Editor: Lena Leemhuis
For my internship project, I co-developed the ‘What fruit are you Today?’ quiz. Building on the previously developed ‘Intimacy IQ Test’, we aimed to develop a tool that offers a fun and positive approach to creating awareness of the importance of sexual consent within student culture. As sex and consent education often remains more traditional and formal, we aimed to develop the tool to be suitable for informal environments like drink events, parties and festivals. Offering a fun and lightweight tool where people can reflect on their communication style and lower the bar to talk about this topic among their friends and peers. Most importantly, the tool and accompanying materials serve as a reminder of consent exactly when and where things are happening, where the party is, and where students are talking, flirting, and interacting with each other.
To spark curiosity and engagement, we came up with 16 different fruits that represent different consent communication styles. Through taking the quiz, people can find the fruit that best represents them, reflect on their communication styles and share their fruits with others. To remember their fruit character and share their results, the test takers receive a little card with their fruit. On the card, a QR code is placed through which the description of the fruit characters can be found and shared with others.
IMAGE: 16 Fruit Characters
Part of the development process of the test was the organisation of trial runs to experience how the test is received and work in practise. The trial run was aimed at receiving feedback from students and further developing the implementation strategy of the tool.
For the first trial run, I was kindly invited by the sorority Viatores to join their annual party at Club Maggy in Utrecht on the 7th of April. The sorority is part of the study association V.U.G.S (Vereniging Utrechtse Geografie Studenten). V.U.G.S organizes a variety of events and activities for the students of the bachelor’s and master’s programmes of Human Geography and spatial planning at Utrecht University.
IMAGE: A photo of Club Maggy in Utrecht, from their website
Prior to the event, Viatores promoted the project to notify the visitors of the implementation of the test at the party. With prompts like: ’ How do you flirt?, ‘How do you let someone know you’re into them’ and ‘How do you make sure you are on the same page?’, the curiosity of the party goers was sparked.
IMAGE: Promotion of the quiz on Viatores’s Instagram stories
At the event to invite the partygoers to discover their fruit, posters with QR codes were hung around the venue. At the bar, at the entrance and outside. At the start of the party, I welcomed the visitors at the entrance and showed them the QR code. Later, I moved between the bar area, dance floor and outside to engage with the party goers and introduce them to the test.
After people finished the test, they received a little card with their character. With these cards, they were able to share and exchange their character and have access to the character description via a QR code to look back at it at a later moment. Some students even found their character match!
IMAGE: Quiz posters with QR codes were hung around the venue.
After people finished the test, they received a little card with their character. With these cards, they were able to share and exchange their character and have access to the character description via a QR code to look back at it at a later moment. Some students even found their character match!
The tool was received enthusiastically, and the students were curious and generally very welcoming to the initiative. The tool sparked interest in the topic of sexual consent, some of the students telling me about how the questions made them reflect on things they had never really thought about. Some questions were met with some giggles, interesting conversations, and interaction followed.
IMAGE: Students with their fruit result cards
One student in particular shared with me his experiences of transitioning from high school to student life. Open-heartedly, he told about how he came from a more posh and conservative background where he had experienced little variety in sexuality. Entering student life had enabled him to explore the topic of sexuality and interact with peers from different backgrounds and with different perceptions on sex and sexuality.
Furthermore, students shared with me their observations of how the topic of social safety and sexuality had become increasingly open within student culture. More senior students shared that there was less attention paid to social safety when they started studying. Now they see an increase in awareness around the topic and the effort of associations to include the topic of social safety, including issues like sexual safety, in their policies.
All in all, the first trial run of the ‘What Fruit Are You Today?’ quiz was a success!
I would like to thank Viatores and VUGS again for the invitation and collaboration. It was truly special to see the student engage with the quiz. Thank Club Maggy for coodinating with me. And, I very much appreciate everyone’s participation, stories and feedback, and I am excited to see the quiz implemented at more events.
IMAGE: IMAGE: Students with their fruit result cards at Club Maggy
Learn more about the ‘What Fruit Are You?’ quiz (appendix)
The ‘What Fruit Are You Test’ is an educational tool designed to allow a space for students/emerging adults to reflect on the way they communicate boundaries and desires. Based on 24 questions, people can discover the fruit character that best represents them at that moment.
Each fruit character has its own profile, providing insights into how they tend to communicate in flirty or intimate contexts. The description offers insights into different elements that may influence the way sexual desires and boundaries are communicated. Firstly, the core values and communication ideals are described. Secondly, the description offers examples of how the character communicates in practice, like at a party or event. Thirdly, a quick overview of how different environments (like loud parties or events where alcohol is involved) may influence the way characters communicate their boundaries and sexual desires is provided. Furthermore, for each character, some suggestions are provided that might be helpful for them to stay attuned with their own boundaries and stay mindful of others’ boundaries.
The tool aims to offer a fun and lighthearted approach to the topic of consent and lower the bar for people to talk about how they tend to communicate and interpret boundaries and sexual desires. To break from more traditional consent and sex education, the tool is designed to be suitable for informal environments like drink events, parties and festivals. Especially in student culture, these are spaces where people meet each other and intimate interaction can emerge. Therefore, the ‘What Fruit Are You Today?’ quiz aims to create and spread awareness of the importance of mutual consent. Therefore, by providing a space for reflection and sparking conversation about the topic of consent, the quiz aims to help prevent unwanted or transgressive behaviours or experiences.
