The Sex Education Show (Tuesdays at 9pm, C4) highlights the need for UK citizens to talk more about sex – and more openly, honestly and without embarrassment. The Sexperience website I commissioned to complement and extend the series is centred on talking openly about sex. At its heart are 350 short videos, talking heads, ‘ordinary’ individuals from a wide spread of demographics and backgrounds talking about their first-hand experiences of sexual issues, problems and solutions.
You navigate the Sexperience site mainly through questions – ranging from “Have you ever had a problem using contraception?” to “What impact did abortion have on you longer term?” and for any given question you’ll find a range of answers which may even be mutually contradictory and will certainly be diverse. The idea behind this is to offer something which goes beyond the easy answers of self-help manuals and acknowledges the complexity and individuality of sex.
In the three hours after the show went out this week there were 480,000 page views on the site, taking it to the top of the hit parade on channel4.com. There were 2,000 (pre-moderated) comments and questions posted in the first week, a large proportion evidently from 16-18 year olds, clearly hungry for answers and often astonishingly ill-informed. So there are strong indications that the interest, the engagement and the need are there. One of the first viewer enquiries that made its way through to me was an NHS teen pregnancy unit in Lincolnshire which asked to use the site in their advice literature.
In the same way, you can take it as read that The Guardian may well understand the rationale of The Sex Education Show and its pre-watershed scheduling, needless to say the Daily Mail gave it a bit of a rough ride:
“Channel 4 has been accused of peddling obscenity… school pupils asked to discuss pornography… In the programme a group of boys were shown close-up images of penises and asked which they thought was the average size… A male model’s genitals were also shown in close up as a female doctor described in depth the anatomy of the penis… “
So it seems only appropriate to give the last word to the Daily Mail readers who posted 167 comments in 108 minutes under that article… (for copyright reasons I can’t reproduce the comments verbatim so allow me to paraphrase):
Annie from Lincoln recounts how she watched the show with her husband and 12-year-old son and how, “it sparked a really honest and helpful discussion.” She says that she didn’t find the images of genitalia prurient or arousing and with reference to her son confirms, “it was actually helpful for him to see how other normal people looked, without resorting to porn.” The message she took from those sequences was to be happy with your body.
Jeff from Chester, a parent of teenagers, found the programme “very informative and real”. He thought it would be much more useful to show teenagers a programme like this than “the tepid sex education stuff they usually get at school”. He felt this kind of real-life education is what is needed to reduce the prevalence of STIs and unwanted pregnancies.
David Burns of Coventry thought it was “not vulgar or seedy in any way at all”. As a 48-year-old with four children he even learnt new things himself – he had never realised that condoms come in different sizes. Shouldn’t teenagers know that? he asks.
Ali from Liverpool reminds readers of Channel 4’s particular remit, feels the Channel is the only UK broadcaster which could make a programme like this and defends the scheduling at 8pm, confirming it as “the right time but no earlier.” He sees The Sex Education Show as clearly educational with responsible pre-warning of the frank and sometimes explicit nature of the content.
Ellie from London highlights how children and teenagers are exposed through the internet to what she calls the “soft pornographic side of sex which is zero education”. She appreciates the honesty and reality of the portrayal of sexual anatomy and feels it is what responsible parents should be doing anyway. She is wary of glossing over these realities when addressing say a 13 year old child otherwise they are “then more than likely going to naively get into trouble”. She wishes more parents would speak to their children as honestly.
Arwen from Edinburgh concisely states, “This show is educational” and believes society needs to be less scared of talking about sexn concluding “unless you prefer teen pregnancy that is.”
