Sex Education’s Emma Mackey says men like Prince Andrew have ‘archaic’ ways of thinking about sex
'It makes my skin crawl', says actor
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Your support makes all the difference.Sex Education star Emma Mackey has criticised "men like [the Duke of York]" for having outdated views on sex.
Speaking to Stylist, the actor was asked to respond to a quote by Prince Andrew from his BBC Newsnight interview.
In the interview, with Emily Maitlis, the royal addressed his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by saying: “If you’re a man, it is a positive act to have sex with somebody."
"It makes my skin crawl," Mackey said. "These men – men like him – are part of a generation who have inherited archaic ways of being and thinking that have always been associated with the male instinct.
"The idea that male sexuality is something very animalistic, that it’s out of their control. But that’s not an excuse any more. We’re not animals!"
Mackey also discussed how men and women should be taught about consent from a young age.
"The way it was when I was at school was so sterile and clinical and scary – there’s no real connection or emotion, which almost leads to people forgetting their partners are thinking, feeling humans," she said.
Mackey went on to say that people should take a more nuanced approach when discussing sexuality.
"We can talk and feel and have emotions and express ourselves," she said. "Come on, people."
The 24-year-old actor said that most of her education around sex came from conversations with friends when she was a student.
"I had one sex education lesson at school when I was 12 and it was literally like a biology class, all anatomy and reproductive organs," she explained.
"So for me and a lot of my peers the real education came from discussion with friends over time."
Mackey also credited art and photography for expanding her sexual education horizons, noting Belgian photographer called Charlotte Abramow, whose work champions sexual autonomy and the female experience.
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