[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-post-title” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”Black Han Sans|700||on|||||” header_text_align=”center” header_font_size=”46px” header_letter_spacing=”4px” custom_margin=”25px||5px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||true|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_font=”|||on|||||” header_4_text_align=”center” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
WORDS: Alix Fox<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/09\/Screenshot-2023-09-28-at-13.07.20.png” alt=”monogamish” title_text=”Screenshot 2023-09-28 at 13.07.20″ force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n As the fourth and final season of ground-breaking Netflix series Sex Education hits screens, sex expert & writer Alix Fox \u2013 a script consultant on the show \u2013 reflects on some of the most important and impactful teachings it introduced to audiences; surprises that emerged during development; and the enduring effects that will resonate long after Otis hangs up his signature block-striped jacket for the last time\u2026<\/p>\n There were some pretty bonkers stories about bonking in the notes I took to my very first meeting with Sex Education creator, Laurie Nunn, back in 2018. <\/p>\n I had extracts from interviews with \u2018looners\u2019, \u2018alvinophiliacs\u2019 and \u2018nasophiles\u2019: people with fetishes for balloons, belly buttons and noses. Then there was the tale of the lobbyist campaigning against the body shaming of men with petite penises, who threw a \u2018Big Small Penis Protest Party\u2019 where the more wee a guest\u2019s willy was, the less their ticket cost.<\/p>\n And tragically, there were also umpteen accounts of truly terrible high school sex ed classes, where teens had been so badly taught \u2013 or not taught at all \u2013 that they spent years believing that condoms were devices that stopped bananas from turning brown; that robots were routinely involved in reproduction; or petrified that the \u2018lump on their genitals\u2019 was a wart when it was, in fact, their clitoris.<\/p>\n In that initial writers\u2019 room session, my job was to share true-life experiences from my career as a sex journalist, to inspire Nunn and her team as they fleshed out a brilliantly original manuscript she\u2019d devised: it was about a boy with a sex therapist mother, who used the skills he\u2019d picked up at home to counsel his schoolmates about their X-rated concerns. I ended up being hired to consult on the scripts on a long-term basis, and the show itself went on to become one of Netflix\u2019s hugest hits: its third season garnered a staggering 66.6M views in its first 91 days, and won Best Comedy Series at the 2022 Emmys. <\/p>\n Audiences couldn\u2019t get enough \u2013 in large part because Sex Education\u2019s unabashed, diverse depictions and discussions of real, relatable sex and relationships were something they\u2019d not had nearly enough of in the past, neither on screen nor in their wider lives. <\/p>\n People finally felt seen by scenes about gender dysphoria, performance anxiety and vaginismus (a condition causing the vaginal muscles to involuntarily tighten shut when any type of penetration is attempted, rendering it impossibly painful). They were enlightened on subjects from anal douching and abortion to alien role play and asexuality, without ever feeling patronised or preached to. Plus, they were warmly invited to laugh at the whole clumsy, clodhopping, cringe-worthiness of human beings awkwardly trying to get on with getting it on, rather than pretending that sexy stuff is always slick \u2018n\u2019 slinky. Heck, as demonstrated in the second season opener, sometimes it involves accidentally ejaculating on the passenger window of your mum\u2019s car. While she\u2019s looking through it.<\/p>\n As the show now goes out with a bang in its farewell fourth season, here are a trio of lessons from Sex Education that I believe will be celebrated way beyond its climax.