If quarantine is making you horny, you’re not alone. Despite continued stigma around female sexuality, loving sex is nothing to be ashamed of (especially if it’s been months since your last hookup). Sometimes, we just need a little reminder. Here are six Instagram accounts that will keep your feed interesting, educational, and sexy.
You might recognize Shan Boodram from her cameo on Netflix’s Too Hot to Handle, but this self-described intimacy educator is so much more than a therapist for horny reality TV stars. She has written multiple books about dating, hosts the daily Sexology show, and runs a YouTube channel for an audience of millions. She was also the Winter 2020 Playboy Advisor, creating educational content about orgasms, vulvas, and sex toys in order to challenge the stigma around female pleasure. What’s most engaging about her extensive digital sex education is her versatility: from female genital mutilation to anatomy, birth control access to body positivity, her multiplatform content is a holistic look at sexuality, justice, and empowerment. So much sex-positive content available now creates an empowerment binary where women are either A. liberated, having tons of sex, focusing on their own pleasure, and reclaiming the “slut” label or B. not liberated, not having enough sex, and too focused on male gratification. Boodram throws that mindset away, opening up dialogue about how to be a more loving and sexually empowered person, for yourself and for your partner. She’s the cool older sister we never had, and there’s nothing strict about her digital sex education.
2. @erikalust
If you ever get sick of the constant male POV shots on PornHub, look no further than Erika Lust. This indie adult film director produces softcore, female-focused content that feels much more inclusive and welcoming than the sometimes aggressively masculine porn available on other sites. She also directs an extensive amount of films in categories specifically focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, or queer sex, so if you’re looking for a specific sexual niche, she’s got it on her website. But unlike the voyeuristic vibe of “hot lesbians” on PornHub, Lust makes sure that she has recurring conversations about sexuality and gender in order to portray sex in an equitable and progressive manner. Plus, she posts about everything from pegging to nudes to BDSM, providing a candid look at taboo sexual topics. Plus, she even made a film called Super Femmes, where “the crime-fighting trio are here crushing the patriarchy and taking war on pleasureless sex! A superhero movie wouldn’t be complete without a smokin’ hot threesome between our super femmes after a hard day’s work.” I mean, what more do you need?
Stop what you’re doing and read this essay right now. Have you ever jokingly called yourself a whore after posting a thirst trap, but the idea of sex work makes you a little uncomfortable? Raquel Savage is here to break that mindset down for you. The dynamic sex coach and trauma therapist runs a sex-ed series on Patreon, hosts a healing group for femme sex workers, and manages a production company focusing on creative projects for sex workers of color. Savage talks about power dynamics, consent, anal, squirting, and more in her sex ed, and advocates for sexual freedom from patriarchy and white supremacy. She even breaks down the sex basics on OnlyFans, from putting on a condom to understanding the anatomy of female genitalia. Forget about labeling black and white diagrams of the uterus and awkwardly shoving a condom on a banana—Savage doesn’t use props in her videos, if you know what we mean. A hot and informative sex educator with an OnlyFans? Say no more.
Ev’Yan Whitney is a sexuality doula and educator offering workshops and one-on-one coaching to support people’s sexual healing and liberation from shame and insecurity. Centering her work on the idea that sexual liberation is an act of radical resistance, she focuses on helping her clients feel safe navigating a sexual world filled with homophobia, racism, and sexism. Plus, like every good internet star these days, she runs a podcast dedicated to discussing everything from cannabis to consent to masturbation. While the social-media-sex-education space is quickly shifting to include buzzwords like “sexual freedom,” “liberation,” and “slut” in order to encourage sexual confidence for women, what’s different about Whitney’s platform is that she specifically centers the experiences of women of color and avoids the co-opted rhetoric of corporate feminist sex education. The content she shares with her followers isn’t meant to be flashy—it’s personal and grounding, the perfect anecdote to an oversaturated feed.
Inner Hoe Uprising is the woke version of Call Her Daddy. Every week, four queer Black femmes in New York break down their sex lives, discussing toxic masculinity, edging, blowjobs, vibrators, and mental health, with no shortage of hilarious sex stories to make your day. Their conversations happen in the context of race, as they share their experiences being Black and navigating the sexual world. The episodes are lighthearted and upbeat even as they tackle the complex intersections of sex and society. If you get tired of hearing about the Gluck Gluck 9000, Inner Hoe Uprising is a refreshingly self-aware look at how race, gender, and sexuality are playing out in the world today.
Sex positivity doesn’t only come in the form of sex educator influencers. Planned Parenthood is obviously a much more politically oriented sex-positive account, but you can’t champion sex positivity without thinking about the legal and political implications of our changing cultural norms. Healthcare is an essential component of sex positivity, so keeping up with the latest news and content regarding abortion access, trans rights, public health, menstruation, birth control, and sex education is critical. Planned Parenthood has also been sharing information about how to have safer sex and healthier relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic, so follow for some quick refreshers. Sex positivity isn’t just about cool 20-something women posting about vibrators—it’s also about sharing important information about sex, healthcare, and sexuality that makes people feel comfortable talking about sex.
By Katherine Williams
Illustration by Gabriella Shery
