A Sexologist’s Take On ‘Heartbreak High’
Netflix’s reboot of Heartbreak High has been dubbed Australia’s version of another popular Netflix series, Sex Education, and it’s easy to see why. The series centres around a group of young Australian students as they navigate sex and relationships.
The show is bound together by compulsory Sexual Literacy Tutorials, aptly abbreviated to “SLTs”, for our group of high school protagonists, which the show’s creators use as commentary on how inadequate and outdated standard curriculum sex education is.
With this in mind, Heartbreak High is a great conversation starter and prompt to unlearn what we think we may know about sex and revisit it as adults.
Body Positivity
Within the first episode, we see Heartbreak High tackle an important issue of vulva normalisation as Quinni deals with a rumour that she has a “Lazy Kebab Vagina”, which her friend Darren explains means she has “giant flaps”. This sees a confused Quinni taking photos of her vulva within the school bathrooms, asking fellow student Amerie to look at and assess it for her, before eventually doing her own research online.
What’s important to note here as a starting point, is the language around sexual anatomy. What the characters refer to as the vagina, is actually incorrect, the terminology that should be used to describe this part of the body is the vulva. The vulva is all the external parts of your genitals including the clitoris (pleasure centre), labia minora (small flaps), labia majora (skin between your labia minora and your legs), urethra opening (pee hole), and vaginal opening.
The most important thing to note from this storyline is that there is no such thing as a lazy vagina (or vulva) and in fact, vulvas are all unique. Vulvas take on many different shapes and sizes, there are outies and innies, all of which are completely normal and should not be a cause of insecurity.
We see this play out in the show, as Quinni attends a party armed with a folder full of printed research on vulvas and presents it to the source of the “lazy kebab” rumour, Spider. Quinni goes on to explain to Spider that vulvas all look different by nature and questions if he has ever seen one. Following this, another student, Sasha, tells Quinni what she did was “amazing” and I think we can all agree with that!
Inclusivity at the Forefront
Heartbreak High should definitely be applauded for its inclusivity. Going beyond the ever important ethnic diversity of actors, the show includes important representations of gender, sexuality, and neurodiversity.
Our non-binary character, Darren, repeatedly is found correcting their pronouns, while both the friction and acceptance of Darren’s gender diversity is portrayed through their relationship with their parents. Now, it might be fair to say aspects of gender identity historically aren’t covered in traditional sex ed, so what is it?
Non-binary can be used as an umbrella term to include all the different gender identities which don’t fit into the binary system of male and female. Now, this can mean different things to different people so always ask someone who identifies as non-binary what it means to them. Some people experience their gender as both male and female, some people experience gender as neither, and some may not have a label for what they are experiencing.
Going beyond gender, we also see a mix of different sexualities on the show with a large number of queer characters. More than just same-sex relationships, we importantly also see representation of asexuality through the character, Cash. Asexuality is a sexual orientation that means a person feels no sexual attraction to people of any gender. However, a person who identifies as asexual can still choose to have sex, can still love, can still be involved with a romantic partner, and engage in normal relationships. Asexuality doesn’t describe what a person chooses to do, but rather how a person feels. Asexual people have emotional needs, feel attraction to others, and can even feel arousal, they just don’t feel sexual attraction. Many asexual people still identify as lesbian, gay, straight, bisexual, or pansexual as well.
While Cash is not canonically confirmed as asexual within the show, it is alluded and hinted at. The storyline centring around Darren and Cash’s relationship is an important one for asexual representation as it showcases how relationships and love coexist with asexuality, which is severely underrepresented in film and television.
The representation doesn’t end there, as we also get a refreshing portrayal of realistic autism through Quinni. As Quinni enters into a same-sex relationship with Sasha, the show demonstrates how their relationship is impacted by their differing neurotypes. We get glimpses into Quinni having sensory sensitivity, masking, stimming, and going nonverbal. Again, this is representation that matters, and it does more than just importantly representing neurodiverse individuals — it also showcases their relationships.
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Relearning Sex Ed
Heartbreak High covers a multitude more of sexual issues and taboos, including a threesome, a STI diagnosis, sexting, and important dialogues around pleasure and consent. There really is so much we as adults can take away from Heartbreak High and we should feel encouraged to continue the conversations this show has so successfully started around sex education and representation.
For those wanting to expand their understanding of all things sex and pleasure, I encourage you to do your own research. A recommended place to start is with the Sexual Hapiness People over at Lovehoney, who have a frequently updated blog addressing every inch of sexual wellness, and they also stock my recent book, The Sex Ed You Never Had, which is a meticulous guide to all things sex, bodies, and relationships.