As we grew up, the divide between men and women seemed to crack open like the earth splitting into two. It wasn’t just cooties, crushes or silly little things anymore. Somewhere along the way, women grew accustomed to the small pocket of fear we dwelled in while walking home alone; we planned escape routes in our heads and held our keys between our fingers. Why is this? Well, I’d like to be so bold as to believe that nearly all women (if not all), have experienced some form of sexual harassment in our lives. Whether in the form of a cat-call hollered from a car moving so fast the words all blur together, unsolicited dick pics or having a co-worker “accidentally” touch your ass as he walked by. I’ve experienced all of these. I’m sure you could also list a few. And we often deal with this harassment so politely, as if someone stepped on our toes, while inside all we can think is: fuck off!
This is why season two of Netflix’s Sex Education is so important. Sex Education is a show that empowers young adults on their journey of self-discovery. The show teaches people to accept themselves and others, letting their differences bring them together rather than push them apart. For those of you who haven’t watch it yet, I highly recommend it.
Beware: Minor spoilers ahead.
On episode seven of the second season, a group of women are put in detention. To leave, they are tasked with coming up with something they all have in common, something that can bind them together as women. The only thing they could all agree on is that they had all experienced some form of sexual harassment at some point in their lives. Many of the girls seemed traumatized by their experiences, yet most of them shrugged off their incidences. Once the girls confided in each other, they felt stronger, they were bound together by their anger over “non-consensual penises.”
Although all these women have experienced sexual assault, it is Aimee’s experience which is focalized. Earlier in the season, Aimee is sexually assaulted on her bus ride to school when a man masturbates onto her leg. Aimee tries to laugh off the incident, the way many women do when incidents like this happen. However, after she confides in her friend Maeve, Maeve convinces her to report the incident to the police. Aimee states that she wouldn’t want to bother the police with it because she didn’t want to make it into a big deal. But this is where Maeve is the friend and woman we should all strive to be. Maeve doesn’t take shit from anybody. She marches herself and Aimee down to the police station to report the incident.
This scene is so powerful because while watching, I realized I have acted like Aimee so many times before. When I was sexually harassed, I pretended nothing happened. But like Aimee, trauma sometimes takes time to digest. It wasn’t until months later when I really talked about it. Another month after that, the mere thought of going back to the place of the incident caused my first ever panic attack.
Sex Education highlights the complex nature of dealing with the trauma of a sexual assault and how insidious those effects can be. It also shows viewers that they are not alone, no matter how isolated and afraid they may feel; there is always someone who can relate to what you’re dealing with and help you come out the other side, stronger than ever. This is something all sexual assault survivors should see. I am so thankful to Sex Education for this important TV moment.