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Revealed: How much regular sex each generation is having

While it's often seen as a taboo subject, researchers from Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, have just revealed their report on the sex lives of thousands of people around the world and across different generations. The report, titled The State of Dating: How Gen Z is Redefining Sexuality and Relationships is based on data from over 3,310 people of the dating app, Feeld. The participants, who came from 71 different countries and between 18-75 years old, were surveyed about their sex lives and results are not what you'd expect. Gen Z is having less sex, fewer partners and fewer relationships than other generations, reporting that on average they had had sex three times in the last month. "Gen Z and Boomers exhibited nearly identical sexual frequencies, suggesting that both the youngest and oldest adults are having the least sex," the researchers, led by Dr Justin Lehmiller, wrote in the report. Millennials and Gen X reported slightly higher figures, with both groups having sex five times in the last month. "Also, nearly half of Gen Z reported that they were single, compared to only one-ﬁfth of Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers." Despite having the least sex, Gen Z appears to be the most adventurous group in the bedroom, with 55 per cent of them saying they'd discovered a new kink since joining the app compared to 49 per cent of Millennials, 39 per cent of Gen X, and 33 per cent of Boomers. Researchers said there are two possible explanations for this. "One is simply that older adults have had more time to learn and discover what they enjoy about sex, so they may have already uncovered their kinks. "However, the other is that it also appears to be the case that younger adults today have a greater overall interest in kink than older adults, which may create greater openness to exploring and learning about one's kinks." The researchers hope that their findings will help shed new light on the evolution of sex, gender, sexuality and relationships. "Despite the longstanding tendency of humans to narrowly categorize sexuality and relationships, they have always existed on a continuum, and that continuum will only evolve and expand further as Gen Z and future generations continue their pursuit of sexual and relational self-discovery," they wrote. "The more that we can understand and embrace this simple fact of human life, the better suited we will all be to pursuing pleasure and happiness." Images: Shutterstock

Relationships

Sex And The City star dies aged 93

Sex And The City star Frances Sternhagen has died aged 93. The actress is known for her remarkable career, both on the stage and on-screen, with seven Tony Award nominations, passed away peacefully in her home on Monday night. Her representative, Sarah Fargo, announced the news to CNN on behalf of Sternhagen's family. “It is with great sadness we share the news that our dear mother, actress Frances Sternhagen, died peacefully of natural causes in New Rochelle, NY, on November 27, 2023 at the age of 93,” she told the publication. “She is survived by her six children, nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. “A celebration of her remarkable career and life is planned for mid-January, near her 94th birthday. We continue to be inspired by her love and life.” <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/C0OhBNduiXt/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C0OhBNduiXt/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by John Carlin (@wassadamo)</a> </div> </blockquote> Sternhagen's son John Carlin took to Instagram to pay tribute to his late mum on Wednesday. “Frannie. Mom. Frances Sternhagen,” he began the post, with a series of pictures of the actress throughout her career. “On Monday night, Nov 27, she died peacefully at her home, a month and a half shy of her 94th birthday. I will post more soon but for now I just want to give thanks for the remarkable gift of an artist and human being that was Frances Sternhagen. “She was beloved by many. I’m very lucky I was able to call her my mom, my friend, my song and dance partner. “We were together last week, and we spoke Monday afternoon, said how much we loved and missed one another. “I was about to board a plane for London when I got the news, and am there now. “Set to perform some new songs (one of which was inspired by her) this weekend. She always encouraged my writing, and enjoyed my singing. I’ll fly back very early the next day. “Fly on, Frannie. The curtain goes down on a life so richly, passionately, humbly and generously lived. 🙏🏻❤️.” Sternhagen played the role of Bunny MacDougal, Trey's overbearing mother in Sex and The City, between 2000-2002. In the early 1990s she played Cliff Clavin’s mother Esther on Cheers, and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award twice, with the third being for her role as Bunny. Aside from her work on screen, the actress was also a decorated stage performer, making her debut on broadway in 1955 at just 25-years-old. Images: Instagram

Caring

Don’t blame women for low libido. Sexual sparks fly when partners do their share of chores – including calling the plumber

When a comic about “mental load” <a href="https://english.emmaclit.com/2017/05/20/you-shouldve-asked/">went viral in 2017</a>, it sparked conversations about the invisible workload women carry. Even when women are in paid employment, they remember their mother-in-law’s birthday, know what’s in the pantry and organise the plumber. This mental load often goes unnoticed. Women also <a href="https://theconversation.com/yet-again-the-census-shows-women-are-doing-more-housework-now-is-the-time-to-invest-in-interventions-185488">continue to do more housework</a> and childcare than their male partners. This burden has been exacerbated over the recent pandemic (homeschooling anyone?), <a href="https://theconversation.com/planning-stress-and-worry-put-the-mental-load-on-mothers-will-2022-be-the-year-they-share-the-burden-172599">leaving women</a> feeling exhausted, anxious and resentful. As sexuality researchers, we wondered, with all this extra work, do women have any energy left for sex? We decided to explore how mental load affects intimate relationships. We focused on female sexual desire, as “low desire” affects <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1743609520307566">more than 50% of women</a> and is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0091302217300079">difficult to treat</a>. Our study, published in the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00224499.2022.2079111">Journal of Sex Research</a>, shows women in equal relationships (in terms of housework and the mental load) are more satisfied with their relationships and, in turn, feel more sexual desire than those in unequal relationships. <h2>How do we define low desire?</h2> Low desire is tricky to explore. More than simply the motivation to have sex, women describe sexual desire as a state-of-being and a need for closeness. Adding to this complexity is the fluctuating nature of female desire that changes in response to life experiences and the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160630-the-enduring-enigma-of-female-desire">quality of relationships</a>. Relationships are especially important to female desire: relationship dissatisfaction is a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18410300/">top risk factor</a> for low desire in women, even more than the physiological impacts of age and menopause. Clearly, relationship factors are critical to understanding female sexual desire. As a way of addressing the complexity of female desire, a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-018-1212-9">recent theory</a> proposed two different types of desire: dyadic desire is the sexual desire one feels for another, whereas solo desire is about individual feelings. Not surprisingly, dyadic desire is intertwined with the dynamics of the relationship, while solo desire is more amorphous and involves feeling good about yourself as a sexual being (feeling sexy), without needing validation from another. <h2>Assessing the link</h2> Our research acknowledged the nuances of women’s desire and its strong connection to relationship quality by exploring how fairness in relationships might affect desire. The research involved asking 299 Australian women aged 18 to 39 questions about desire and relationships. These questions included assessments of housework, mental load – such as who organised social activities and made financial arrangements – and who had more leisure time. We compared three groups: <ul> <li>relationships where women perceived the work as equally shared equal (the “equal work” group)</li> <li>when the woman felt she did more work (the “women’s work” group)</li> <li>when women thought that their partner contributed more (the “partner’s work” group).</li> </ul> We then explored how these differences in relationship equity impacted female sexual desire. <h2>What we found</h2> The findings were stark. Women who rated their relationships as equal also reported greater relationship satisfaction and higher dyadic desire (intertwined with the dynamics of the relationship) than other women in the study. Unfortunately (and perhaps, tellingly), the partner’s work group was too small to draw any substantial conclusions. However, for the women’s work group it was clear their dyadic desire was diminished. This group was also less satisfied in their relationships overall. We found something interesting when turning our attention to women’s solo desire. While it seems logical that relationship inequities might affect all aspects of women’s sexuality, our results showed that fairness did not significantly impact solo desire. This suggests women’s low desire isn’t an internal sexual problem to be treated with <a href="https://www.insider.com/guides/health/yoni-eggs#:%7E:text=Yoni%20eggs%20are%20egg%2Dshaped,bacterial%20infections%20and%20intense%20pain.">mindfulness apps and jade eggs</a>, but rather one that needs effort from both partners. Other relationship factors are involved. We found children increased the workload for women, leading to lower relationship equity and consequently, lower sexual desire. Relationship length also played a role. Research shows long-term relationships are <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-018-1175-x">associated with</a> decreasing desire for women, and this is often attributed to the tedium of over-familiarity (think of the bored, sexless <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBq-Nyo0lQg">wives in 90s sitcoms</a>). However our research indicates relationship boredom is not the reason, with the increasing inequity over the course of a relationship often the cause of women’s disinterest in sex. The longer some relationships continue, the more unfair they become, lowering women’s desire. This may be because women take on managing their partner’s relationships, as well as their own (“It’s time we had your best friend over for dinner”). And while domestic housework may start as equally shared, over time, women <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/women-spent-more-time-men-unpaid-work-may">tend to do more</a> household tasks. <h2>What about same-sex couples?</h2> Same-sex couples have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/fare.12293">more equitable relationships</a>. However, we found the same link between equity and desire for women in same-sex relationships, although it was much stronger for heteronormative couples. A sense of fairness within a relationship is fundamental to all women’s satisfaction and sexual desire. <h2>What happens next?</h2> Our findings suggest one response to low desire in women could be to address the amount of work women have to take on in relationships. The link between relationship satisfaction and female sexual desire has been firmly established in <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-018-1175-x">previous research</a> but our findings explain how this dynamic works: women’s sense of fairness within a relationship forecasts their contentment, which has repercussions on their desire for their partner. To translate our results into clinical practice, we could run trials to confirm if lowering women’s mental load results in greater sexual desire. We could have a “housework and mental load ban” for a sample of women reporting low sexual desire and record if there are changes in their reported levels of desire. Or perhaps women’s sexual partners could do the dishes tonight and see what happens. Image credit: Shutterstock This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-blame-women-for-low-libido-sexual-sparks-fly-when-partners-do-their-share-of-chores-including-calling-the-plumber-185401" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Relationships

