Third Season of “Sex Education” and the Influence of the Digital Age in Sexuality in Young People
The third season of Sex Education, the famous Netflix series, has been recently premiered. The production has once again put relevant issues on the table for the young and adolescent public.
Sex Education throughout all its seasons manages to break paradigms and deal with situations and problems that have historically been considered taboo. Photo: YT-Netflix
LatinAmerican Post | Nicolás Donoso
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Leer en español: Tercera temporada de “Sex Education” y la era digital en la sexualidad en los jóvenes
Throughout the history of humanity, sexuality has been constantly an object of study, being analyzed not only from pure and simple science but also where different dimensions of the person intervene. For example, the place where you live, your cultural capital, your feelings, your values, your beliefs and your customs, as well as your sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and biological sex; they can influence the person.
Sex Education has perfectly understood the importance of sexuality, managing to attract a significant number of followers from day one (more than two years ago) until the recent premiere of its third season. This series deals in a natural, spontaneous and direct way with various topics that have historically been considered taboo for adolescents and that see in this popular Netflix production how issues such as sex, masturbation, abortion and puberty are addressed.
But Sex Education also stands out for talking about issues that have rarely been mentioned on television, such as hypersexualization in the youngest, erectile dysfunction and the negative consequences that sexual abuse can have on a person.
Sex Education invites you to break taboos
The series is about the life of Otis (Asa Butterfield), an introverted and self-conscious teenager who has many doubts about the process he is going through and who has a mother who is a sexologist, but with whom Otis does not feel comfortable to talk about certain topics. For this reason, the protagonist makes the decision, together with a classmate, to set up a small sexual therapy venture at his school, because he has a lot of theoretical knowledge on the subject.
As mentioned above, Sex Education, throughout all its seasons, manages to break paradigms and deal with situations and problems typical of young people. These are approached with the accuracy and seriousness that this series manages to capture from its main plot, to the characterization of each of its characters.
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The representation of sexuality, demolishing myths and encompassing the diverse world in which we live, ends up being another point in its favor, and also speaks of the current times we are living and the advances that as a society have been achieved until reaching the present times.
The role that television has played in the sexual education of young people and adolescents
In the late 90s, when talking about sexuality, it was normal to hear shy laughter, surprised looks or see people blush, because although it was a topic that was talked about as a joke, many did not want to address it seriously. Television in those days opted for the first option, showing that sexuality was what to be ashamed of, that it was for adults and not for younger people.
Luckily for today's young people, that has now been modified, and not only with newer series such as Sex Education, but for more than a decade with productions such as Sex in New York, Skins, Skam, Merlí and Physics & Chemistry, where each one is in charge of delegitimizing the fact that talking about sex is a bad thing.
Surely the digital age has greatly favored this new approach. Adolescents, more and more, demand content where the protagonists are precisely them, seeking to see themselves represented on the screen and that their dreams, desires, concerns and discoveries are reflected on the screen and are not hidden. That Sex Education is one of the series preferred by this audience is partly explained by this: addressing issues of great importance for young people that were previously left aside, but that they incorporate and are represented with clear success.
