{"id":38887,"date":"2021-10-26T16:14:10","date_gmt":"2021-10-26T16:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=38887"},"modified":"2021-10-26T16:14:10","modified_gmt":"2021-10-26T16:14:10","slug":"sex-love-goop-sex-unzipped-netflix","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/sex-love-goop-sex-unzipped-netflix\/","title":{"rendered":"What Gwyneth And Saweetie Want Us To Know About Sex"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Gwyneth
Gwyneth Paltrow (right) with intimacy educator Michaela Boehm in Sex, Love & Goop<\/i> (Photo: Courtesy of Netflix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There comes a point in the second episode of Sex, Love & Goop<\/em><\/a> when the partner (in life and in business) of one of the show\u2019s sex therapists plays her like a theremin. They\u2019re both fully clothed; she\u2019s lying on a massage table while he manipulates her sexual energy without ever touching her. She writhes and moans as the couple they\u2019re meant to be instructing looks on in what I\u2019d describe as credulous, producer-coached amazement. And it is quite the spectacle. It is about as Goop<\/a> as you can get short of putting rose quartz where the sun don\u2019t shine.<\/p>\n

Sex, Love & Goop<\/em> is Netflix\u2019s second collaboration with Gwyneth Paltrow<\/a>\u2019s lifestyle and wellness brand. It\u2019s anchored by what are essentially group therapy sessions. Lead by Paltrow and relationship and intimacy expert Michaela Boehm, five couples talk about the ways in which the spark has gone out of their sex lives. Each episode focuses on two of the couples, each of whom are paired with an instructor who specializes in an area of sexual health that will be most beneficial to them. Erika and Damon, an engaged couple who suspect they may be sexually incompatible explore their \u201cerotic blueprints\u201d with somatic sexologist Jaiya Ma. Felicitas and Rama, who are trying to put their marriage back together after a trial separation, work on reigniting their desire for one another with Boehm. Erotic wholeness coach Darshana Avila helps Camille and Shandra, another engaged couple, both of whom are in their first lesbian relationship, expand the possibilities of their sex lives.<\/p>\n

\"From
From left: Damon, Jaiya and Erika in Sex, Love & Goop<\/i> (Photo: courtesy of Netflix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Anyone familiar with Goop will recognize the type of woo-woo, neo new age advice and practices on display in Sex, Love & Goop<\/em>: erotic blueprints, energy flow, body maps. Some of it is dubious\u2014I remain skeptical of whatever was going on in that theremin moment. But the six-part series, which plays very much like one long documentary, quickly moves on to less esoteric areas of sexuality. The essential project of Sex, Love & Goop<\/em> is grounded in unlearning certain unhelpful, and sometimes harmful, lessons around relationships\u2014both to our partners and to ourselves. Many of the women on the show grapple with body shame; people of both genders explore how societal messages\u2014about their body, their gender, their sexuality\u2014have impacted their ability to give and receive pleasure. This leads to some surprisingly moving moments, as when Damon allows himself to be profoundly vulnerable, or when Shandra talks about her mother\u2019s homophobia. (It\u2019s worth noting that the series features no same-sex male couples.)<\/p>\n

Perhaps most importantly, the couples on the show deal with the notion that sex should be intuitive, instinctual; that you should just know what to do and that if sex with your partner is unsatisfying, you\u2019re incompatible. Simply by participating in these workshops, they\u2019re acknowledging that intimacy is a skill that can be learned and improved upon. It\u2019s almost a clich\u00e9 to say that Americans are obsessed with sex, but are afraid to talk about it; that the lack of meaningful, comprehensive and inclusive sex education and the ubiquity of pornography on the Internet leaves many young people with a distorted view of sexuality. Sex, Love & Goop<\/em> aims to correct for some of that distortion.<\/p>\n

\"Saweetie
Saweetie and her puppet pals in Sex: Unzipped<\/i> (Image: courtesy of Netflix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meanwhile, another new Netflix special takes an entirely different approach to the topic. Sex: Unzipped<\/em> is an hour-long comedy special masquerading as sex ed. Rapper Saweetie<\/a> hosts alongside a cohort of sex-positive puppets, with input from comedians and sexperts throughout. The special isn\u2019t particularly successful in either its goals of informing or entertaining. There are a couple extended discussions of sexual anatomy, courtesy of sex educator Stella Anna Sonnenbaum\u2014who could potentially have a very lucrative side hustle doing ASMR videos on YouTube. But for the most part, Sex: Unzipped<\/em> doesn\u2019t reveal much beyond the fact that comics like Joel Kim Booster, Mae Martin and Nikki Glaser<\/a> have jokes about their sex lives. The special tends to throw around terms like \u201cconsent\u201d and \u201cgender-fluid\u201d without exploring the actual concepts, which might have been helpful to the young Gen Z audience that is presumably its target.<\/p>\n

As in Sex, Love & Goop<\/em>, the goal here seems to be to demystify sex, to combat shame. Saweetie and her puppet pals flaunt their comfort with sexuality. Insofar as they have a guiding philosophy, it\u2019s sex positivity. But Sex: Unzipped<\/em> lacks a deeper engagement with the concept, and what we get from the special isn\u2019t that different from the messages we get from pop culture more broadly: sex is a flashing red neon light that we\u2019re all supposed to embrace and enjoy! Ironically, in this instance at least, we could do with a little less talking about sex and a lot more thinking<\/em> about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29097,"featured_media":38889,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[38,16,3925],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Gwyneth And Saweetie Want Us To Know About Sex<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sex, Love & Goop and Sex: Unzipped, both on Netflix, aim to demystify sex. 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