Writing on period sex and testicular exams didn't faze Amber Madison (LA '05) when she penned her weekly "Between the Sheets" column for the Daily (2004-05). But some of the questions she got in response did.
"Girls I knew who were sexually active would ask me where the clitoris is, or, 'What is an orgasm, and how do I know if I'm having one?'" Madison said.
Questions like these told her "two disturbing things: First, they don't know their own bodies, and second, if they don't know about the clitoris or an orgasm, that's a clear indication they're having sex to please the guy and not because it's something they want to do."
Hence the inspiration for Madison's new non-fiction book entitled, "Hooking Up: A Girl's All-Out Guide to Sex & Sexuality."
It is Madison's attempt to take on what she considers an abundance of misdirected or uninformed sexually active young adults.
According to Madison, the 175-page book is meant to inspire self-confidence among and prompt smarter decisions by its target audience: women in high school and beyond.
Chapter titles include: "Vaginas: What the Hell?," "Pleasing Yourself," and "Hooking Up and Having Sex: Did I shave my legs for this?"
Even so, Madison cautions that her book is not a sex manual. "I don't know about Kama Sutra or how to keep the spark alive after ten years of marriage," she said.
Yet Madison, who has bachelor's degrees in American studies and community health from Tufts, did say her academic background helped prepare her for writing her book. "I do know a great deal about sexual education, because I studied it for four years at Tufts," she said.
Most of the inspiration for the book grew out of her experiences at Tufts, Madison said, which helped her learn about sexuality in a different way than her high school experience had.
Specifically, she said that a psychology course on human sexuality helped her to overcome many of her previous insecurities.
"For the first time, I really felt that spark of passion when you know this is what you want to do," said Madison. "I really cared about writing on the topic, because my own struggles with it had screwed me up for so long."
After writing her senior thesis on what constitutes an effective sexual education program, Madison concluded that the solution lay in peer education and information that addresses the psychological and social issues surrounding sexuality.
"For example," Madison said, "all studies suggest the No. 1 reason why women do not take birth control pills is the fear of gaining weight. Yet not a single book discussed that issue.
"You cannot get a sexually active 14-year-old girl to take the pill until you address that concern. Giving students information doesn't change their behavior. You have to give them motivation to use that knowledge and suggest behavior to apply it," she said.
"A lot of the book is about the experience of becoming sexual as a woman," she said. "I feel like an expert, because it happened to me."
According to Alison Keehn, a freelance book editor who taught Madison in an Experimental College course on writing for young adults, her former student has the ideal writing style and outlook for the book.
"I think Amber has a perfect voice for the audience," Keehn said. "Her writing is fresh, personal, not academic ... She answers the questions women have today, not five or ten years ago."
Madison was inspired to write the book in her senior year.
She came to Keehn with a "crazy" idea-pass up the glamorous internship she had been offered at a film production company in LA, stay in Somerville for the summer, and write her book.
Keehn, who developed the sexual education curriculum at the Cambridge Friends School, was immediately supportive.
Madison's wrote the book between September 2005 to January 2006, drawing mainly from real experience, she said.
"I didn't leave the apartment for four or five months... but interrogating your roommates on their sex lives is a great way to get to know them better," she said.
Although the book was originally aimed at high school students, Madison and Keehn soon realized much of the information in the book applied to women in college and beyond.
The ultimate goal of the book is helping women gain self confidence and make smarter decisions, both emphasized.
Even though her book is about sex, Madison cautions that the freedom that college offers does not require students to have sex.
"A lot of people talk about sex, but not everyone in college is having it," she said. "Just because your parents aren't around, you don't need to get belligerent and spread your legs for everyone."
For now, Madison is ecstatic to see her name in print. "It's a surreal feeling seeing your book actually on the shelves of a Barnes & Noble," she said.
Madison will be teaching a class with Keehn on sexuality to high school girls this fall and is currently planning a lecture series at colleges across the country.
"It's s incredible. It's exactly what I want to be doing," she said. "Whether it's in print or online magazines, more sex is essentially where my life is going."