Sex and the City star’s family heartbreak

Sex and the City star Kim Cattrall has taken to social media to announce that she has lost her mother. She revealed to fans with a touching series of throwback images on Instagram that Shane Cattrall has died at an amazing 93 years of age. Cattrall, 66, shared the heartfelt post along with the caption: "Shane Cattrall 1929 - 2022. Rest in peace Mum." The photos included selfies of Shane and Kim together, and a sweet photo of the pair together on Kim's graduation day. There were also some older black-and-white photos of Shane, and a sweet one of a school-aged Kim with her mum. Plenty of friends and fans have shared their condolences, including British talk show host Alan Carr. Kim, who appears on the TV show Queer As Folk, also saw her show co-stars send their love. So far Kim's Sex and the City castmates Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon and Sarah Jessica Parker are yet to comment. It's unlikely Parker will comment given she and Kim's falling out over the years, and how Cattrall reacted the last time Parker tried to reach out to her after a family tragedy. In 2018, after Kim's brother Chris was found dead after going missing, Parker reached out privately to her, but Kim wasn't so thrilled about the support. The actress took to social media to share a damning response to Parker: "I don't need your love or support at this tragic time @sarahjessicaparker," she wrote. It was followed by an even more fiery caption, which even referenced her late mum: "My Mom asked me today 'When will that @sarahjessicaparker, that hypocrite, leave you alone?'," Kim wrote in the caption. "Your continuous reaching out is a painful reminder of how cruel you really were then and now. "Let me make this VERY clear. (If I haven't already) You are not my family. You are not my friend. So I'm writing to tell you one last time to stop exploiting our tragedy in order to restore your 'nice girl' persona." Parker never responded to the post, later telling Harper's Bazaar, "So there was no fight; it was completely fabricated because I actually never responded. And I won't, because she needed to say what she needed to say, and that is her privilege." Image: Instagram

Caring

Is your partner a man-child? No wonder you don’t feel like sex

A man sits on the couch, watching TV. His partner, a woman, prepares dinner, while mentally ticking off her to-do list. That includes returning her partner’s shirts she’d ordered online for him last week, and booking a GP appointment for their youngest child. He walks in and asks her “what’s for dinner?”, then goes back to the TV. Later that night, he’s surprised she’s not interested in sex. The people in this scenario are a woman and a man. But it could be a woman and her child. The dynamics are very similar – one person providing instrumental and emotional care, and the other receiving that care while showing little acknowledgement, gratitude or reciprocation. You’re reading about a man who depends on his partner for everyday tasks that he is actually capable of. Some people call this the “<a href="https://www.instyle.com/lifestyle/hump-day/what-is-a-man-child" target="_blank" rel="noopener">man-child</a>” phenomenon. Maybe you’ve lived it. Our <a href="https://t.co/zDWcUZYsVn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">research</a> shows it’s real. <h2>The man-child is real</h2> The <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-021-02100-x" target="_blank" rel="noopener">man-child phenomenon</a> (or perceiving a partner as dependent, as we call it) describes the blurring of roles between a partner and a child. You may hear women describe their male partners as their “dependent” or one of their children. When a partner starts to feel like they have a dependent child, it’s not surprising if that affects a woman’s sexual desire for him. We set out to explore whether this might explain why many women partnered with men <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11930-014-0027-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> low sexual desire. Surprisingly, until our study, there were no studies that had tried to directly measure the impact of the man-child phenomenon on women’s sexual desire. <h2>What we did</h2> We conducted <a href="https://t.co/zDWcUZYsVn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two studies</a> with more than 1,000 women from around the world, in relationships with men. All our participants had children under the age of 12. We asked the women to rate their agreement with statements like, “Sometimes I feel as though my partner is like an extra child I need to look after.” We also asked them about the division of household labour in their relationship, and their level of sexual desire for their partner. We found consistent evidence that: <ul> <li> when women performed more household labour than their partner, they were more likely to perceive their partner as dependents (that is, the man-child phenomenon) </li> <li> perceiving a partner as a dependent was associated with lower sexual desire for that partner. </li> </ul> When taken together, you could say women’s partners were taking on an unsexy role – that of a child. There could be other explanations. For instance, women who perceive their partners as dependents may be more likely to do more around the house. Alternatively, low desire for a partner may lead to the partner being perceived as a dependent. So we need more research to confirm. Our research highlights a pretty bleak snapshot of what people’s relationships can involve. And while the man-child phenomenon may not exist for you, it reflects broader gendered inequities in relationships. <h2>Is there a man-child equivalent in same-sex relationships?</h2> Our research was solely about relationships between women and men, with children. But it would be interesting to explore if the man-child phenomenon exists in same-sex or gender-diverse relationships, and what the impact might be on sexual desire. One possibility is that, in relationships between two women, men, or non-binary people, household labour is more <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10894160.2016.1142350?casa_token=Qz37Pcn3THYAAAAA%3AD81uS-d6AQ5ZaV41IXTIXIsE2RmsUqIOIkoQqBC8ThSMyfYhs8GAjy4uLEP6bkxTXARWpSfeI-wRMAE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">equitably negotiated</a>. As a result, the mother-child dynamic may be less likely to emerge. But no-one has studied that yet. Another possibility is that one person in the relationship (regardless of gender identity) takes on a more feminine role. This may include more of the mothering, nurturing labour than their partner(s). If that was the case, we might see the man-child phenomenon in a broader range of relationships. Again, no-one has studied this. Perhaps, anyone could be the “man-child” in their relationship. <h2>What else don’t we know?</h2> Such future research may help explore different types of relationship dynamics more broadly. This may help us understand what sexual desire might look like in relationships where roles are equitably negotiated, chosen, and renegotiated as needed. We might learn what happens when household labour is valued like paid labour. Or what happens when both partners support each other and can count on each other for daily and life needs. Women might be less likely to experience their partners as dependents and feel more sexual desire for them. In other words, the closer we are to equity in actively caring for each other, the closer we might be to equity in the capacity for feeling sexual desire with our partner. This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-your-partner-a-man-child-no-wonder-you-dont-feel-like-sex-194913" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Relationships

