Queer@King’s hosts the launch of Bad Sex: Sexuality, Gender and Affect in Contemporary TV (Bloomsbury, 2025), a thought-provoking exploration of the evolution of sexual representation on the small screen.

Jacqueline Gibbs, Billy Holzberg and Aura Lehtonen trace the shift from earlier portrayals of sex as glamorous or taboo to contemporary depictions of sex as a more awkward, painful, or complex experience. Drawing on contemporary English-language drama and dramedy shows such as Fleabag (2016, 2019), Sex Education (2019–23), I May Destroy You (2020), and Euphoria (2019–), the authors identify this shift as driven by the diversification of representations of sex and sexuality, as women, trans and non-binary, Black and minority ethnic, working-class and disabled TV professionals carve some space in a traditionally white, middle-class, cis male dominated industry. In doing so, they explore the affective potential and limits of 'bad' sex on our screens and what these representations can tell us about sexual politics and gender cultures today.

This launch event will feature a short presentation of the book by Aura Lehtonen. Our esteemed panelists are Professor Rosalind Gill (Goldsmiths), Francesca Sobande (Cardiff University) and Jamie Hakim (King's).

The event will feature an open Q&A session and conclude with a wine reception, providing a space for informal conversations and connections.

About the speakers

Rosalind Gill is University Professor of Inequalities in Creative and Cultural Industries at Goldsmiths, University of London. Gill has produced groundbreaking work on gender and media; cultural and creative work; and mediated intimacy, and made a significant contribution to debates about the ‘sexualization of culture’. Her many books include Confidence Culture (Duke, 2022); Gender in an Era of Post-truth Populism (Bloomsbury, 2022); Aesthetic Labour (Palgrave, 2017); New Femininities: Postfeminism, Neoliberalism and Subjectivity (Springer, 2011); and Gender and the Media (Polity, 2006).

Jacqueline Gibbs is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at City St George’s, University of London, UK. Her research explores political and socio-cultural conceptualisations of vulnerability and care. She has published on these themes in Feminist Media Studies, MAI Feminism and Visual Cultures, Feminist Review and Sociological Review Magazine.

Aura Lehtonen is Associate Professor in Sociology at the University of Greenwich, UK. Her research explores how difference, diversity and inequalities are understood, conceptualised and represented in contemporary culture and politics, with a specific focus on sexuality. She is the author of The Sexual Logics of Neoliberalism in Britain: Sexual Politics in Exceptional Times (2023).

Jamie Hakim is a lecturer in culture, media and creative industries at King’s College London. His research interests lie at the intersection of digital cultures, intimacy, embodiment and care. His book Work That Body: Male Bodies in Digital Culture was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2019. His co-authored, open access book Digital Intimacies: Queer Men and Smartphones in Times of Crisis was published by Bloomsbury Academic in 2024. As part of the Care Collective he has also co-authored The Care Manifesto: The Politics of Interdependence (Verso, 2020).

Billy Holzberg is Lecturer in Social Justice at King's College London. His research examines the sexual and affective politics that shape growing social inequalities, nationalism, and right-wing authoritarianism. He is the author of Affective Bordering: Race, Deservingness and The Emotional Politics of Migration Control (2024).

Francesca Sobande (she/her) is a writer and Reader in digital media studies at Cardiff University. She is the author of Big Brands Are Watching You: Marketing Social Justice and Digital Culture, Consuming Crisis: Commodifying Care and COVID-19 and The Digital Lives of Black Women in Britain. Francesca is co-author with layla-roxanne hill of Black Oot Here: Black Lives in Scotland, the free graphic novel Black Oot Here: Dreams O Us, and the forthcoming book in the Inklings series by 404 Ink, Look, Don't Touch: Reflections on the Freedom to Feel. Francesca is also co-editor with Akwugo Emejulu of To Exist is to Resist: Black Feminism in Europe, and co-author with Anamik Saha and Gavan Titley of The Anti-Racist Media Manifesto.