S3 Ep20: Angela Jones: Sex as a Political Act

No matter how much we try to relegate sexuality to the most private corner of our lives, it inevitably escapes. Sex is not really a private act. It’s a political one, which both influences and is influenced by our culture, politics, history, and more.

Angela Jones’s new book, Sex in Public, names sex as a public act, and talks about what it means for our sexuality to be politically and socially constructed and reconstructed. She has so much wisdom on so many topics, and I was thrilled to get to talk to her.

Some of the subjects we cover include:

Angela’s incredible new book, Sex in Public, which everyone should go out and buy immediately.

What truly comprehensive sex education actually looks like, and how parents can get better at talking to their kids about sex and sexuality.

Teaching bodily autonomy and consent, and how we are teaching kids sexual ethics well before we talk to them about sex.

How teaching kids consent can be an act of challenging authority, and why this is often difficult for parents.

Why sexuality cannot exist independence of politics and culture, and how this makes sex a political act.

Desirability politics, and how systems of power shape who and what we are attracted to.

Sexuality as something that is constantly in flux—not a fixed identity.

The hollowness of the notion of sexual empowerment, and how sex positivity has been reduced to the freedom to have sex.

About Angela Jones