This month’s ‘POSTSCRIPT’ is a special edition, which I’ve made available for all subscribers. To receive access to all past and future ‘POSTSCRIPT’ mailouts, upgrade to a paid subscription.
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Sexuality Survey
1. Name
‘B’
2. If you’re open to a follow-up interview, please share your email address
[Redacted for anonymity purposes]
3. Age
32
4. Location
London, UK
5. Ethnicity
Greek
6. Gender Identification
Cis Woman
7. Sexual Orientation
Queer/Lesbian
8. Where did you go to University / College / Higher Education Institution
[Redacted for anonymity purposes]
9. Where did you go to Secondary School / High School?
[Redacted for anonymity purposes]
10. Where did you go to Primary School / Elementary School / Preparatory School
[Redacted for anonymity purposes]
11. What do you do?
Writer, cultural worker, Press & Comms professional
12. Relationship Status
Just moved to a room of my own after co-habiting with my girlfriend for two years
13. How old were you when you received sex and relationships education (if any)?
I’ve never received any
14. Is there anything you can remember that sparked your sexual / intimate desires
So many things it’s hard to enumerate
15. Roughly, at what age were you when this happened and how did it feel?
I was 5–6 in the first relevant memory I can recall
16. How old were you when you had sex with someone else for the first time?
17
17. How many significant relationships have you been in?
Five (I’ve counted more or less long-term ‘important’ relationships)
18. Do you have guilt or shame around desire / sex / pleasure? Please explain why / why not?
No, but it took me many years to realise that I’ve always been attracted by women so I was suppressing myself due to internalised homophobia
19. Do you enjoy sex?
Yes
20. Please can you explain your answer to the above question
I orgasm when I have sex without having to try hard to “achieve” it (this is what I was doing in previous sexual relationships with men)
21. If your answer to question 19. was “No”, what is stopping you from enjoying sex
N/A
22. How do you think your own sexuality is perceived by others (e.g. do you think people perceive you as a sexual being? Do you think people see you as someone who is / isn’t very into sex?)
People perceive me as a sexual being mainly in periods where I’m good with my sexuality (when I have sex without overthinking it)
23. Have you ever taken steps to gain more of an insight into your sexuality?
No
24. If your answer to question 23. was “Yes” how useful was this?
N/A
25. Do you have children?
No
26. If your answer to question 25. was “Yes”, at what age did you first speak to them about sex and relationships (if at all)?
N/A
27. If your answer to question 25. was "No", do you think you'd like children in the future? Why? / Why not?
No. I don’t want to be a mother but I’d be very glad to help raise kids (of a partner for example)
28. Do you support compulsory sex and relationships education? Why? / Why not? NB. The ‘Relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education’ curriculum became compulsory for all schools in the UK from September 2020.
Yes in theory but it’s very important to me to be taught from the “right” people, otherwise it can be quite damaging. I haven’t read the curriculum yet.
29. Any other comments that come to mind? Do share!
She Dares To Say is so good! Very insightful and interesting, I’m a major fan.
[ENDS]
[Image description: White speech box with black border shadows. Black text ‘As part of my research for my book, I’m running an anonymous online sexuality survey’. Dark orange text ‘bit.ly/ao_sexsurvey’. Black text ‘Anyone over 18 can fill it in, wherever you are in the world.’ Picture of coloured rectangles placed at angles with black border shadows. White text ‘Do you have guilt or shame around desire, sex or pleasure? Why/why not? Do you support compulsory sex and relationships education?’ on top rectangle]
The sexuality survey is still open, so in the meantime please do fill in/share it as all of the responses are helping me make connections between the ways in which we’ve been socialised and our relationship to sexuality.
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I’m Almaz Ohene, a Creative Copywriter, Freelance Journalist and Accidental Sexpert.
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