Maddie McCann suspect charged with sex offences

Christian Brueckner, the only suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, has been charged with several sex offences. The 45-year-old, who is already in jail for raping a 72-year-old American woman in the Portuguese resort of Praia de Luz in 2005, is the only suspect in the Maddie McCann case. The Braunschweig prosecutor's office said Brueckner has been charged with several sex offences he committed in Portugal between December 28, 2000, and June 11, 2017. “The accused is the same person against whom charges were brought in connection with the disappearance of the then three-year-old British girl Madeleine Beth McCann,” they said in a statement. "Specifically, the accused is charged with three offences of aggravated rape and two offences of sexual abuse of children.” Police are however continuing their investigation into the disappearance of the then three-year-old who vanished in May 2007 from her bedroom in the Algarve apartment where her family were staying. "The investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann continues." "In view of the ongoing investigation, it is not possible to provide any further information on the results of the investigation so far." Brueckner, who was first named as a suspect in the case in April 2022, has denied any involvement in the disappearance of Maddie. Images: Getty

Legal

"Absolutely ridiculous": Aussie grandma charged after exposing sex offender

Content warning: This article includes mentions of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA). A grandmother-of-seven has been charged and hit with a hefty fine after going to great lengths to expose a convicted paedophile who moved to her community. Maxine Davey held up signs reading, ‘Keep children safe from peodophiles (sic)’, along a busy stretch of road to warn residents of the Central Queensland neighbourhood of Calliope that the man had moved there after being released from prison. However, the 59-year-old landed in hot water when she filmed the outside of the man’s home and shared the footage - which included vision of his property and vehicles that could be identified - on Facebook, prompting angry locals to comment and make threats. Ms Davey was found guilty of one count of unlawful stalking, which comes with a potential five-year jail term. “I just wanted to hold up a sign, publicise the fact that other parents (need) to be aware, but then I stepped over the line and broke the law,” she told <a href="https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/queensland-grandmother-convicted-after-outing-predator-on-facebook/2cba9761-85d3-4a4e-8c3d-ee5632a72ef1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Current Affair</a>. “I crossed the line by posting [the video]. I posted it and it was online for two hours and 35 minutes before I quickly removed it. “I was shocked, I was sorry. I didn’t know at the time I’d broken the law, but obviously [the police] told me.” Ms Davey was able to avoid prison time after the magistrate ruled that she pay a $2200 fine instead. Her phone was also confiscated and a conviction was recorded. “I’m really devastated by it all,” Ms Davey said of the conviction. “I’ve never considered myself a criminal and I’ll have this charge against me for the rest of my life.” Since the legal action, sexual assault survivors who were victims of the man Ms Davey exposed have rallied behind her, saying she should be treated as a “hero”, not a criminal. “It is absolutely ridiculous how the justice system works. She shouldn't be put through this. This is not fair,” one victim said. “I believe she is honestly like a hero. It absolutely breaks my heart that she's trying to do the right thing (as) a human and she's absolutely being torn apart for it,” another victim said. The 41-year-old was convicted of rape and multiple counts of indecent treatment of children under the age of 16 and sentenced to two years and nine months of jail time last year. According to the Queensland Government’s website, confidential details about a sex offender can be released by the chief executive of Corrective Services when individual community members need to know information about the offender, such as their employment. Unlike in the US, where Megan’s Law requires police to release information about registered sex offenders to the public, individuals who request confidential information in Australia must sign a confidentiality agreement first. If you or someone you know is in need of support as a result of sexual assault or child sexual abuse, contact the Blue Knot Helpline and Redress Support Service on 1300 657 380, or LifeLine on 13 11 14 for immediate support. Image: Nine

Legal

Kevin Spacey speaks after fresh sex offence charges

Kevin Spacey has finally broken his silence after being charged with four counts of sexual assault. There had been suggestions he could have been extradited from the US to the UK if he didn’t willingly appear in a London court, however in a statement given to US television program Good Morning America, the two-time Oscar winner said he would “voluntarily appear” in the UK to face the charges. Spacey said he was “confident” he could prove his innocence, after being charged on May 26 with four counts of sexual assault, as well as a charge of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. All of the counts are alleged to have happened between 2005 and 2013. Four of the alleged offences are said to have taken place in London, while the other is alleged to have happened in Gloucestershire, in the south-west of England. Police opened an investigation into Spacey’s alleged crimes in 2017 and he was interviewed under caution by the police in 2019. In the statement to Good Morning America, Spacey said he “appreciated” that the CPS has pointed out he was entitled to a fair trial. “While I am disappointed with their decision to move forward, I will voluntarily appear in the UK as soon as can be arranged and defend myself against these charges, which I am confident will prove my innocence.” he said. The alleged offences date from when Spacey was artistic director of London’s Old Vic Theatre, in the city’s south, between 2004 and 2015. Image: Getty

News

UN committee rules anti-lesbian sex laws breach human rights in landmark decision

