Bad Sex traces the evolution of representations of sex on screen, from earlier portrayals of sex as glamorous or taboo, to more complex depictions of often awkward or painful experiences and feelings.
Jacqueline Gibbs, Billy Holzberg, and Aura Lehtonen examine the representation of sex and sexuality in contemporary English language drama and 'dramedy' shows like Fleabag (2016, 2019), Sex Education (2019-23), I May Destroy You (2020) and Euphoria (2019-), arguing that TV is where the politics of sexuality and gender is negotiated under the contemporary conditions of neoliberalism.
Through a cultural analysis of key television shows, they identify this shift as driven by the diversification of representations of sex and sexuality, as women, trans and non-binary, Black and minority ethnic, working-class and disabled TV professionals carve some space in a traditionally white, middle-class, cis male dominated industry. In doing so, they explore the affective potential and limits of 'bad' sex on our screens and what these representations can tell us about sexual politics and gender cultures today.
Bad Sex
Jacqueline Gibbs, Billy Holzberg and Aura Lehtonen
Examining popular TV series like Fleabag (2019) and Sex Education (2019), Bad Sex asks what awkward or non-vanilla sex scenes on television have to tell us about the contemporary politics of sex and gender.
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Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication Date: 06-02-2025
Format: Bloomsbury Academic | 216 x 138mm | 232 pagesAbout the Author
Jacqueline Gibbs is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at City St George's, University of London, UK. Her research explores political and socio-cultural conceptualisations of vulnerability and care. She has published on these themes in Feminist Media Studies, MAI Feminism and Visual Cultures, Feminist Review and Sociological Review Magazine.
Billy Holzberg is Lecturer in Social Justice at King's College London, UK. He is the author of Affective Bordering: Race, Deservingness and The Emotional Politics of Migration Control (2024). His research examines the sexual and affective politics that shape growing social inequalities, nationalism, and right-wing authoritarianism.
Aura Lehtonen is Associate Professor in Sociology at the University of Greenwich, UK. She is the author of The Sexual Logics of Neoliberalism in Britain: Sexual Politics in Exceptional Times (2023). Her research explores how difference, diversity and inequalities are understood, conceptualised and represented in contemporary culture and politics, with a specific focus on sexuality.
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