Abstract
Queer teenagers are avid readers of popular culture; as numerous audience studies prove, television plays a significant role in identity-formation for LGBTIQ+ youth, providing them with the information about sexuality, gender roles or non-normative relationships usually unavailable in their educational and home environments. In this article we analyze how some of the protagonists of Netflix’s TV show <em>Sex Education </em>(2019-present) utilize popular culture as a tool to explore their desires, forbidden fantasies, and gender expressions, becoming instrumental in the formation of their queer identities in a way that metatextually reflects the role LGBTIQ+ shows play for their audiences. Such is the case of Adam, a bisexual teenager that masturbates to the image of a fictional actor featured in a 1980s action film poster; Lily, whose sexual fantasies of role playing with alien creatures are strongly influenced by spatial sci-fi; and Ola, whose onyric universe is influenced by David Bowie’s genderbending aesthetics. However, the most representative example of how popular culture influences the formation of queer identities is Eric, whose non-conforming gender expression follows the example set by the trans characters in <em>Hedwig and the Angry Inch</em>.
Highlights
In this article we analyze the role popular culture plays for the exploration of non‐normative desires, forbid‐ den fantasies, and non‐conforming gender expressions amongst the teen protagonists of Netflix’s TV show Sex Education (2019–present)
In the first two seasons of the show, cult films, pop songs, fashion trends, and graphic novels become instru‐ mental in the formation of the main characters’ queer identities in a way that metatextually reflects the role LGBTIQ+ audiovisual products play for those members of their audience whose sexual orientations and/or gen‐ der identities do not fit within the norm
Popular culture becomes a source of inspiration and a site for the development of non‐straight desires for Eric, whose non‐binary gender expression follows the example set by the trans characters in Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Adam, a bisexual teenager whose sexual con‐ flict is symbolized in the 1980s movie poster he mastur‐ bates to; and Lily, whose sexual fantasies of role playing with alien creatures are strongly influenced by Tank Girl, Lieutenant Ripley, and other spatial sci‐fi
Summary
In this article we analyze the role popular culture plays for the exploration of non‐normative desires, forbid‐ den fantasies, and non‐conforming gender expressions amongst the teen protagonists of Netflix’s TV show Sex Education (2019–present). There is a wide range of books and academic articles exploring either queer television (see for example Chambers, 2009, or Davis & Needham, 2008) or TV shows for teenagers (e.g., Davis & Dickinson, 2004), but not so much scholar‐ ship focused on TV shows targeted at queer teenagers apart from individual chapters included in the aforementioned edited collections Notable exceptions to this trend are Christopher Pullen’s Queer Youth and Media Cultures (2014), and— the focus is not on TV but on general popular culture—Susan Driver’s 2008’s anthology entitled Queer Youth Cultures. Considering the increasing visibility of queer teen characters in TV fiction and the multiplication of non‐normative identities, sexual orientations, and gen‐ der expressions that go beyond categorial identity mark‐ ers such as “lesbian” or “gay,” the continued lack of focus on adolescent characters and audiences somehow comes as a surprise. We agree with Meyer’s assertion that “our scholarly attention must focus on rep‐ resentation in adolescent texts as much as those in adult oriented texts” (2003, p. 271)
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