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/09\/Screenshot-2023-09-28-at-13.36.17.png” title_text=”Screenshot 2023-09-28 at 13.36.17″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Akshar|600|||||||” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Aimee Lou Wood as Aimee Gibbs, Emma Mackey as Maeve Wiley\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-in-article-bold” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_font_size=”18px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n IT’S NORMAL AND HEALTHY FOR WOMEN TO MASTURBATE\u2026AND THEY DON\u2019T ONLY DO IT THE WAY IT\u2019S SHOWN IN PORN<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n ‘I\u2019ve been wanking all night; I ate four packets of crumpets, and I think my clit might drop off,’ announces Moordale High student Aimee in Season 1. <\/p>\n Her post-nubbin\u2019-rubbin\u2019 snack of choice mystified copious American viewers, prompting the official Sex Education Instagram account to post a picture of the classically British breadstuff by way of explanation. It also gave rise to a new slang term suggested by fan forums: ‘crumpeting’ was proposed to mean ‘the act of someone with a clitoris masturbating while laying face down’, as Aimee is shown doing.<\/p>\n Watching a woman climax in this position was revolutionary to many people who had previously only seen female masturbation in pornography, where poses are often selected primarily to cater to the male gaze, and performance takes precedence over genuine pleasure. \u2018I thought the sole way \u2018normal\u2019 women got themselves off was on their backs, with their legs spread wide,\u2019 read one of scores of similar messages I received after the episode aired. \u2018I thought I was a weirdo for preferring to lay on my stomach in a way that delivers extra pressure and friction, and seriously worried that I might have a \u2018faulty\u2019, desensitised clit. Seeing Aimee get off like I do was a massive reassurance.\u2019<\/p>\n Others loved that the character was pictured touching herself beneath a duvet, rather than splayed out on display. They enthused about how they too liked to stay cosy beneath their covers; pull their sheets over their heads to block out light and lose themselves in fantasy; or even savour hotboxing their own primal, turned-on scent. <\/p>\n Scores of viewers simply saluted the fact that female masturbation was being righteously celebrated as natural, delightful, and an illuminating means of self-exploration. A recent survey of 2,000 UK-based adults by sexual wellness company TENGA revealed that over a fifth of 18-34s masturbate to make discoveries about their personal tastes and desires \u2013 yet countless women told me they\u2019d been taught that enjoying and learning about themselves this way was dirty; shameful; something only men did; or a sin in the eyes of God. <\/p>\n Sex Education makes a clear statement that there should be no stigma in women taking their sexual satisfaction into their own hands. Masturbation is liberation.<\/p>\n Looking for a new toy to crumpet with yourself? Some of my favourites that eagle eyes will spot in Season 4 include the LELO SORAYA 2 rabbit; Lovehoney\u2019s TikTok-famous clitoral suction Rose; and a 3-in-1 sucking wand vibrator from Bondara, appropriately named \u2018The Duvet Day\u2019.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-in-article-bold” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_font_size=”18px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n MODERN MEDICAL MANAGEMENT OF HIV HAS CHANGED EVERYTHING \u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n In Season 3, gay character Anwar visits a sexual health nurse. \u201cEvery film I\u2019ve ever seen with a gay person ends with them having sex and dying of AIDS,\u201d he tells her, fearfully.<\/p>\n It\u2019s still heartbreakingly common for people to believe that if you contract HIV, it\u2019s a death sentence. I\u2019m an ambassador for HIV Testing Week, and when I speak to average folks in their 20s or even younger about their perceptions of HIV and AIDS, with shocking frequency they still reference the infamous \u2018tombstone\u2019 ads of the 1980s; the passing of Freddie Mercury in 1991; or movies set decades ago, like Dallas Buyers Club. Yet these enduring cultural touchpoints no longer reflect the infinitely brighter outlook for people living with HIV nowadays \u2013 because \u2018living\u2019 is indeed the operative word.<\/p>\n Modern antiretroviral therapies enable HIV positive individuals to enjoy long, healthy, normal lives. These medicines can also reduce the level of the virus in a person\u2019s blood (known as their \u2018viral load\u2019) to such a minuscule amount that it is classed as \u201cundetectable\u201d\u2026at which point that person cannot pass HIV on. The shorthand for this is \u201cU=U\u201d: \u201cUndetectable equals Untransmittable\u201d.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Libre Bodoni|||on|||||” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#333333″ header_2_font_size=”40px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n The science behind this claim has been robustly proven, including by two extensive pieces of research called the \u2018PARTNER\u2019 studies. Together, these involved examining 135,500 incidences of condomless sex between 1,700 couples, in which one person was HIV negative, and the other had HIV that was medicated to become undetectable. There were zero HIV transmissions. Not one.