Warning: The Videos in this article are not suitable for all ages. Viewer Discretion is Advised

The state of sex education and reproductive health is a topic that requires serious work and conversation. In Texas, it is entirely illegal for schools to provide any other form of sex-ed aside from Abstinence-Only education. As someone who grew up and went to school in a school district that focused only on Abstinence, outright lying to myself and other students in the process to scare us away from sex, I can tell you that this approach is both ineffective and harmful.

So, when I saw that Janelle Monae was narrating a Netflix series called Sex, Explained, I felt that it was important to give it a look. The reason is that the older I get, the more I’ve grown to realize that the system is broken and if we’re going to allow young people to make informed decisions about themselves and their bodies, it needs to start at home.

Because of this, I want to give you a comprehensive understanding of what this Netflix series is, and help you understand how you (or people you may know) can use it to inform the teens in your life. Aside from the first episode, which covers sexual fantasy, each episode covers a topic that is entirely appropriate for any age. In fact, I would recommend that adults watch this series in its entirety because it brings up important historical facts and information that most people aren’t aware of.

The first episode on Sexual Fantasy is not appropriate for anyone under the age of 16, mostly because it delves into things, such as BDSM, that require a bit of discussion and critical thinking that those under the age of 16 may lack. My personal recommendation for this entire series is that you sit down and watch it by yourself. Then after you have watched it, evaluate whether you think your teen is mature enough for it.

Don’t stop there though. Sit down with your teen, watch it with them, and discuss things. If you think the first episode is inappropriate, skip it. The rest of the series is just as viable and valuable. It covers topics like attraction, fertility (and infertility,) childbirth, birth control, and things that both men and women need to know.

That’s right folks. I’m suggesting that whether you have a boy, a girl, a trans child, a gay child, a lesbian child, or anything in between, you show them this series. Yes, it will be awkward. No, no one wants to have these conversations with their parents. However, your teen will thank you one day. My parents were smart enough to sit down with me and talk about things, and because of that, I was comfortable with coming out to them.

The series is largely focused on heterosexual sex and female reproductive health. However, that doesn’t mean men can’t get anything out of it. I found out things about male infertility that I didn’t know because no one teaches it or talks about it. These are conversations we all need to be having, whether it is about how sexual fantasies don’t dictate anything about you personally, or whether it is a conversation about male birth control, these are all vital parts of a conversation we all should have.

Sex, Explained blends historical fact with expert accounts from real doctors, and even patients and people who have relevant things to add to the conversation. It is never overly graphic or vulgar and, aside from the very first episode, there are very few depictions of actual sex. Even in the first episode everything is relatively tasteful, and everything is educational.

As a society, many people feel like conversations about sex, reproductive health, fertility, attraction, and sexuality in general are taboo. Americans, in particular, have this fear that people will think they are perverse or degenerate for things a lot of us all share. Sex, Explained is a powerful tool to break down those walls and show people that whether you’re 16, 20, 40, or 65, these are normal conversations and topics to have.

Sex is natural but in order to understand it and ourselves, we need to be able to talk about things openly and understand where we started, and how we got to where we are. Sex, Explained may not cover every aspect of the Sex-Ed conversation but it is a great place to start, and I recommend it for all parents, adults, and even prospective parents.

Currently, there are only five episodes but I am hoping that in the coming months we’ll see news about more episodes. There are plenty of topics that could be covered, and some of the topics they’ve already covered could be covered more in-depth.

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