Cindy Pierce

Knowing and being consistently yourself—in private and in public—is the key to making healthy choices, says Cindy Pierce, this year’s Margo Johnson Endowed Speaker. Ms. Pierce, a social sexuality educator and comic storyteller, discussed the pressures that come with “hookup culture” on high school and college campuses, telling students they have the power to set boundaries and build healthy relationships that fit their lives, instead of focusing on meeting external expectations. Ms. Pierce is the author of Sex, College and Social Media: A Commonsense Guide to Navigating the Hookup Culture; Sexploitation: Helping Kids Develop Healthy Sexuality in a Porn-Driven World; and the coauthor of Finding the Doorbell: Sexual Satisfaction for the Long Haul.

“A lot of young people are using social media to present a view of themselves that isn’t real, just to feel like they’re enough. In a lot of cases, it’s not cruelty or outright bullying that makes for a negative social media experience. It’s a low-grade, constant reminder of what you could be, should be, or would be.”