Bad Sex

Bad Sex traces the evolution of representations of sex on screen, moving away from earlier portrayals of sex as dangerous, taboo, or glamorous, to more complex depictions of power struggles and often awkward or painful experiences and feelings. Billy Holzberg, Jacqueline Gibbs and Aura Lehtonen examine the representation of sex and sexuality in contemporary Anglo-American drama and 'dramedy' shows like Fleabag (2019), Sex Education (2019-), I May Destroy You (2020) and Please Like Me (2013-16), arguing that TV is where the politics of sexuality and gender is negotiated under the contemporary conditions of neoliberalism. Through close readings of key scenes, they identify this shift as driven by the diversification of representations of sex and sexuality, with women, trans and non-binary, Black and minority ethnic, working-class and disabled TV professionals carving a space for themselves in a traditionally white, middle-class, and cis male dominated industry. In doing so, they explore the affective potential and limits of 'bad' sex on our TV screens and what these representations can tell us about sexual politics and gender cultures today.