate.

The fact that similar concerns are emerging at the varsity level suggests that these biases are not limited to professional sports but are ingrained in athletic culture more broadly.

a portion of their own funding, their statement does not directly address the personal strain of constant fundraising and

The department's response suggests that fundraising is an expected part of varsity athletics, but it does not clarify whether some teams are more reliant on external donations than others. If certain teams, particularly women’s teams, are shouldering a disproportionate fundraising burden, this raises further questions about equity in varsity sports funding.

“Men’s rugby has more alumni with money but they don’t share the wealth or donate to both teams,” said a player on the topic.

“Each team manages its own fundraising donors,” said a UVic Spokesperson.

The most common grievance we received for this question was,

NEWS HUMOUR

The consistent tendency of the university to place women’s games before the men’s was at the centrepiece of this discussion. Seven separate athletes raised concerns about the way that games are scheduled, many of as an example of that disparity.

“The men’s soccer team every year gets

Of the 22 athletes polled, only four of them (two women’s rugby players, a women’s basketball player, and a women’s soccer player) opted to answer this question. All four athletes

and the availability of physios and medical treatment.

“Availability of physios and just things being done easier/better for men,” said one player.

“[They get] better time, or more space and easier access to equipment,” agreed another.

A UVic spokesperson said that physiotherapy and fitness testing opportunities are impartially available to all varsity athletes, though they did not expand on how and why decisions regarding scheduling are made.

the most interesting claim.

“[There are] double standards for social media content (ie men’s team posing with criticized for wearing bathing suits in beach

“We have to fundraise for our assistant coaches salary. It feels like we are constantly fundraising, we have to constantly ask family members and friends for money which starts to feel awkward after a while. There is a ton of of money individually which cannot always be done considering people’s personal networks,” said one athlete.

With regards to fundraising, UVic Athletics and Recreation said that “the athletics and recreation department acknowledges that all our varsity programs, led by our head coaches, student-athletes and alumni, consistently attain additional revenue through their own fundraising and sport-specific donations. This amount varies substantially between teams and all varsity coaches are provided fundraising and alumni relation support through UVic.”

While UVic Athletics acknowledges their expectation that varsity programs generate

According to one athlete, that unwillingness to combine the donation pool is the same mentality that allowed the men’s basketball team to take trips to Mexico and the Bahamas for their preseason games this year, while the women’s basketball team played their preseason games in Calgary.

“It’s always frustrating,” said the player who first raised the fundraising issue, to only pull in a fourth of what the guys receive.”

This frustration speaks to a larger issue: the systemic advantage that some teams, often men’s teams with better promotion, more consistent support, and stronger alumni networks, have in securing funding. If UVic Athletics is serious about equity, it may need to reconsider how fundraising expectations and financial support are structured to ensure all athletes have equal opportunities to compete and develop at the highest level.

Victoria was crowned Canada's sexiest city, and no one is surprised

FERNANDA SOLORZA SENIOR STAFF WRITER

crowned the sexiest city in Canada. According to UVic students, this honour is well-earned.

The thirteenth annual ranking by PinkCherry, an online sex shop, determines the “sexiest city” in Canada based on none other than sex toy purchases.

“We measure or rate our Canadian cities according to consumer purchases and behaviours,” states PinkCherry’s web page, which features the top ten contenders for sexiest city, and sexiest town.

In order to balance the playing field, “sexy cities,” are chosen using data about sex toy sales in locations with populations over 300 000, whereas “sexy towns” have under 300 000 people.

This year, Victoria took the number one spot for the sexiest city. Not Toronto, Vancouver, or even Montreal with its reputation for late-night debauchery. No; it is our tea-loving, thrift-shopping, retiree paradise that reigns supreme. UVic students couldn’t be prouder, and they helped the Martlet understand what, to them, makes Victoria

Canada’s sexiest city.

“I totally think that Victoria is the sexiest city,” said UVic student Avery Sikkes. “I think that UVic specifically is one of the sexiest schools I’ve ever been to. Everybody here is always so hot and looks so good. I come from a very small town, so being around so many more people, you just realize how beautiful everybody

in this big city is.”

Students across the board mentioned that the main reason Victoria deserves to be the sexiest city in Canada is because of the people who live here. Rose and August, two more UVic students, said, “This city is full of bad bitches. It’s crazy,” and, “There are so many sexy, sexy people inside and out. So

many confident, hard-working people.”

UVic students Kai and Brendan agree, saying, “There’s a lot of great people here who are very nicelooking,” and, “Victoria has very nice people to talk to, and they are very down-to-earth.”

“I think Victoria is a very sexy city, especially because so many

people here have amazing style,” said UVic student Rae. “Especially on campus, walking around, everybody is slaying, everybody is killing it.”

Besides the people, students agree that nightlife is part of Victoria’s sexiness. “I like going out downtown. It’s such a vibe,” added Rae.

A student who requested to remain anonymous said, “There’s a lot of student life, especially downtown on the weekends and Friday nights…. I think that’s what makes Victoria sexy.”

According to PinkCherry, not only is Victoria the city that buys the most sex toys per person, but its favorite anal toy is butt plugs, its favourite BDSM accessory is handcuffs, and its favourite flavour of lube is strawberry.

The response seems unanimous— no shame, no shock, just the smug satisfaction of a city that already knew it was hot. So, go ahead Victoria; wear your crown with pride. And if you want to celebrate, well… you clearly already know where to shop.

Illustration by Zoe Bechtold.

feeling more fulfilled. In time, she discovered what “success” meant to

creating an identity . . . that's been lost through set dressing, and creating a

remove the centre images of her collages from their original context.

words, “[exemplify] the inherent beauty and undefinable nature of queer the Martlet that women and non-men often get asked the question “how does that work?” when asked about sex. Underlying this question, she says, is the idea that there is “one golden way” to have sex. Instead, Christine explores an alternative idea in her work: “You don't have to understand everything Christine always appreciates support from people buying her art, but she finds equal value in attendance at markets and other events where she shares her work, where she encourages people to ask questions, and engage in conversations. Christine’s artwork can be found at @hundredacre.goods on Instagram, as well as at the SUBtext