Sex Education has become the year's first big Netflix hit since it debuted on 11th January, getting us talking about everything from its unique depiction of a British school to its excellent abortion episode.
Now actress Aimee Lou Wood, who plays namesake Aimee in the show, has spoken about the important way Sex Education is "debunking myths" surrounding female sexuality. The show, largely written by its female creator Laurie Nunn, has tackled a range of sex-related issues that we don't often see in coming-of-age series.
"The female orgasm is basically a myth while you're at school, it's all about the boy. I think that someone like Aimee is so interesting because she's got probably the most sex scenes out of anyone, and so you think, 'Oh, she's this really sexually liberated girl who's so confident. She gets her clothes off and ba-ba-ba-ba,'" Wood told Teen Vogue.
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"But she's actually not, she's having sex for the completely wrong reasons, and she's people-pleasing, and it's out of codependency. And I love that bit with Otis when she's, 'No one's ever asked me that before,' about Steve asking her about what she wants. I get that because I remember being that age, and if someone had asked me that, I would have been so embarrassed because I would have had no idea what to say."
Continuing, Wood said she's "really happy" that the show encourages young women to speak more openly about masturbation and what they want from sex.
"[Boys would] be shameless about [discussing masturbation] at school, and it was all the girls being like, 'I don't know what that is. We don't masturbate.' It was a complete taboo," the actress said. "I think [we're] debunking some of those myths about if a boy plugs away, a girl's going to have a great time, but no, girls need to be like, 'No, this is what I want.' So I'm really happy that that's in the show."
During a recent interview with Refinery29, Sex Education's Emma Mackey – who plays Aimee's friend Maeve – shared her thoughts on the show's sensitively-handled "vagina-shaming" storyline.
“There are lots of young women who feel like they have an ugly vagina or their vagina is wrong and it has to look a certain way. There’s this whole generation of young women who feel like they’re not adequate enough," Mackey said. "I just find it so sad, and I really hope … this show will open conversations around topics like that."