Jen spoke to holistic sex educator Jenny Keane about self-love and her mission to take the message to the people of Ireland. Listen back above.
According to Keane, we've gotten more comfortable when it comes to talking about sex and feeling more comfortable with the topic of self love, especially in the past three years.
Keane's in-person workshops – where she teaches people about masturbation and self love – once had around 23 people per class, she said. Now, especially since going online, they've surged in popularity, with up to thousands taking part in each workshop.
"I think there's a huge shift, also in the narrative, because previous to the work that I was doing, we were talking about sex but I think when I tried to start this ... there was never a conversation where pleasure was at the centre of that, and that was really was I was trying to do."
The online workshops – which boomed in popularity during Covid – provided a safe space for people to explore without the fear of judgement, and no doubt spurred on by the steamy Normal People discourse at the time.
Keane is passionate about sex education for adults, firm in the belief that "we were kids once that didn't get the sex education that we needed". Her workshops are dedicated to "unlearning the untruths" of sex that don't support their sexual journeys or experiences.
Filling in the gaps in sex education can cover everything from what is an orgasm to what is arousal, as well as how to approach difficulties in your sexuality.
"I think, we're going to experience not just one sexual issue in our life, we're going to experience multiple, they're going to come in a variety of ways, it's very normal to experience sexual issues through our lifetime.
"But when we don't receive the sexual education and the foundations and basics of sex education, we don't know how to engage with what's happening, and so we learned to take a passive approach where we just have to deal with the cards that have been dealt", Keane explained.
She added that being passive about these issues can lead to a person feeling powerless, dissatisfied or even hopeless.
Keane said that her approach to sex education began when she started menstruating, which was irregular and Keane had cysts on her ovaries as well as acne and "debilitating bleeds that would put me on the floor for 10 days".
"At that time the narrative around menstruation was very much, this is what you've been given, you just have to get on with it now."
As she explored her options, Keane moved to California, which had a "holistic, alternative lifestyle that was really accepted in society" that taught her about managing these symptoms through changing her diet and how she exercised.
Keane said she had the same typical questions about sex as anyone such as are there more positions to try, and are there skills you can gain to enjoy it more? "The internet was not the same place, you couldn't Google these things in the way that you can now", she said.
She trained in somatic therapy and trauma therapy, before beginning to teach in Ireland. "I have to say, having taught around the world, different nationalities, Irish people are hands down my favourite people to teach. We're so curious, we're so willing to lean in, to learn."
She added that while the stereotype of Irish people as "sexually repressed" has been pervasive, she doesn't believe that to be true.
"We have just never been given the tools, and never been given the models, to have open conversations around sex before, and we are getting them now, and you can just see this conversation flourishing."
For more on self love, listen back to the full interview above.
