Hello Wellesley College community!
My name is Julianna, and I have the enormous pleasure of introducing the new Wellesley News advice column, Ask Julianna! This column will focus on problems involving relationships, sex and sexuality, body image and self love. Whether you are nervous about having sex for the first time, getting into your first serious relationship, or struggling with body dysmorphia, I will do my best to offer advice to make you feel seen, heard and understood.
I’m sure some of you may be wondering what exactly makes me qualified to give advice on anything, and you would absolutely be valid in your concerns. Let me share some of my experience and background to assuage those concerns. I have taken dozens of classes, both at Wellesley and elsewhere, focusing on psychology, sexuality, trauma, etc. I have been in therapy for over a decade, been in numerous trauma-focused programs and needed my fair share of advice over the years. I have formed several strong relationships with sex therapists, professional sex workers, relationship-focused therapists, peer educators and so many more that I am able to call on in the event I don’t know something, and who I have learned a tremendous amount from. I have done hundreds of hours of research to placate my own fears and curiosities. I am an active member of the New Jersey and Massachusetts kink scenes, including having attended several informational events about the more niche kink skills. I am pansexual myself and have had a rather turbulent journey to arrive at my own sexuality. All of this provides me with a well of knowledge and resources to do my very best to help you navigate these difficult subjects.
Something I am extremely passionate about is demystifying taboo subjects. I believe one of the main reasons so many people, especially young women, experience so many negative experiences when first exploring sex and relationships is because no one took the time to talk about it. Subjects of sex, pleasure and bodies are labeled as taboo and therefore glossed over in any discussions regarding the “birds and the bees.” Abstinence is touted as the end-all-be-all of pregnancy prevention, and so adolescents are sent off into the world with raging libidos and no knowledge of what to do with them. This is where I come in! I am not a parent, teacher or professional with a hidden agenda behind my advice. I am a friend, a peer, who has been through it and simply wants to help.
SO! What does this all mean for you? It means you can submit questions or problems you are experiencing to me, and I will do my very best to offer advice and resources to you so that you feel confident and sexy when facing the world. I will also, periodically, share general advice that debunks common advice given to young adults and women that is just … so wrong (Cosmo, I’m looking at you!).
If you are scared, confused, turned-on, ashamed or lost, all you have to do is … Ask Julianna!
Ask Julianna questions through a Google Form that will be shared on The Wellesley News Twitter later this week.