On Wednesday, a United Nations committee became the first international law body to recognise that criminalising female same-sex sexual activity is a fundamental breach of human rights. The <a href="https://www.humandignitytrust.org/wp-content/uploads/resources/CEDAW-C-81-D-134-2018-English-clean-copy.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">landmark decision</a> means all countries that criminalise women having sex with other women should immediately repeal these laws. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> UN Body Condemns Sri Lanka’s Criminalization of Same-Sex Acts <a href="https://t.co/UW0Opoqfwc">https://t.co/UW0Opoqfwc</a> — Human Rights Watch (@hrw) <a href="https://twitter.com/hrw/status/1506776054706458627?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 23, 2022</a></blockquote> Which countries criminalise homosexuality? <a href="https://antigaylaws.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seventy-one countries</a> still criminalise homosexual conduct. Many of these are our neighbours – <a href="https://antigaylaws.org/regional/asia-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ten in Asia</a> and <a href="https://antigaylaws.org/regional/pacificoceania/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seven in the Pacific</a>. Many people assume these laws only apply to men having sex with men, but that’s not the case. Sexual conduct between women is prohibited in the criminal codes of 34 of these 71 countries. Countries with sharia law such as Afghanistan, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia also essentially criminalise lesbian sex. So there are <a href="https://www.humandignitytrust.org/lgbt-the-law/map-of-criminalisation/?type_filter=crim_sex_women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">43 countries</a> where it’s a crime for women to engage in same-sex sexual activity – almost a quarter of all countries in the world. The majority of the countries that criminalise same-sex sexual activity are members of the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1037969X1403900203" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Commonwealth</a>, whose anti-homosexuality laws were introduced by the British Empire. However, Britain only ever criminalised male homosexual activity, and the expansion of these laws to explicitly include female sexual activity is a relatively recent phenomenon. Countries that have done so include: Trinidad and Tobago (1986), Solomon Islands (1990), Sri Lanka (1995), Malaysia (1998) and Nigeria (2014). In the past 35 years, <a href="https://www.humandignitytrust.org/wp-content/uploads/resources/Breaking-the-Silence-Criminalisation-of-LB-Women-and-its-Impacts-FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ten jurisdictions</a> that previously only criminalised same-sex male sexual intimacy changed their laws to include, for the first time, new criminal sanctions of lesbians and bisexual women. The laws criminalising same-sex activity between women aren’t just arcane laws that are never enforced. In Malaysia just over three years ago, two women were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/03/women-caned-in-malaysia-for-attempting-to-have-lesbian-sex" target="_blank" rel="noopener">caned six times</a> for attempting to have sex. And late last year, a <a href="https://www.advocate.com/world/2021/12/14/lesbian-detained-iran-fears-life-sareh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lesbian activist in Iran</a> was arrested while trying to flee to Turkey to seek asylum. Before this, she was detained for 21 days by the Iraqi Kurdistan police following an interview she did with BBC Persian about the situation of the LGBTQ+ community in Iraqi Kurdistan. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Atrocious punishment of lesbians in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Malaysia?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Malaysia</a> <a href="https://t.co/pknBrYnlO4">https://t.co/pknBrYnlO4</a> — Amnesty UK Rainbow Network (@AmnestyUK_LGBTI) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmnestyUK_LGBTI/status/1037277740951584773?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2018</a></blockquote> The case The case of Flamer-Caldera v Sri Lanka was brought by a lesbian activist to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). She argued that Sri Lanka’s criminal laws violated her right to live her life free from discrimination based on her sexual orientation. The CEDAW committee agreed. It found the effect of Sri Lanka’s criminal code was that lesbian and bisexual women lived with the constant risk of arrest and detention. And the laws facilitate a culture where discrimination, harassment and violence against lesbians and bisexual women can flourish. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> The verdict is clear: compulsory heterosexuality, enforced through legislation and policing as well as unchecked social stigma, violates women’s rights under international law. My piece for <a href="https://twitter.com/OutRightIntl?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OutRightIntl</a> on the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SriLanka?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SriLanka</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CEDAW?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CEDAW</a> ruling: <a href="https://t.co/cahtHV2k2d">https://t.co/cahtHV2k2d</a> — Neela Ghoshal (@NeelaGhoshal) <a href="https://twitter.com/NeelaGhoshal/status/1507106976370769923?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2022</a></blockquote> Law is a tool that governments use to communicate to society what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. When the Sri Lankan government declared any sexual intimacy between consenting women is a crime, it signalled to Sri Lankans that vilification, targeting and harassment of lesbians and bisexual women is acceptable, because they are criminals. The laws not only criminalise same-sex sexual conduct. They also perpetuate homophobia, stigmatise the LGBTQ+ community and sanction gender-based violence against lesbians and bisexual women. This decision sends a clear message to all governments who think it’s OK to persecute, harass and discriminate against lesbians and bisexual women – you are wrong. What now? Sri Lanka now has six months to provide a written response to the CEDAW Committee setting out the action it has taken, or will take, to give effect to the committee’s decision. Repealing the specific provision in the criminal law will not be enough. A much more holistic and nuanced response is required. In particular, the government will need to: <ul> <li> develop campaigns to counter prejudice and stereotypes directed at the LGBTQ+ community </li> <li> enact anti-discrimination laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status </li> <li> embed human rights education in schools, promoting equality and respect for all regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity </li> <li> provide training for police, judges and other law enforcement officials to increase their understanding of, and respect for, the human rights of LGBTQ+ people. This will also enable women to report homophobic crimes to the police without fear of retribution and with the knowledge the perpetrators will be prosecuted </li> <li> ensure there are adequate civil and criminal remedies for members of the LGBTQ+ community who are subjected to discrimination and gender-based violence. </li> </ul> The decision in Flamer-Caldera v Sri Lanka represents a watershed moment in international human rights law and will reverberate around the world. It’s now beyond dispute that criminalising consensual adult same-sex sexual conduct violates a woman’s right to privacy, dignity and non-discrimination. All governments have a duty to protect all women, including lesbians and bisexual women, from discrimination, gender-based violence and other harm. Any country that criminalises the sexual conduct of lesbians and bisexual women, regardless of whether they enforce the laws, is guilty of violating international law.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179936/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/paula-gerber-4812" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paula Gerber</a>, Professor of Human Rights Law, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Monash University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/un-committee-rules-anti-lesbian-sex-laws-breach-human-rights-in-landmark-decision-179936" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>. Image: Getty Images

