Rachel Bloom's hit show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is back for a third season and it is pushing the boundaries of primetime television.
This week's episode, "To Josh, With Love," which aired last night, marked the first time a network show explained the use of the clitoris. Bloom, the writer and star of the show, was inspired to create this plotline after she read a CNN article about the gendered "orgasm gap." In an interview with Mic, she recalled that the article didn't mention the clitoris until halfway through.
The CW series intelligently and thoughtfully pushes boundaries in every episode, whether it is introducing a topic that hasn't been discussed or challenging its audience to think differently about an existing idea. While a guest on the Late Late Show with James Corden, Bloom sheds some light on how she went about getting permission to use the word on television. "I had to have many conversations with legal about why it wasn't graphic or lewd," she explained.
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The plotline tells the story of a man who realizes that "he doesn't give his wife orgasms," Bloom quickly recapped during the television appearance. In order to do the conversation justice, Bloom and the show writers wanted to be as truthful and accurate as possible. Studies have found that only about 24% of women can achieve organism without direct clitoral stimulation.
In the interview with James Corden, there was some confusion as to whether Crazy Ex-Girlfriend would be the first show to say the word on air. While she mentioned Family Guy as the first show to have said it in 2002, it was also said on The Office. Bloom cleared this up on Twitter after fans corrected Audrey Wauchope, one of the writers on the show.
Btw tonight's #CrazyExGirlfriend marks the 1st time clitoris is said on network TV b/c @alinebmckenna @Racheldoesstuff went to battle for it
— Audrey Wauchope (@audreyalison) October 20, 2017
it was indeed said on the office, I totes fucked that up, BUT it's the first time it's explained what it's for
— Rachel Bloom (@Racheldoesstuff) October 20, 2017
Bloom addressed the lack of discussion of the clitoris in a series of tweets back in March, focusing on the lack of education as the primary problem.
This article doesn't mention the clitoris until halfway down, but ALL FEMALE ORGASMS COME FROM THE CLITORIS https://t.co/yJe6HczeYr
— Rachel Bloom (@Racheldoesstuff) March 10, 2017
Growing up, nobody told me that most women can't orgasm from only vaginal penetration, yet by high school I knew 20 euphemisms for fellatio.
— Rachel Bloom (@Racheldoesstuff) March 10, 2017
Girls should be taught in sex ed that if they want to orgasm with penetration, many of them will need to also stimulate the clitoris.
— Rachel Bloom (@Racheldoesstuff) March 10, 2017
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has proven to be not only cry-laugh funny but incredibly insightful and educational. It pushes boundaries to start a conversation rather than in an attempt to be controversial for the sake of it. In the same interview with Mic, Bloom said that she and the show's other writers try "as much as possible to show what sex is really like." Maybe now more shows will feel empowered to do the same.
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