4 Great Shows About Love, Lust and Sex
Let's face it, many of us didn't get the most comprehensive or shame-free sex education growing up. It was most likely awkward diagrams, hushed warnings, scaremongering or just complete shaming; sex ed often left us with more confusion than clarity. It was rarely about desire, communication, or the emotional complexity of intimacy. And rarely about pleasure.
Thankfully, pop culture has stepped in to fill some of those gaps in the last few years, and thank god! TV shows and films are becoming increasingly bold, inclusive, and insightful when it comes to sex and relationships and the fluidity that comes with it. Whether it's a fictional drama or a semi-autobiographical retelling, the screen has become a surprisingly powerful (and entertaining) form of sex education. If done right, of course.
From series that explore kink, polyamory, and sexual agency, to stories about grief, illness, healing, and reclaiming pleasure, here are four powerful picks that go beyond surface-level titillation. These shows don't just entertain. They teach us something real about love, lust, identity, and what it means to be fully alive in our bodies. Even if sometimes it is a little dramatised, we'll take it over our sex ed any day!
1. Sex Education (Netflix)
If you haven't already binge-watched Sex Education, this is your sign to come out from under the rock. The British coming-of-age series offers a heartfelt, hilarious, and refreshingly honest look at teenage sexuality, but don't be fooled - it's not just for teens.
The brilliance of Sex Education is its ability to balance comedy, compassion, and real-life issues that we all face during the early years of sex and dating. It unpacks a range of topics, from vaginismus and asexuality to gender identity, shame, and pleasure, with nuance and no judgment. It's truly the sex ed we wish we had in school, plus it stars the excellent Gillian Anderson, whose character you won't want to miss.
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2. She's Gotta Have It (Netflix)
Based on Spike Lee's 1986 film, She's Gotta Have It was reimagined into a stylish and sexually unapologetic series, centred on Nola Darling, a polyamorous, pansexual Black artist living in Brooklyn. This one really got the juices flowing!
Nola is juggling lovers, navigating identity, and expressing herself boldly through art. But this isn't just about sex and finding love; it's about freedom. The show dives into themes of autonomy, race, body image, and creative expression, while celebrating unapologetic female desire.
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3. Sex/Life (Netflix)
Sex/Life is the fantasy-fuelled drama that had people talking - and fantasising -worldwide. Billie, a married mother of two, finds herself torn between her comfortable suburban life and the passionate, chaotic past she once had with her ex, Brad. This one comes with a warning: you will be getting turned on by this one.
With journal entries, steamy flashbacks, the show explores how we wrestle with the desire we're told to tone down. It invites meaningful conversations around erotic autonomy, sexual boredom, and emotional honesty in long-term relationships.
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4. Dying for Sex (Apple TV+)
This one might surprise you. Dying for Sex is a poignant, funny, and beautifully human series based on the true story of Molly, a woman who, after being diagnosed with terminal breast cancer, leaves her marriage and sets off on a journey of sexual awakening and emotional reckoning.
With her best friend Nikki by her side, Molly navigates pleasure, pain, kink, joy, trauma, and intimacy. The show is a raw, challenging and explores what it means to live and love fully.
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Your Pleasure Curriculum Can Be Fun
Pop culture isn't perfect, but it's finally offering the diverse, pleasure-focused stories that most of us never got from traditional sex education. These shows remind us that sexuality isn't one-size-fits-all. It's messy, joyful, painful, playful, healing and most of all deeply human.
By watching characters explore their identities, face shame, embrace their desires, and navigate real-life dilemmas, we're given permission to do the same. And if a bit of pleasure comes along with it? Even better.