Legal

‘Sex & the City’ reboot is more groan than groove, and misses the mark

Warning: the following article contains spoilers about the “Sex and The City” reboot I started watching Sex and the City after the HBO series wrapped in 2004. The show’s zeitgeist rippled through conversations about sex, fashion and relationships, but I didn’t know what the buzz was all about. As a PhD student in the mid 2000s with no cable subscription, my visual entertainment consisted of renting VHS tapes and snuggling my cats on a navy futon. My friends couldn’t stop talking about the four main characters who wanted a lot from life, especially in terms of love and relationships. I often heard debates over whether someone was <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/whitneyjefferson/which-sex-and-the-city-character-are-you">a Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte or Miranda</a>. From the first episode I was hooked by the edgy banter and sexual situations they got into. They were also hashing out big issues like work, friendship, LGBTQIA+ rights and most of all what sex means. These issues have woven their way into my career as a sexuality scholar and as a women who identifies with the sexual verve of Samantha, Miranda’s biting humour and Carrie’s writerly profession. But I’m aghast at Sex and the City‘s bougie, whitewashed and sexless reboot called And Just Like That which debuted on Dec. 9. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/09/arts/television/review-and-just-like-that.html">New York Times television critic James Poniewozik</a> describes it as being like two shows: <blockquote> “One, which tries to grow with the women as they navigate their 50s and mortality, is a downer, but it takes risks and in moments is very good. The other, which tries to update its sassy turn-of-the-century sensibility for an era of diversity, is painful.” </blockquote> What can we take away from this epic fail as a society that continues to undervalue women and shun open discussions of age, class, race and sex? <h2>The Peloton Effect</h2> In the first episode Big dies in Carrie’s arms after an intense Peloton (exercise bike) session in their massive Upper East Side apartment. This rather dark scene foreshadows the decline of the smart and saucy social commentary that once defined Sex and the City. The characters seem stuck in the past and confused about who they are as older women. Instead of unpacking these tensions, they’re glossed over. Given that very few characters over 50 in mainstream film and TV are women — <a href="https://seejane.org/research-informs-empowers/women-over-50-report/">as few as one in four</a> — we need shows that feature women’s complex lived experiences instead of those that bend to the whims of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234460">male-driven entertainment industry</a> Fingers crossed that the show bounces back with some fun, anti-ageist narratives like Peloton did after its <a href="https://celebrity.nine.com.au/latest/peloton-releases-ad-with-mr-big-chris-noth-still-alive/0392415a-8ed5-410f-acae-98b139f952cc">stocks descended following the opening episode</a>. <iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Cy8Zz7Q56dY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> Trailer for Sex and the City ‘And Just Like That’ <h2>Miranda</h2> Miranda still has the best lines, like when she describes accidentally touching her son’s used condom over brunch: “I stepped on my son’s semen before coffee.” But she’s also framed as chronically unwoke and <a href="https://www.mediavillage.com/article/and-just-like-that-is-more-reflux-than-reboot/print/">offensive to everyone</a> — how is that comedic? In another scene Miranda contemplates dying her silvering hair. Going or staying grey is a hot topic among Hollywood actors, including Andie MacDowell, who <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/andie-macdowell-gray-salt-and-pepper-hair">calls staying grey a “power move.”</a> Many if not all women grapple with this issue, which can make them feel like they must choose between <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08952841.2021.1899744">feeling authentic and looking competent</a>. Miranda decides not to dye, which may encourage other women to resist dominant beauty trends that are designed to mask the ageing process. We’ve also seen Miranda partake in several morning drinks. When middle-age women drink excessively, we either laugh about it — <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.14082">mummy wine memes — or pathologize it</a>. This is a topic of growing concern and bringing it out of the shadows on primetime could help women who have a problematic relationship with alcohol. <h2>Charlotte</h2> Charlotte resumes her role as the well-meaning, emotional and out-of-touch musketeer. Her character is shown parenting two very different daughters, one who may be non-binary. The challenges that this presents are worth examining given the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2019.1650799">increasing visibility of transgender and gender-diverse children in the public sphere</a>. Charlotte is also depicted pressuring Carrie to attend one of her daughter’s piano recitals at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music. She repeats the name of the musical academy so many times it’s no longer a semi-funny classic Charlotte move but a bloated display of class privilege. Her new friendship with Lisa Todd Wexley, played by accomplished Black actor Nicole Ari Parker, is also problematic. Instead of exploring the dynamics of racialized friendships, Wexley’s character is lauded for being on Vogue‘s best-dressed list. She’s <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-12-10/nicole-ari-parker-sex-and-the-city-and-just-like-that-black-girlfriends">even called “Black Charlotte</a>,” which is racist and drains the character of any attributes of her own. <h2>Carrie</h2> Seeing Carrie behind the computer screen reminds me that she has an occupation — other than being on a podcast beyond her generational reach. She’s the white cis woman on the podcast, amongst a team of racialized and non-binary hosts. Carrie appears to be there to “represent” white women, but the idea that such a representation is needed smacks of dated racialized privilege or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549420985852">what feminist scholars call “political whiteness”</a>. When Carrie is asked to join sexy, confessional dialogue in a meaningful way on the podcast she is shocked. But how could someone be shocked who, decades earlier, called out the orgasm gap way before anyone else? It was pretty revolutionary, as Jordin Wiggins, founder of The Pleasure Collective discusses in her book <a href="https://www.thepleasurecollective.com/">The Pink Canary</a>. Women in mid-life don’t need pearl-clutching when it comes to talking about sexuality, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5903159/">we need to see women owning their desire and using their erotic voice</a>. <h2>Closets to climb back into</h2> As I watched Miranda, Charlotte and Carrie stroll around in expensive clothes with beautifully coiffed hair and Music School memberships I was struck by the stain of their white richness. I used to relate to them when they were struggling in their careers and relationships, but now in their palatial New York City apartments with massive walk-in closets, it doesn’t feel right. The uptake of shows like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/dec/14/maid-the-bleak-humour-of-netflixs-hit-show-rings-true-to-victims-and-thats-not-all-it-gets-right">Maid</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTjlurdbNnw">I May Destroy You</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd2ldTR-WpI">Sex Education</a> demonstrate what viewing audiences want to see. <a href="https://socialsciences.ucla.edu/hollywood-diversity-report-2021/">They want to see themselves</a> in their socio-economic, racialized and embodied diversity. Just like the crumbling patriarchy, the reign of the white, cis, hetero woman is coming to an end as the predominant representation of “women.” It’s far from the only kind of show that sells. The old version of SATC not only reflected our society at the time, but it also helped change it in a lot of ways. Will the ladies of the Upper East Side ever step up their Blahniks?<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173722/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/treena-orchard-752204">Treena Orchard</a>, Associate Professor, School of Health Studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-university-882">Western University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/sex-and-the-city-reboot-is-more-groan-than-groove-and-misses-the-mark-173722">original article</a>. Image: HBO Max

Ghislaine Maxwell conviction in jeopardy over juror's admission

After a highly publicised trial that saw Ghislaine Maxwell convicted for sex-trafficking, the guilty verdict is now in jeopardy. After the trial ended, a juror made comments to the media about how discussing their own experience with sexual abuse with the other jurors helped them reach a guilty verdict, and ultimately affected the jury's deliberations. Both prosecutors and defense attorneys raised concerns over this revelation, as experts told <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.insider.com/ghislaine-maxwell-jurors-could-face-charges-if-lied-under-oath-2022-1" target="_blank">Insider</a> that it's possible Maxwell's conviction could be thrown out as a result of the juror's comments to the media. It is also possible that the juror in question could face legal consequences such as perjury charges, if US District Judge Alison Nathan determines he was untruthful during the pre-trial procedure. The voir dire is the procedure that happens before a trial commences to determine if each prospective juror is suitable to serve objectively. The juror told <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/some-ghislaine-maxwell-jurors-initially-doubted-accusers-juror-says-2022-01-05/" target="_blank">Reuters</a> that they "flew through" the pre-trial questionnaire and didn't recall being asked about any previous experience with sexual assault, as they said they would've answered the question honestly. However, court records show that the questionnaire asked all prospective Maxwell jurors, "Have you or a friend or family member ever been the victim of sexual harassment, sexual abuse or sexual assault?" Following this revelation, a second juror from the Maxwell trial came forward and said they also shared their experiences of sexual assault in the jury deliberations, and potentially swaying the guilty verdict. In the hours after the news of the jurors' own experiences came to light, Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyers have called for a retrial on her case. Maxwell was found guilty on five out of six sex-trafficking and conspiracy counts, and is facing up to 65 years in jail. Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested in July 2020 after her involvement with disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein came to light. Image credits: Getty Images

Legal

Mr Big responds to two sexual assault allegations

Chris Noth has spoken out about recent sexual assault allegations, after two women claim they were assaulted by the 67-year-old. The Sex and the City actor has denied the allegations, saying the encounters were consensual. "The accusations against me made by individuals I met years, even decades, ago are categorically false," Noth said in a prepared statement. "These stories could've been from 30 years ago or 30 days ago — no always means no — that is a line I did not cross. The encounters were consensual. It's difficult not to question the timing of these stories coming out." "I don't know for certain why they are surfacing now, but I do know this: I did not assault these women." Chris has reentered the pop culture conversation recently, as his return to the screen as Mr Big in the Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That premiered last week. The storyline in the reboot between Mr Big and Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, has made headlines around the world, and projected Chris Noth into the pop culture zeitgeist. <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/chris-noth-accused-of-sexual-assault-1235063596/#recipient_hashed=b5b85875847e16b6300a5556e2ad9538b4ea3ee614088f601dba287255540194" target="_blank">The Hollywood Reporter</a> has shared a detailed report on the alleged assaults after speaking to the women in question anonymously. The women, who don't know each other, told the publication that the recent airing of And Just Like That brought up painful memories and prompted them to come forward with the allegations against Chris Noth. One of the women claims she was raped by Noth in Los Angeles in 2004, while the other woman claims she was sexually assaulted by the actor when she was in New York City in 2015. The report shares the intimate details of each assault, to which Chris has not responded to other than his sweeping denial of both instances. Image credits: Getty Images

