A journalism major in the Media, Self & Society scholars program.
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Contact me at sesguerr@terpmail.umd.edu
Breaking Stereotypes: A critical analysis of a production that seeks to redress negative portrayals
The following blog post will analyze and provide a character study for the characters from Netflix's Sex Education to see how some seek to change representation and accurate portrayals for audiences.
What's Sex Education about?
The original series follows Otis Milburn, a high school student in the United Kingdom who is the son of a sex therapist. Dealing with his own struggles of personal intimacy, Otis seems to have a "gift" for helping other people with their sex lives. When he comes into contact with Maeve Wiley, deemed the school's sexual deviant (as per names given to her in the show such as "cock-biter" and "slag"), they begin a sex clinic. Aiming to profit from the sexual issues faced by their fellow students, Otis and Maeve eventually begin to reveal the intricacies of sexuality while also genuinely helping to address deep-rooted issues and stigmas associated with sex and dealing with everything a teenager has to deal with.
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Although the show focuses heavily on the fluidity and validity of sexuality, there is also an immense amount of detail focused on some of the characters within the show. Although they seem to fit within common tropes and stereotypes at first, as the show progresses, the audience gets an inside look into each of these characters, breaking the stereotypes they initially seem to embody. This blog post will focus heavily on the characters Maeve Wiley and Eric Effiong.
Maeve Wiley
Maeve Wiley is introduced as an edgy, mean and intimidating student who most fear or look down upon. When she is not viewed in this way, people, men and women alike, view her as a "slag," someone dirty and sexually deviant. She had earned the title "cock-biter" after the school learned about one of her sexual encounters, and it was initially introduced as one of the main cruxes of her character. This follows Hollywood's common presentation of women as sex objects, and in this case, Maeve is the "sexy bad girl."
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The name, "cock-biter," that Maeve was given serves as a conduit for the male gaze while simultaneously aiming to ruin Maeve's reputation. The sexual nature of the title connotes "strong visual and erotic impact" (Hodkinson, 245), allowing men to imagine Maeve's sexual abilities. However, the addition of "biter" in that title also puts her character down. It implies a lack or lower level of sexual ability/performance that removes any, if not all, respect to Maeve's name. Additionally, her tendency to divert herself from intimacy and serious relationships reinforced the sexual-focus of her character. Viewing this type of character stigmatizes the overall image of women, imposing a connection between sex and women in people's minds.
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However, Maeve's character arc redressed many of these views. Later on, the audience learns about Maeve's high academic capabilities, which deemed her as someone to go to if you wanted to buy a passing essay or assignment. It is then learned that Maeve enjoys reading feminist novels. Maeve's English teacher learns about operation to sell her work and suggests she join a program where she can cultivate her already incredible knowledge. However, the circumstances that Maeve experienced, growing up in a trailer park, having a negligent mother, and her sexual reputation at school, made her believe she was not good enough to join the program.
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However, Maeve ends up joining the class and later on joins the trivia team and is offered the chance to study abroad in the United States. The addition of this arc focusing on Maeve's academics adds depth to her character outside of the male gaze and sexual promiscuity. By learning about her internal struggles with her own confidence in her naturally-gifted abilities, the audience ends up focusing on Maee's mind rather than on her body. It also adds a layer of complexity to her character, which redresses common views of women as simple objects.
Eric Effiong
Jackson Marchetti
Eric Effiong is a funny, sassy, black, gay teen, who is introduced as the main character's, Otis Milburn's, best friend. Starting right off the bat, this character act first seems to be an entire amalgamation of common stereotypes for black people and gay people in television shows. You often see the black best friend who acts as comedic relief and is always coming up with sassy quips, and then there's the gay best friend who you see as the butt of the joke. Eric starts of embodying both of these tropes, with his loud and obnoxious movements and outfits that are often laughed upon. At first, you only see Eric mainly interacting with Otis, but then he gets slightly left behind when Otis begins the sex clinic with Maeve. These tropes stigmatize black and gay people because it forces audiences to view them as catalysts for main, usually white, characters. They don't stand on their own, therefore it's difficult for people to view them as their own indviduals.Athough it does not relate directly to systems such as slavery, Eric's initial introduction as the black best friend does reinforce concepts of subordination for black characters.
