When the pill was released in Australia 50 years ago it signalled a sexual revolution. Or did it? We like to believe we are more sexually liberated than our parents or grandparents, but are we? Sex: An Unnatural History is factual series exploring the last 50 years of Australia’s sexual landscape. Presenter Julia Zemiro brings her wit, intellect and humour to each episode starting with an exploration of why we started having sex and how we became hardwired to monogamy.
Sex: An Unnatural History (Season 1)
The Revolution (Episode 1)
Writer: Mark O'Toole
Air date: 2011-07-29
Runtime: 24 min
Overview: The 1960s was an era that heralded the birth of feminism, civil rights, free love and gay liberation - a sexual revolution that changed our attitudes towards sex and relationships forever.
Taboo (Episode 2)
Writer: Mark O'Toole
Air date: 2011-08-05
Runtime: 24 min
Overview: It's hard to imagine that just over 50 years ago sex outside of marriage was a social taboo, homosexuality was illegal, masturbation was frowned upon, to view pornography you had to sneak into a seedy cinema in a back lane.
Fashion (Episode 3)
Writer: Mark O'Toole
Air date: 2011-08-12
Runtime: 24 min
Overview: Does how we dress tell us what we're like in the bedroom? If you see someone wandering around in fetish gear it's safe to say they're doing so to attract potential mates of like minds. But what else can fashion tell us about sex? A lot, it seems.
The Church (Episode 4)
Writer: Mark O'Toole
Air date: 2011-08-19
Runtime: 24 min
Overview: Why do people cry out "oh God!" during sex? Is it because sex transcends our mind and bodies? Religion has been getting between the sheets since it became organised, but it was the sexual revolution of the '60s and birth control that brought matters to a head.
Love (Episode 5)
Writer: Mark O'Toole
Air date: 2011-08-26
Runtime: 24 min
Overview: Sex existed long before the idea of love but somewhere along the annals of history the two became entwined. Many humans then started selecting their partners based on this emotion.
The Future (Episode 6)
Writer: Mark O'Toole
Air date: 2011-09-02
Runtime: 24 min
Overview: A three course meal that comes in a pill, jetpacks, time travel, space colonies, and the robot housemaid - these were just some of the predictions futurists made about what life would be like in 2011.
