Do Netflix series have a positive impact on young people's sexual health?

The series can have a great power of influence on the sexual health of young people and make them more positive. However, the topic is not sufficiently addressed, according to two researchers who studied several Netflix series.

How is sexual health addressed in the series? This is one of the questions that two French researchers, Solemn Tauty and Philippe Martin, wanted to answer in the context of a study on National Institute of Health and Medical Research and of the National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED).

For this, the two specialists immersed themselves… in the Netflix series catalogue!

But by the way, what is sexual health?

Contrary to what one might think at first sight, sexual health is not just the absence of sexual disease or dysfunction. In fact, the definition given by the World Health Organization takes physical factors into account as emotional, mental and social in relation to sexuality.

Sexual health is like that determined by the quality of relationships between individuals and with themselves. Designates sexual experiences marked by respect, without oppression (in particular oppression related to gender norms) and without violence, practiced in total safety..

Do Netflix series have a positive impact on young people’s sexual health? — © Ketut Subiyanto and Yan Krukov (Pexels)

The influence of the series

Thanks to sharing of experiences and identification with the charactersthe series can have a influence important on the sexual health of viewers, as explained by Solemn Tauty and Philippe Martin:

“Although the primary goal is above all to entertain, these series can complement what we could define “sexual health promotion messages”in the sense that information, advice or positive representations could lead viewers to think about their representations, norms and behaviors. »

A theme still little discussed in the series

But then, How is sexual health represented and promoted in the series? It’s enough?

According to this survey, not enough. Studying the content of 65 episodes of the Netflix series (preferred platform for 15- to 24-year-olds), the researchers noted out of 62 posts sexual health promotion, 50 were concentrated in just two series. Furthermore, sexual health is the theme of these two series (the study does not indicate the names of the programmes). The most recurring messages concerned sexual harassment and violence (19%), protection against sexually transmitted infections (18%) and contraception (15%).

Solemn Tauty and Philippe Martin noted that this happened in some episodes “Some information is incomplete or misleading. » :

“It is possible that these messages (…) reinforce stigma and discriminationin dramatize and do laughable sexual health problems. Some young people may not even feel interested or represented and therefore not be sensitive to this type of content. »

In other words, if series can have a positive effect, the opposite effect is also possible !