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However, this sudden drop-off from Eric's main role as the best friend does not leave his character hanging. Unlike most media which may focus on the struggles of side characters for merely a moment or for one episode, Eric's story arc is followed throughout the entire show. While characters who are both black and gay may be rare in media, Eric's character goes one step further by addressing the intersection of these two identities. Doing so in this way is important because we do not want his character to fall into the exploitation of his strong identity. Hodkinson refers to this as "blaxploitation," where media reinforces a different set of black stereotypes with emphasis on strong, black characters (Hodkinson, 229). Yes, Eric is a strong black and gay character, but this is addressed by breaking down the construction of his identity rather than creating a new set of stereotypes that would harm the view of his black identity.
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Rather than just leaving his character at the blatant stereotypes of being loud and comedic, we learn that this has much to do with his feelings of repression due to being in a religious Nigerian and Ghanaian family. He struggles with wanting to express himself to his full potential, such as through wearing makeup and dressing up extravagantly, but having to hide himself from his family. Then, Eric is abandoned on his birthday by OTis, forced to attend a showing of a play dressed in feminine clothing. While travelling at night, he is attacked for how he looks, forcing Eric to dressed conservativley for a while, reinforcing his father's desire for him to suppress his identity and expression.
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However, during the first season's finale, Eric regained the confidence to express himself once again, leading to a climactic scene between him and his father as he enters a school dance in a highly femininized outfit. He stands up to his father ends up saying he respects him for being strong enough to stay true to who he is. This message redresses the negative stereotypes surrounding black and gay characters and the shame they may cause audiences of same identities to feel. It gives them hope and reassurance in who they are, and focuses on self-validation first before validation from others. Eric regained power in his identity, letting go off any vestiges of subordination that were coded into his initial character design and letting him blossom into his own person.
Effective Promotion of Positive representation?
I would say this show definitely effectively promotes the positive presentation of characters who are women, black and gay because it first presents these stereotypes to the audience so they can gradually view them be torn down, revealing complex characters that are more than what media often portrays them to be.
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There are no major issues with the burden of representation, which is the idea that ethnic minorities find themselves expected to represent an entire ethnic group, because Eric Effiong is not the only black character in the show (Hodkinson, 231). There are characters like Jackson Marchetti and Viv Odusanya who represent other experiences and identities. For example, Jackson Marchetti is the athletic golden head boy of his class, expected to present nothing but perfection. However, his character also focuses on the struggles of dealing with these expectations and offers representation for mental health through his portrayal of anxiety and panic attacks. Viv Odusanya is a student focused heavily on academics, who later struggles between being the perfect headgirl who upholds the headmaster's repressive policies or being someone who stands up for her student body. There are a few black characters with long and interesting story arcs within the series, preventing the burden of representation to fall onto one person and preventing the construction of a monolith for what blck characters are "supposed" to be. Eric's character also does not gloss over the societal problems that gay men face, as portrayed through his assault, which happens often due to homophobia.
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In terms of Maeve's character in her representation of women, there are also no major concerns. Hodkinson mentions the criticism of labelling certain representations as "negative," which can hurt people who do fall into these representations (Hodkinson, 251). Maeve is majorly looked down upon for her sexual nature, but that does not change the way she views sex or how people should explore it. She emphasizes safe sex and helps people navigate their own issues with sex, breaking down this initial representation of her sexual side being negative. Additionally, we see the development of her own issues with abandonment grow and develop into dealing with commitment in serious relationships. Rather than just being the main character's love interest as most women are typically portrayed, Maeve's relationship comes second to her own struggles.
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These are just portion of the character's that Sex Education has to offer, and it offers a portrayal of several indetities and characters that makes it unique from other forms of entertainment media.
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