Scintillating, sexy and, more often than not, sweet. Netflix’s Sex Education burst onto our screens in 2019 – forever changing the way we’d view teens and sex positivity.
Okay, so maybe a few films and shows in the teen canon had ventured there in the past – American Pie, Superbad, The Inbetweeners – but not in quite the way the teens of Moordale Secondary School did.
WATCH: Sex Education Season Three trailer
Otis (Asa Butterfield), Maeve (Emma Mackey) and Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) took us on a wild adventure from the very first episode.
Taking on the role of pseudo-sexologist thanks to his mum, actual sex therapist Jean (Gillian Anderson), Otis introduced viewers to a whole new world when he opened the school’s sex therapy clinic with Maeve in Season One. And it’s only gotten better in the years since.
Talking openly about everything from their kinks to sexual functioning, the characters of the show prove that honesty is the key to a fulfilling sex life.
Sexologist Aleeya Hachem reveals, “the show really celebrates diversity and negates the notion of shame.”
Whether it’s Lily (Tanya Reynolds) having clear conversations with her partner Ola (Patricia Allison) about vaginismus, or Otis having casual sex for the first time, Sex Education places high importance on individual fantasy and individual ideas of what counts as ‘sexy.’
“If you’re in your 30s or high school age you can take something away from the show,” Aleeya says. “In the show, we see so much connection and vulnerability between the characters and I think that is really important for fostering sexual fantasies.”
“Whether it’s how they approach conversations around sex with their partner, or contraception, or asking for what they want and exploring a sexual fantasy, it portrays it so well.”
Aleeya says the show ‘supports’ people, too.
“Even just normalizing sexual functioning and sex therapy. It’s perhaps brought light, as well, to issues people are experiencing. Like Lily with her vaginismus and her experience with sexual pain and dilators,” she says.
“Some people have shame around that – but having the show portray that, it normalizes it and allows people to access support from the show. One thing I love about Sex Education is that it does have such an emphasis on female pleasure.”
So, how can you incorporate these important lessons into your own life?
“Have the conversations with people you feel comfortable around,” Aleeya says. “Whether that be your close friends, a partner or sexologist. I think creating those safe spaces is super important. When you’re in a sex positive place it can be really eye opening and liberating.”
“The willingness to have these conversations, even though they may be quite challenging to have, by being vulnerable we’re able to have more meaningful connections.”
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Though, not all Aussies need help to feel more confident in the bedroom. A new survey by Netflix found that 1 in 3 Australians rate themselves as ‘good’ in bed. While that number jumps to 59% when you just look at millennials.
But, if you’re not one of the confident percent just yet, there’s no better place to start than with a little ‘you’ time.
“I know that people in lockdown are buying more sex toys – especially with online retailers where they send you discreet packages,” Alleya says.
“People are willing to experiment a bit more now they have the time. The number is getting higher and we are willing to have more conversations about it – especially reducing that stigma of it being shameful or dirty and increasing the emphasis on female pleasure.”
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