Intimate Encounters

Greetings. My name is Gemma Daniels. Clearly that's not my real name because it's way too cool to ever be a real name, and mine is something vanilla like Mary, or maybe Elizabeth. Not that there's anything wrong with Mary or Elizabeth. They're just not as cool as Gemma Daniels. I did my undergrad at Notre Dame (Go Irish!) and Intimate Encounters originally started as a column for the Notre Dame chapter of Her Campus. If you don't know what Her Campus is, Google it. You won't be disappointed. One of my friends writes and edits for them, and one day we were talking about how people at our school were apprehensive when it came to having conversations about sex. She said something to the effect of "I wish someone would start a Sex and the City type blog." It was the single greatest epiphany moment of my life. Me. I'll do it! I grew up watching old SATC reruns with my mom and sister, and I'm practically Samantha Jones reincarnated as a brunette. Okay, that's probably giving myself too much credit, but I was definitely the most sexually active member of my friend group, so why not use my experiences to open up the conversation to other women? And just like that, one cold November night in South Bend, Indiana, Gemma Daniels was born.

Writing for Her Campus was such a blessing. My editors fostered such a nurturing environment, and I started getting really encouraging feedback from our readers. At times some people were slightly miffed by my articles, namely because I was writing for a Catholic school and not everyone agreed with my sexual behaviour. But for the most part people seemed to like Gemma, so props to Her Campus for allowing this to happen and for being Gemma's birthplace. Once I graduated, though, I decided I wanted to continue my writing externally, so I transitioned over to this blog. If you want to check out my old articles, you can find them here.

I want the contact section to be as much about general stuff about the blog as it is about personal stuff. I like to listen, and I like to help people, so if you're looking for some advice, please feel free to get in touch with me! I can answer you directly or I can post it here as an anonymous submission if you'd be okay with that-- chances are someone else out there has some of the same questions you do. Also, no shame. Ever. Ive seen and done a lot of weird stuff so I will be the last person to ever judge you. Trust me.

I want people, particularly women, to feel comfortable with their sex lives and their sexual activity. I grew up in a really conservative city so I know what it's like to feel ashamed of my sexual habits. I'm not here to lecture or preach or make it sound like I am the absolute authority on all sexual matters. I'm just here to talk about mistakes that I've made, amazing experiences I've had, firsts (a lot of firsts), funny stories, awkward moments, and people that have made a difference in the woman that I've become. Hopefully it will be entertaining, but I also want to create a safe space for people to talk about sex. It's high time that sex became something empowering instead of degrading.

xx,

Gemma