Destigmatizing kinks: alien erotica in Netflix's sex education

The Netflix series Sex Education has sparked enthusiasm among critics, audiences, and scholars due to its celebration and visibility of sexual identities in all forms, one of the most exhilarating being the narratory and visual development of the character of Lily which constitutes a focal point of Season 3. Lily's vibrant interest in writing sexual outer space stories is entangled with her sex life and highlights issues of public shame related to sexual fetishes. Netflix, by means of series such as Sex Education, has become a notable entity in the representation of LGBTQIA+ characters in visual storytelling, as well as the facilitation and sharing of discussions related to non-conventional gender identities and sexual practices within an ever more interconnected media landscape (Zurian, Garcia - Ramos and Rodriguez, 2021). By using as a starting point the fact that claims for visibility, representation and sexual citizenship access do not exist until they are produced through the needs of different identities, this analysis will focus on the premise that the representation of the character's kinks entails the ability to broaden the understanding of Lily's sexual identity and contributes to the destigmatization of her sexual practices due to the series popularity and transnational dissemination.