News

Olympic swim champ arrested after sex with a minor

French swimming champion Yannick Agnel has admitted to having sex with a minor, a prosecutor said on Monday. The 29-year-old, who won two gold medals at the London 2012 Olympics, was arrest at his Paris home last week on suspicion of rape and sexual assault, and taken into police custody. Agnel “recognises the substance of the allegations against him,” Mulhouse public prosecutor Edwige Roux-Morizot told a press conference, adding the swimmer did not “sense that there was coercion”. The prosecutor said the facts constituted “rape or sexual assault as there is a big gap in age” between him and the plaintiff, who has been named as Naome Horter: the teenage daughter of Agnel’s swimming coach. The assault is alleged to have taken place in 2016, when the girl was 13 and Agnel was 24. During the criminal investigation, the French Swimming Federation (FFN) announced they would also be launching a civil action case. “The Federation has been informed of the admission by Mr. Agnel of ‘the substance of the allegations of which he is accused’. The decision was officially taken today to become a civil party before the judicial court of Mulhouse in this case, which the Federation deeply deplores.” Rising to prominence in 2010 after setting a French championship swimming record, Agnel went on to win gold in the 200m freestyle and 4x100m freestyle relay at the London 2012 Olympics. He went to Rio in 2016 to defend his title, but failed to advance through the heats, and later announced his retirement from swimming. Image credits: Getty Images

News

Netflix’s Sex Education is doing sex education better than most schools

Netflix’s comedy <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7767422/">Sex Education</a>, now in its third season, is set among a group of students and teachers at a British high school. In depicting sex education, it teaches viewers about sex and sexuality – often doing a better job than school-based sex ed classes. In the first episode of season three, Dr Jean Milburn (Gillian Anderson) is interviewed on the radio about her new book, Uneducated Nation: A Sex Education Manifesto for Our Youth. When the host asks her to tell him about the book, she replies she was “shocked at the ineptitude” of school sex ed classes. So she created <blockquote> this easy-to-read manual to help empower our teenagers, and their parents, as they become sexually active young adults. </blockquote> <iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zmgYlYw7Uwk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> He responds, “Sounds a bit racy”. Jean retorts, <blockquote> Well, if, by racy, you mean highly researched and completely essential to the health and well-being of our children, then, yes, I suppose it is. </blockquote> Jean’s response could easily be applied to the television series itself – racy but essential. It could also be seen as a comment about how school-based sexual education programs could improve their communication of relevant information to curious teenagers. We are part of an international research team working with scholars from Greece, Ireland and Norway to interview adolescents and their parents about their <a href="https://www.ecu.edu.au/schools/arts-and-humanities/research-and-creative-activity/communication-media-and-cultural-studies/adolescents-perceptions-of-harm-from-accessing-online-content">perceptions of harm in accessing sexual content</a>. As researchers with expertise in the fields of sexology, communication and media studies, we value the knowledge young people share about their own needs and desires. Our research with teens – and into stories that represent their experiences – illustrates they are sexual beings who want and deserve sex-positive information. Too often, this positive side of sex is left out of the classroom. <h2>Sexually provocative, but educational</h2> Sex Education is one example of how stories in popular culture can portray teen sexuality positively. For instance, the opening scene of this first episode of season three is upbeat, playful and sexy. It cuts between at least 13 different moments of sexual pleasure: heterosexual sex, gay sex between young men, gay role-playing sex between young women, masturbating while watching porn, online sex, virtual reality sex – and the pleasure of reading a book while eating cheese puffs. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430938/original/file-20211108-15-144mlop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430938/original/file-20211108-15-144mlop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Asa Butterfield and Gillian Anderson as mother and son" /></a>This sequence is sexually provocative, but it also educational. It shows a range of desires across ages (yes, teachers and parents have sex, too), races, sexualities and body sizes. There are none of the messages about abstinence and fear often associated with representations of teen sex, and no coy curtain-wafting standing in for sex. The premise of the show is the teenagers at Moordale High do not receive adequate sex education classes, so Jean’s son Otis (Asa Butterfield) and his classmate Maeve (Emma Mackey) set up a sex therapy service for their peers. These young people seek information about how to overcome sexual difficulties and become better lovers. They find (usually) correct – and always frank – information from Otis and Maeve, who offer resources and advice. <h2>Teenagers and porn</h2> As we argue in a recent <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2021.1988130">essay</a>, this TV show complicates the idea that pornography is only harmful to teens. Watching porn can be “a bit of fun”, to quote one character, but also a source of misinformation about sex. Sex Education debunks this misinformation, such as when one character mistakenly believes a large penis is required for sexual satisfaction, and another thinks her labia should be tucked in. Teenagers as consumers and producers of pornographic and erotic narratives can use these stories, and the stories in Sex Education, to develop an understanding of sex and sexuality and supplement the information provided in school curriculum. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430939/original/file-20211109-13-5cfbav.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430939/original/file-20211109-13-5cfbav.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Production still" /></a> This seeming contradiction about pornography aligns with a <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/publications/effects-pornography-children-and-young-people">report</a> written by the Australian Institute of Family Studies about the effects of porn on young people. This report highlights the lack of information about how young people access sexual content (unintentionally or intentionally); about the content of pornography they view; and about teenagers’ ability to distinguish between the fantasy pornography represents and the reality of their sexual experiences. The report also found very few accounts from teens themselves about their experiences accessing sexual content online and any perceived harm from it. It points to a need for further research, which includes the voices of adolescents. <h2>Teaching pleasure</h2> Dr Jacqui Hendriks, who coordinates Curtin University’s sexology courses, believes sex ed should include <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-27/sex-education-lgbt-sexuality-young-high-school-pleasure-respect/12960062">discussions of pleasure rather than focusing primarily on reproduction</a>. At present, the quality of sex education varies widely across the nation, but in Western Australia, a group of researchers have <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/2/e026657#xref-ref-8-1">identified</a> the “need for a greater focus on positive sexuality and relevant contemporary issues” in the classroom. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431191/original/file-20211109-15-uycjqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431191/original/file-20211109-15-uycjqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Production image, two black men lean in to kiss" /></a> Sex Education challenges a commonly-held perception teenagers should be protected from the harms of sex and sexual material. The stories told by teens and about teens can be crucial tools to open conversations between children and adults about sex. The conversation started by shows like Sex Education highlights the need for more comprehensive sexual education not only in schools but in communities and in the family home itself.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170776/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/debra-dudek-176691">Debra Dudek</a>, Associate professor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/edith-cowan-university-720">Edith Cowan University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/giselle-natassia-woodley-930025">Giselle Natassia Woodley</a>, Researcher and Phd Candidate, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/edith-cowan-university-720">Edith Cowan University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/netflixs-sex-education-is-doing-sex-education-better-than-most-schools-170776">original article</a>. Image: Netflix

How to stay in Carrie Bradshaw's apartment from Sex and the City

It’s the ultimate experience for fans of Sex and the City. A stunning recreation of the Brownstone New York apartment that the show’s Carrie Bradshaw character lived in is being put up for rent by Airbnb. Sarah Jessica Parker herself played a role in designing it and will be "virtually" welcoming guests when they arrive. “The Carrie Bradshaw character is near and dear to my heart, and revisiting her world for the continuation of the Sex and the City story has been such a joy,” said SJP. Carrie’s brownstone apartment was central to the series and its décor has now been painstakingly recreated by Parker, Airbnb, and a small New York-based production team. The character’s famous walk-in wardrobe, her writing desk and her bedroom appear almost exactly as they did in the cult series. Replicas of key props from the original apartment are dotted throughout, such as circa-2000 cordless phone and a blocky black laptop, like the one Carrie used to labour over her writing. After enjoying a virtual greeting from the actress upon check-in, Airbnb says the guests can sip on cosmopolitans – reminiscent of the many cocktail-laden scenes from the series. A styling session and a photoshoot will also be included in the experience. Guests will get the chance to play dress-up in a recreation of Carrie’s closet, which has been filled with duplicates of some of the iconic looks from the series. This includes a model of the tutu Carrie wears in the show’s opening credits, which is one of the most famous looks curated by the show’s costume designer Patricia Field. Outfits from Carrie’s favourite fashion designers also line the closet, as well as – of course – rows and rows of shoes. “I’m excited for our audience to experience Carrie’s New York like never before and walk in her shoes, quite literally, for the first time," Parker said. Guests will also be invited to leave the apartment and explore Manhattan, traipsing the same streets as Carrie and her entourage would have done. Brunch in Chelsea is part of the experience, which Airbnb describes as a ‘meal where many conversations took place that deepened Carrie’s friendships with the girls’. In Sex and the City, the exterior shots of Carrie's apartment showed 64 and 66 Perry Street in Manhattan's West Village. Meanwhile, the interior scenes were captured in Silvercup Studios in Queens. For the recreation, Airbnb used a different New York apartment that had a similar floorplan to that of Carrie's flat. The new Airbnb was designed in honour of next month's premiere of And Just Like That..., a 10-episode revival of Sex and the City that will air on HBO Max and Sky Comedy. Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon will reprise their roles in the series, but Kim Cattrall - who played publicity dynamo Samantha Jones - declined to take part. The Airbnb project, which was a collaboration between Airbnb and Warner Bros Consumer Products, also marks 23 years since fans were first introduced to the show. Parker will host two one-night stays for up to two guests each on November 12 and 14 for just $23 a night. Image credits: AirBnB

