TEDxDelft 2016 | Jesse Willis | Talking taboo

“What would you think if  I said my hobby was sex?” asked Jesse Willis. “Why is sex such an awkward thing to talk about?”

Willis is an active student at TU Delft, doing his bachelor’s in industrial design engineering. He was the 2016 winner of the TEDxDelft Awards. When asked how he would describe his TEDx experience so far, he said, “It just started as a fun conversation with friends, when I said, if I ever speak on a TED stage, I would talk about sex. Here I am today.” Jesse is really concerned about people’s reluctance to talk about sex.

Sex is still a taboo in most households. Willis feels that sex is more than a hobby, but at the same time, not a topic easily talked about. ”We all like sex the most. The best way of learning about something we like is to talk about it,” he said. The hesitation that people exercise in voicing their opinions brings about a big restriction in a person being himself and being open minded.

He observed that most of our self-evaluation and personal learning is lost in the process. “We must share opinions and end up becoming better with our understanding of sex,” he said. The process of change is never easy, but to be ready for it is an important first step. “Let us be open and honest in our expression and learn from our experiences,” Willis said.