Sex and Love Around the World with Christiane Amanpour

Every day I check Netflix for a new and interesting show to watch. Nine times out of ten I watch Parks and Rec, however today I decided to watch "Sex and Love Around the World" hosted by Christiane Amanpour. In this series, Amanpour travels to different cities and talks to people about sex and intimacy. She focuses the conversations on women (there is some input from men) and discusses what sex and relationships are like in each culture.

Since I just finished reading Headscarves and Hymens, which is about the need for a sexual revolution in the Middle East, this show immediately caught my attention. What I love about this series is that Amanpour asks women about their wants and needs and how that matches with the reality they live. I also love that the cities she visited are quite large and metropolitan, which usually means more liberal than the rest of their country, however, in some episodes, women are visibly scared or uncomfortable with her questions. This underlines the reality that even in large metros, sex and love are still taboo topics.

There is so much to talk about from each episode, so I thought it would be best to list each city visited and what stood out to me from each. Overall, I would highly recommend this series to anyone interested in learning more about how sex and relationships are thought of across the world.

via GIPHY

Tokyo, Japan: this was the most mind-boggling episode for me. Marriage rates are down in Japan and there are a lot fewer babies being born. There are also a lot of single people. The mind-boggling part to me is that both men and women are turning to alternatives, like sex dolls or "intimacy" services (think rent-a-gf/bf), but they all want the same thing. Human connection. It was also interesting to see how some have divorced love from marriage. One woman in the episode is married and works as a sex worker. She spends time with other men who pay for her services and the most interesting part is that they are usually married men that request her specifically because she is married! It was also interesting to hear a lot of young people in the episode say that once you get married you are sexless. Like many Asian cultures, expression of love is not the norm, however, we do get to meet a couple trying to change that.

Delhi, India: in this episode there was a lot of talk about love marriages and arranged marriages. It was fun to see Amanpour stop young people in the streets and try to discuss intimacy. The men were much more open than the women and some women were visibly embarrassed by the question. They also talked about harassment in this episode and how it is a problem in a huge city like Delhi. We meet 2 women who are bikers in a city where it is unusual for women to ride motorcycles. The women ride motorcycles in order to avoid harassment on public transportation. We also meet a transgender woman and learn about being transgender in a very conservative society.

Beirut, Lebanon: ah, Beirut. This episode was surprising. Beirut is one of the more liberal cities in the Middle East and this episode dives into how even with that label when it comes to sex, it is still quite conservative. Two things stood out to me in this episode: the segment on LGBTQ and the segment on virginity. Even though Beirut is liberal in many ways - women do not have to wear hijab and they can dress however they want - when it comes to the LGBTQ community the city is still quite conservative. We get to learn about the first Pride event there and hear stories about being gay in the city. Some people even talk about how they had heterosexual marriages in order to keep up appearances, but also kept their bf or gf (who was also usually in a hetero marriage). Then we move onto being a virgin. We meet a woman gynecologist who also uses her profession to teach women about sex. This doctor is teaching women about their bodies and how their sexual organs work before they get married. And for these women, this is the first time they are learning this! The doctor also talks about how she does a lot of hymen reconstruction for women who want to be "virgins" on their wedding night lest their spouse think they were not.

Berlin, Germany: this episode was at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. Berlin is a sexually liberated city and we get to see what that is like. Amanpour visits a nudist community, sex shops, speaks with women who only want casual sex. We even meet a woman who teaches sex ed to refugees from the Middle East. That segment, in particular, was great to watch. The woman was teaching very basic things like the names of sex organs and these young adults had never heard of them before. The purpose of this class is to help them adjust to a more liberal culture where they will be hearing these things more often.

Accra, Ghana: this episode focused on the role of Christianity in relationships. Amanpour talks to many women who say their role as a wife or girlfriend is to do whatever it takes to make their bf/husband happy. That means cook what he wants and give him sex whenever he wants. When Amanpour asks one woman what happens when you say no, she says there is no saying no. If you say no then he will go to someone else. They talk about how men have more than one wife and that women are not allowed to have more than one partner. At one point Amanpour is talking to a man who is married and says he does not have anyone else but his wife. When they get deeper in the conversation he says he is poor so he only has 1 relationship. Multiple relationships are for rich men who can afford it. This is echoed in what the women say - they give their partners whatever he wants whenever he wants and he provides for them (money for rent, food, etc.)

Shanghai, China: the last stop in this series is Shanghai. This was a fun episode to end the series with. Something that stood out to me in this episode is that towards the end there is a woman teaching young women how to date. These young women are successful and have great jobs and good educations, but they are clueless when it comes to dating! The woman dresses them, tells them not to sleep with their date immediately, and she shares other tidbits.