‘Own your narrative’: teenagers as producers and consumers of porn in Netflix’s Sex Education

ABSTRACT

Netflix’s Sex Education both represents sex education and educates viewers about sex. From the opening scene of the first episode, viewers are positioned to see this series as one that is not afraid to represent explicitly the details of a range of sexual experiences. The series’ frank depiction of sexual relationships between characters, and its exploration of characters’ hopes, fears, and choices regarding ways to express their sexual desire is, arguably, ground-breaking. This paper focuses upon the ways in which the series represents young people as producers and consumers of pornographic/erotic narratives, harnessing the communication options within their social settings to develop understandings of, and share, information that is often structured as ‘inappropriate’ for under-18 year-olds. Sex Education sits at the intersection of information (seeking), communication, and society, as young people explore issues of crucial interest and importance to them, which have been all but ignored in most of their school curriculum offerings. Challenging a dominant social perception of sexually-explicit materials as harmful to young people, and suggesting instead that such materials may be beneficial, the series demonstrates how young people may come together to learn about themselves and each other, even as they confront the double standards of a hypersexualised society that offers no legitimate speaking position to under-18s. In this environment, with adults absent from authentic discussion, young people co-construct their future adult selves through producing, consuming, and discussing sexual content (and activities) in conversation with other young people.

KEYWORDS:

• Netflix’s Sex Education
• pornography
• erotica
• teenagers
• sex education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council's Discovery Projects funding scheme (project DP190102435). The views expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Australian Government or Australian Research Council.

Notes on contributors

Debra Dudek

Debra Dudek is an Associate Professor in the English Program at Edith Cowan University, Australia. She has published extensively on visual and verbal texts for young people, including television, film, graphic novels, and picture books. Much of her research focuses on how texts for young people communicate ethics and social justice issues. She is the author of The Beloved Does Not Bite: Moral Vampires and the Humans Who Love Them (Routledge, 2017) [email: [email protected]].

Giselle Woodley

Giselle Woodley is a PhD Candidate and researcher under the School of Arts and Humanities at Edith Cowan University in Australia. Giselle possesses a background in Sexology, Arts and Media. Giselle currently teaches with the School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry and the School of Design and Built Environment at Curtin University. She has experience with teaching, engaging, and working with young adults both locally and abroad. She is particularly interested in reducing sexual violence and promoting relationships and sexual education (RSE), especially in terms of building respect, empathy, and healthy relationships [email: [email protected]].

Lelia Green

Lelia Green is Professor of Communications in the School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University, Perth. She has been researching into children’s and young people’s responses to digital media for over 20 years, including working as a Chief Investigator for two Australian Research Council Centres of Excellence: the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (2005-2013) and the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child (from 2021). She is author of The Internet: An introduction to new media (Berg, 2010), and Technoculture: From alphabet to cybersex (Allen & Unwin, 2001) [email: [email protected]].