<\/p>\n On top of that, there\u2019s also preventative medication now available called PrEP (\u201cPre-Exposure Prophylaxis\u201d) which people can take to stop themselves contracting HIV if they are accidentally exposed to it \u2013 for example, if they sleep with someone who doesn\u2019t yet know they\u2019re a carrier.<\/p>\n These are extraordinary, profound breakthroughs. And Anwar\u2019s Sex Education scene (the one I\u2019m most proud of assisting with in the entire series) gave them a glorious boost in public awareness.<\/p>\n The nurse compassionately educates him about U=U and PrEP, as well as advising practicing safer sex and getting regularly tested, in a sequence praised as \u2018amazing\u2019 by HIV charity Terence Higgins Trust, and lauded by activists who said it had done \u2018more to increase understanding of HIV advancements in 30 seconds than most schools achieve in years.\u2019<\/p>\n We should never forget the horrific losses caused by the AIDS crisis. But together with other recent programmes like Russell T Davies\u2019 It\u2019s A Sin \u2013 which prompted 8,200 HIV testing kits to be ordered in a single day from Terence Higgins; their previous record was just 2,800 \u2013 Sex Education is helping to bury those outdated \u2018tombstone\u2019 associations, and replace them with today\u2019s happier truths.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/09\/Screenshot-2023-09-28-at-13.32.37.png” title_text=”Screenshot 2023-09-28 at 13.32.37″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”fp-in-article-bold” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_font_size=”18px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n REACHING OUT FOR HELP WITH TROUBLES AND TRAUMA IS A BRILLIANT THING \u2013 AND IT\u2019S FINE IF YOU NEED TO TRY SEVERAL DIFFERENT THERAPIES TO FIND YOUR FIT<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n The big, bold, double-underlined-and-highlighted headline at the very top of Sex Education\u2019s text book is that it\u2019s vital for us all to talk more about sex, relationships et al; to have honest, constructive conversations with friends, lovers, health professionals, therapists, and ourselves. Trying to hide questions and problems of this nature under a carpet of silence only creates ominous lumps that repeatedly trip up and damage us (and as one character discovers in the final season, nobody wants an ominous lump\u2026).<\/p>\n The series never makes out that talking is a total and instant catch-all solution for every issue, however. After initially refusing a prescription because she believes she should be strong enough to joust away debilitating post-partum depression with the blunt lance of willpower alone, Jean accepts in her closing scenes that anti-depressants are the leg-up she needs to help ride things out. To process trauma and take back her power following a sexual assault, Aimee tries a whole host of therapeutic tools on a \u2018healing journey\u2019 that includes channelling her emotions into art, masturbating to reclaim her sensuality, and journaling, as well as speaking with specialists. <\/p>\n Sex Education teaches that \u2018getting help\u2019 has many different valid forms; and \u2018feeling better\u2019 sometimes looks like confronting and coping with a challenge over time, rather than expecting to completely conjure it neatly away. <\/p>\n It also shows that the most sage, capable, \u2018together\u2019 Jean Milburns amongst us can fall apart – and there\u2019s no dishonour either in being down, or harnessing whatever assistance we need to get back up again. <\/p>\n If you need support with any of the issues raised in Sex Education, Netflix provide links to a host of specialist resources at WannaTalkAboutIt.com.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”2px” module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|||on|||||” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n IMAGE: Getty<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Script consultant Alix Fox reflects on some of the most important and impactful teachings Sex Education introduced to audiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"revans","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":657,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646\/revisions\/657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}‘These are extraordinary, profound breakthroughs’<\/h2>\n