Poetry Inspired by
Sex Education
I Can’t Hide It From You
doesn’t feel right
doesn’t feel right
doesn’t feel right
I want to like guys,
but what if it never clicks,
what if it’s me?
I set the scene,
read manuals,
watch shows, examples,
learn to please, expect
to be pleased,
they all bite it,
everyone seems to like me,
I seem to reciprocate,
but there’s one soul
that I can’t get to believe,
can’t get to please,
can’t get to lie to.
The moment we touch,
a new fear evolves.
Could it be that it’s you
I truly long for
the moment you’re gone?
Maybe it is me
Maybe I’m the one
that doesn’t belong, the one they don’t like,
but it’s me who likes you,
and that I can’t deny
Menless Freak
You’re a freak, you don’t fit
don’t try, you won’t succeed.
Why are you so extra?
Why are you so loud?
Why are you so undateable?
Why why why
When the real questions
translate:
Why aren’t you acting to
satisfy men?
Why aren’t you shutting up
to let men talk?
Why aren’t you sweet
after men beat you up?
Who is calling you a freak?
What makes someone normal?
Everything is freaky
when men are uncomfortable;
it is wrong.
Is it wrong to be happy
in a menless world,
but still Google if you’re wrong?
Will it ever be enough
to not desire men but want to desire
t h e m ?
Sex Education. Created by Laurie Nunn, Eleven Film, 2019-2021.
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This show follows a teenage boy who sets up an underground sex therapy clinic at school with a high school classmate, using her mother’s expertise as a sex therapist. My analysis followed one of the side characters, Lily. Specifically, I paid attention to her discovery process with her sexual orientation as well as her relationship with Ola. The following poems were inspired by Lily’s journey and her relationship with Ola. Gaslighting was examined through these dynamics.