Real Estate

“Scary to talk about”: Changing discussions around breast cancer and sex

As one of the most common cancers in Australian women, the challenges of breast cancer are experienced by thousands of women each year. But one of the areas some say isn’t talked about enough is the impact of breast cancer on women’s sex lives and body image. “Health professionals are comfortable and used to talking about the side effects of chemotherapy like nausea and vomiting to patients, but many do not feel comfortable discussing the other side effects of treatment, and how these may impact intimate relationships,” says Kate White, a professor of cancer nursing from the University of Sydney Nursing School. “[Doctors] often wait for the patient to bring it up, rather than proactively explaining it as another potential side effect.” Medical oncologist Dr Belinda Kiely agrees that changes in the conversations around breast cancer and sex need to come from doctors. “We, as doctors, are very good at asking people about their pain, or their nausea or their constipation, but another line of questions should be ‘what’s happening with your sex life?’ or something along those lines,” she says. “I think we could do a better job of bringing it up and not relying on women to bring it up when it is a bit scary to talk about.” Dr Kiely also points out that changes in physical and mental symptoms can impact the sex lives of patients in various ways. Professor Fran Boyle agrees, noting that issues surrounding intimacy can arise when any serious illness is diagnosed. But, there are some issues unique to breast cancer patients when it comes to getting intimate with a partner, such as hormonal changes due to breast cancer treatment. “Breast cancer also affects a part of the body which is important for many women for arousal as well as body image, and, when sore or numb post-surgery, women may not wish to be touched on the breasts,” she says. “Hair loss from chemotherapy can also affect body image and relationships.” Other issues can include low libido, vaginal dryness or soreness, as well as hot flashes and sleeping problems, which Professor Boyle says can have an “impact on the desire for closeness”. A gap in the discussion Rebecca Angus was diagnosed with breast cancer at 33, and her eventual journey to recovery impacted her life in countless ways. In her experience, Rebecca found that discussions around sex with medical practitioners focused on medical aspects, leaving the effects on mental health unspoken. “Sex is explored at the beginning of chemotherapy education. However, it mainly focuses on fertility preservation, ovarian suppression and contraception during treatment,” Rebecca says. As Rebecca recovered, fatigue from treatment and medical restrictions on how she could engage in sexual activity had dramatic effects on her sex life. “You’ve got this cancer in your body that has tried to kill you, so you don’t have the best relationship with your body at that stage,” she says. “There are a lot of rules around when and how you can have sex as well. Your body for a while is not your own, it belongs to health professionals.” Though her experience may not be universal, Rebecca says, “Having a good sex life within a relationship is so valuable for anyone with cancer”. She also hopes to normalise conversations around these more sensitive topics so that women can obtain the help they need. “You can get help from your psychologists, gynaecologists and oncologists - your specialists are there to help you.” Professors White and Boyle will be appearing alongside Dr Kiely and Rebecca Angus for a Q&A all about breast cancer and sex on Thursday, September 30. <img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7844487/qa.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/0a06a22ca4574d9481ca358a26eeab95" /> Image: Supplied Let’s Talk About Sex is a free Q&A session run by The Breast Cancer Trials and moderated by journalist Annabel Crabb that offers the chance for anyone to ask questions about this important issue. The online event will take place between 5pm and 6.30pm, and attendees can register <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.breastcancertrials.org.au/qa-events" target="_blank">here</a>. Image: Getty Images

Body

"It's been unbearable": Sarah Jessica Parker finally breaks silence on fallen co-star

Actress Sarah Jessica Parker has broken her silence on the death of her friend and Sex and the City co-star Willie Garson. Willie died on September 21st after a battle with pancreatic cancer. A flood of <a rel="noopener" href="https://oversixty.com.au/health/caring/tributes-pour-in-for-willie-garson-who-has-died-at-57" target="_blank">tributes poured in</a> for the 57-year-old following the news of his death, with SJP saying at the time, "It's too soon". But on Friday, she penned an emotional tribute to her late friend, saying "It's been unbearable." Her caption reads, “Sometimes silence is a statement. Of the gravity. The anguish. The magnitude of the loss of a 30+ year friendship.” <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUNtHhyFBf0/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUNtHhyFBf0/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by SJP (@sarahjessicaparker)</a> </div> </blockquote> “A real friendship that allowed for secrets, adventure, a shared professional family, truth, concerts, road trips, meals, late night phone calls, a mutual devotion to parenthood and all the heartaches and joy that accompany, triumphs, disappointments, fear, rage and years spent on sets (most especially Carrie’s apartment) and laughing late into the night as both Stanford and Carrie and Willie and SJ.” “Willie. I will miss everything about you. And replay our last moments together,” Parker’s post continued. “I will re-read every text from your final days and put to pen our last calls. Your absence a crater that I will fill with blessing of these memories and all the ones that are still in recesses yet to surface." <div class="hide-print ad-no-notice css-qyun7f-StyledAdUnitWrapper ezkyf1c0"> “My love and deepest sympathies and condolences to you dear Nathen. You were and are the light of Willie’s life and his greatest achievement was being your Papa." “These were his last words to me. ‘Great bangles all around.’ Yes. Godspeed Willie Garson. RIP. X, SJ,” she ended her post. Along with the lengthy emotional caption, Sarah shared a series of photos of the pair from both on and off screen, as both colleagues and friends. The two had recently been working together on the set of And Just Like That..., in which Willie returned to his role as Stanford Blatch, Carrie Bradshaw's lifelong friend. Other Sex and the City alumni shared tributes to the actor, including Cynthia Nixon, executive producer of the show Michael Patrick King, and Willie's on-screen partner Mario Cantone. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> I couldn’t have had a more brilliant TV partner. I’m devastated and just overwhelmed with Sadness. Taken away from all of us way soon. You were a gift from the gods. Rest my sweet friend. I love you. <a href="https://t.co/Ia4tg1VK1Y">pic.twitter.com/Ia4tg1VK1Y</a> — Mario Cantone (@macantone) <a href="https://twitter.com/macantone/status/1440466454160101382?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> So deeply, deeply sad we have lost <a href="https://twitter.com/WillieGarson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WillieGarson</a>. We all loved him and adored working with him. He was endlessly funny on-screen and and in real life. He was a source of light, friendship and show business lore. He was a consummate professional— always. <a href="https://t.co/G63EJIj8lG">pic.twitter.com/G63EJIj8lG</a> — Cynthia Nixon (@CynthiaNixon) <a href="https://twitter.com/CynthiaNixon/status/1440481643936948238?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 22, 2021</a></blockquote> Image credits: Instagram @sarahjessicaparker </div>