Whether you’re an alpha Mail or a Guardian of free expression, I’d be delighted to hear whether you feel Sexperience and/or The Sex Education Show achieves its underlying educative intent. Please leave your comments below…
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I think The Sex Education Show is a fantastically brave idea, which couldn’t have been done better by any other channel. Hopefully the unashamed honesty displayed by the presenter and featured people will positively effect the state of embarassment and secrecy surrounding sex in Britain, particularly with young people. If we’re all talking about it and extensive information is available easily there won’t be as many unwanted pregnancies or STIs, and these problems will be sorted quickly if they do occur.
i feel that the programme,to date, is too focused on male genitals. when are you going to show close-ups of girls’ and women’s genitalia so that they can see how they compare to other female genitals in terms of labia size,colour,etc. you should also be showing women how to examine their vaginas,inside and out,for signs of anything untoward as you have been with male genitalia. you should also show women how to attend to genital hygiene as they are even more susceptible to infection given the proximity of the vagina to the anus,etc. also,it would be helpful if you showed women how to do a proper breast examination. i think the programme has wasted a lot of time on relatively useless issues like food,dance,footwear,odours,etc,re sex and not enough time on more important issues like those i have already mentioned. i ,and many of my co-workers who deal with women’s health problems,are shocked that you have not yet shown girls how to examine their genitals as you have with men on the programme. this is a great imbalance and does not give women the chance to properly learn vaginal inspection and hygiene and does not help to show women how their genitalia compares to other women,you have spent far too much time on male genitalia. also,you have given far too much time and credence to teenage boys who boast about the early loss of their virginity. don’t you know how young men are given to lying about such issues. you take their stories at face value and givve them a platform to boast and lie to the nation. i feel that you have let women down badly with this show so far. if you have any footage of women’s genital examination and hygiene,etc,it should have been aired in programme 2 or 3 instead of wasting time on the silly segments (food,dance,etc),the vaginal exam,etc,are more important to women than the other silly stuff which should have been left for the later programmes. thank you,maresa crale
an absolutely well informed show…under no circumstances would i have allowed myself or my children to take part in this programme if i thought it was of a pornographic nature, but then i am a parent who informs my children of absolutely everything they need to know with regards to sex, sti’s, personal hygiene the lot. i took great offence to the fact that an ex pat referred to my children (and others on the show) as a typical example of youths today, who were a bunch of yobs and doubted that they learnt anything…they were all extremely articulate young men, but then then i suppose you needed to watch the show and not comment from afar!
I’ve watched all 4 episodes of the Sex Education Show to date, I have no problem with the contents of the show but I do find it extremely sexist. It seems like the entire show was made to titillate from a female point of view and the opportunity to see mens willies.
Why is it that mainly only male genitals get shown and naked men? They showed over half a dozen live close ups of mens private parts being examined compared to only one of a woman. So far the score for genitalia between the sexes is “Men 7 vs Women 1″ this does not include buttocks, still photos and general nudity which again overwelmingly about men.
Whats more even the birthing scene was censored which you would think should have been shown.
Why not have a team of female hockey players stripping off every week and put through a sexual health programme?
If Channel 4 want to create an education show that is informative to viewers and families to take seriously when discussing the subject of “sex” then a fair, sensible and balance approach is needed for both genders.
Thank you, Channel 4 for puttting on something educational about sex and sexual health before the watershed!
I work in sexual health education and training and try my best to get a balanced view across in my courses but it is a struggle and I am continually astonished by how little we, as a nation, seem to know about the subject – across all ages.
I do have some ctiticism, however. I agree with the comments on gender imbalance on visual images of genitals and genital examination made by others in this blog. I do wish, too, that a programme like this didn’t have to have the presenter going thorugh the ubiquitous full waxing too. For many of us working in this field, there is a serious concern about how this trend infantilises women by encouraging a pre-pubescent look.
On the show about contraception methods the presenter did manage to personally ‘diss’ the diaphragm, the patch and the femidom and then the key images shown in relation to depo-provera injections and the implant were large images of needles which was completely unnecessary and very off-putting for anyone considering these highly effective methods. We have a real challenge to educate people about the whole range of methods and I’m not sure the coverage in the programme would have helped that cause paricularly.
When we promote condom use we have to be focussed on how they can enhance sexual experience too and, again, the demonstartion was far too limited and ‘clinical’. If the producers or the presenter would ever like to come to one of my training courses and see how we would like sexual health to covered, I would be more than happy to have them as a guest.
Yes, another sexist programme with absolutely no balance or fairness when it comes to genitalia! Seems like another pathetic excuse for showing mens penises and frankly getting away with it! I can’t quite work out if this is sexist against men or women!!! But it’s certainly not “fair”, which makes the programme makers look like a bunch of idiots!
Why is showing female genitals STILL taboo?
Very Good idea
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