From intimacy coordinators to inclusive production values, sex on screen has had an ethical glow up. Are better orgasms also coming soon?
Exposed brickwork covers the wall behind the bed and a well-watered cheese plant points its leaves towards the sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The room has the energy of a New York loft. And from the camera pointing towards the bed, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d stumbled on to the set of a US sitcom, were it not for the two women in their underwear.
They’re sitting cross-legged on the bedspread, inspecting a sex toy, when the director asks them which sex acts they feel comfortable with. ‘Penetration by fingers is fine, but not toys,’ says one. ‘I really don’t like being penetrated from behind,’ adds the other. With that, she hops off the bed and grabs her camera. ‘Ready?’ The actors look at each other, nod and shoot her a smile.
Welcome to the world of feminist porn, where women take the lead both in front of the camera and behind it, and intimacy coordinators are an on-set occurrence as ordinary as a tube of lube. Against a #metoo backdrop, femalefriendly porn has emerged to better meet the needs of the women both making and watching it – and on the latter point, there are plenty. Around 53% of UK women say they’ve watched porn at least once, according to data from YouGov, with 15% tuning in on a weekly or monthly basis. And with research*finding that women both use and engage with porn differently from men, the potential profits are significant for those who get it right. But it isn’t just the adult entertainment industry that’s witnessing a shift towards more progressive content. With intimacy coordination now common practice on shows such as Bridgerton and Conversations With Friends, mainstream TV is following suit. That the sex we see on screen is being produced in a more ethical way is undoubtedly a good thing. But what exactly does this mean for your orgasm?
Screen play
In 2019, Gentleman Jack became the first BBC show to use an intimacy coordinator – aonewoman (or man) HR department tasked with ensuring the wellbeing of actors during intimate scenes. But it wasn’t until Connell and his chain graced our screens in Normal People a year later that we started hearing about the role. Today, the concept has gained so much traction that HBO and the BBC have made it mandatory to have one for every simulated sex scene. And while employing one is still at a network’s discretion, it’s becoming far more common than not, says Lizzy Talbot, an intimacy coordinator on Bridgerton and founder of