Caring

Sex and the City revival drops first teaser

And Just Like That, the long-awaited sequel to Sex and the City, has finally dropped its first teaser that clocks in at just three seconds. Popping up at the 24 second mark of an ad featuring upcoming shows and films on HBO Max, three of the four original main characters can be spotted in reprised roles. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SrGkkfzAlIE?start=22" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis are expected to return as Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte, but Kim Cattrall will not be appearing as Samantha Jones. Despite her absence from the first series, a production insider told The Daily Mail that the “door is open” for Kim Cattrall to return in the already-greenlit season two. HBO Max recently announced a series of new additions to the show, including Sara Ramirez, Nicole Ari Parker, Sarita Choudhury, and Karen Pittman. The reboot is expected to follow the fashionable trio as they “navigate the journey from the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30s to the even more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s”. The teaser also showed moments from anticipated films Dune and The Matrix Resurrections. Image credit: @justlikethatmax / Instagram

Tributes pour in for Willie Garson, who has died at 57

The family of Willie Garson, perhaps known best for playing Stanford, Carrie’s best guy friend and talent agent, on Sex and the City, revealed on Tuesday that the actor had passed away at the age of 57. A cause of death has not been disclosed. Soon after the news broke, the tributes began pouring in, including tributes from Cynthia Nixon, who played Miranda on Sex and the City, and Matt Bomer, who starred alongside him in White Collar, where he played Mozzie, a fellow conman and close friend of Bomer’s character Neal. Nixon wrote, “We all loved him and adored working with him. He was endlessly funny on-screen and and in real life. He was a source of light, friendship and show business lore.” In a second tweet, she added, “My heart goes out to his son, Nathen Garson. Nathen, I hope you know how much he loved you and how proud he was to be your dad.” <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> So deeply, deeply sad we have lost <a href="https://twitter.com/WillieGarson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WillieGarson</a>. We all loved him and adored working with him. He was endlessly funny on-screen and and in real life. He was a source of light, friendship and show business lore. He was a consummate professional— always. <a href="https://t.co/G63EJIj8lG">pic.twitter.com/G63EJIj8lG</a> — Cynthia Nixon (@CynthiaNixon) <a href="https://twitter.com/CynthiaNixon/status/1440481643936948238?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 22, 2021</a></blockquote> Posting a lengthy tribute on Instagram, Bomer wrote, “Willie. I don’t understand. And it’s not fair. This past year, you taught me so much about courage and resilience and love. I still haven’t wrapped my head around a world without you in it- where I can’t call you when I need to laugh, or be inspired. The last thing you did when we said goodbye was pull down your mask (I hate covid), smile, and wink at me.” <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUGvhuOFOqU/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUGvhuOFOqU/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Matt Bomer (@mattbomer)</a> </div> </blockquote> Other tributes include one from Candace Bushnell, author of the Sex and the City column and book that the series was based on, who wrote on Twitter, “Stanford Blatch is so beloved to me and Willie brought him to life so beautifully. What a gift to us all.” Michael Patrick King, executive producer of Sex and the City and And Just Like That, an upcoming HBO show Garson was most recently working on, said of Garson, “The ‘Sex and the City’ family has lost one of its own. Our amazing Willie Garson. His spirit and his dedication to his craft was present every day filming ‘And Just Like That.’ He was there — giving us his all — even while he was sick. His multitude of gifts as an actor and person will be missed by everyone. In this sad, dark moment we are comforted by our memory of his joy and light.” <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Rest in Peace <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WillieGarson?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WillieGarson</a> 💔 Stanford Blatch is so beloved to me and Willie brought him to life so beautifully. What a gift to us all. <a href="https://t.co/w2ubvTcESa">pic.twitter.com/w2ubvTcESa</a> — CANDACE BUSHNELL (@CandaceBushnell) <a href="https://twitter.com/CandaceBushnell/status/1440520883219492869?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 22, 2021</a></blockquote> HBO, the network that served as home for Sex and the City for its six-year run, also posted a tribute to Garson, calling him “a light for everyone in his universe” and describing him as a member of the HBO family for “nearly 25 years”. Sex and the City first aired in 1998, 23 years ago. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Willie Garson was in life, as on screen, a light for everyone in his universe. He created one of HBO's most beloved characters and was a member of our family for nearly 25 years. We are deeply saddened to learn of his passing and extend condolences to his family and loved ones. <a href="https://t.co/EPU4skdLL3">pic.twitter.com/EPU4skdLL3</a> — HBO (@HBO) <a href="https://twitter.com/HBO/status/1440506026260787204?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 22, 2021</a></blockquote> In addition to Sex and the City and White Collar, Garson appeared in a variety of shows, including the Hawaii Five-0 reboot, Boy Meets World, and NYPD Blue, as well as reprising his role as Stanford Blach in the two Sex and the City movies. Garson’s final tweet, posted to the site on September 5th, gives us a glimpse into the person described in all of these heartfelt tributes. The tweet reads, “Be kind to each other… always. Love to all. Approach kindness.” <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> BE KIND TO EACH OTHER......ALWAYS. LOVE TO ALL. APRROACH KINDNESS. — Willie Garson 🇺🇸 (@WillieGarson) <a href="https://twitter.com/WillieGarson/status/1434337534474027008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2021</a></blockquote> Image: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Caring

“Refuse to have sex with men”: Bette Midler’s response to new Texas law

Bette Midler has advised women to not have sex with men following the recent introduction of strict abortion laws in the US state of Texas. Midlers’ stern statement comes as the new law renders abortions “illegal” after six weeks. “I suggest that all women refuse to have sex with men until they are guaranteed the right to choose by Congress,” Midler tweeted. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> I suggest that all women refuse to have sex with men until they are guaranteed the right to choose by Congress. — bettemidler (@BetteMidler) <a href="https://twitter.com/BetteMidler/status/1433626916003586053?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2021</a></blockquote> High profile stars shared their praise for Midler’s stance, with singer Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra’s daughter, replying “my dad actually suggested that decades ago”. Midler continued to speak about the issue, writing, “this isn’t about guns, speech, money or war. It’s about women, their lives, their bodies, and their autonomy.” “That’s what allowed the court to do shoddy work, with careless disregard, because who’s going to stop it? They only did the thing in the dead of night, without care or effort, because they believe women are so used to being gaslit that of course, they’ll just tolerate it,” she said. “They did the thing in the dead of night, without care or effort because they genuinely believe that they’re only women, and they deserve what they get.” The new law, known as SB8, prohibits abortions beyond the point where medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, which usually occurs at around six weeks, before some women know they’re pregnant. The law also does not make exceptions for those who are pregnant as a result of incest or rape. Private citizens are allowed to sue abortion clinics if they suspect them of performing illegal abortions under the new law. Many celebrities have spoken out against the bill, with singer P!nk writing, “I stand in solidarity with people in (Texas) who, as of today, face an extreme 6-week abortion ban”. “The ban… will be the blueprint for bans across the US. Unless we do something about it,” she added. Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria Baston wrote: “It’s pretty simple. We should all be able to make decisions about our health & future. “But between (Texas’) extreme abortion ban & states passing a record number of abortion restrictions this year, we have to fight for everyone’s reproductive freedom.” The outcry from Midler and other celebrities comes as the US Justice Department sues Texas over the new law, arguing the law was enacted “in open defiance of the Constitution”. Image: Getty

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“Refuse to have sex with men”: Bette Midler’s response to new Texas law