Bridgerton’s masturbation scene shames other period dramas

Bridgerton follow the spoilers of the first season.

Netflix’s new period drama Bridgerton it will surely be the cup of tea for many viewers with positive sex. The Regency series is produced by Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal producer Shonda Rhimes, who is once again associating her name with a feminist, powerful and decidedly sexy project. In his eight-episode series, Bridgerton it touches all of these bases and some more, most notably in a masturbation scene aimed at women.

Healthy representations of feminine pleasure on the screen are more common today, with some period dramas making their way onto small and large screens. However, clitoral and vaginal stimulation is still a practically unknown territory in the genus. Over the years, the mainstream media has instead posted evocative images of immaculate fruit or flowers deflowered by perfectly manicured fingers. Although suggestive, these symbols of female masturbation aim to sanitize a moment that must be fun, exploratory and confusing.

Inside Bridgerton, the heroine’s solo becomes an innovative narrative device to expose the hypocrisy of double sexual patterns.

Created by Chris Van Dusen, this inclusive and delicious series revolves around the 19th century London wedding market. Young women are pressured by their mothers to ensure the best marriage. Tragically, they receive little or no information about what happens after tie the knot.

Sex – in the form of heteronormative, male-centered “marital relationships” is often hurriedly reduced to something that women will have to endure instead of enjoying. Single women who dare to give in to their instincts almost instantly lose their status, falling victim to a system that still regards virginity as the most desirable quality in a woman. Even more than a substantial dowry.

While men are free to indulge in business, respectable girls are ashamed to suppress their impulses. Their sexuality is constantly policed, they are left in the dark about the functioning of their bodies. These same bodies, however, are strongly sexualized, squeezed into devilish corsets and petticoats designed to attract gentlemen. Taking care of the tingling of the meat under these layers is another issue, hardly addressed.

Bridgerton ‘The protagonist Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) is no exception. At least until she makes a deal with Simon, Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page). While the two pretend to court to get what they want in the market, Daphne is introduced to the joys of masturbation. In ‘Art of the Swoon’, an explicit and steamy dialogue stimulates the young woman’s sexual awakening.

“I’m laughing at the absurdity of how mothers tell their daughters,” says Simon as they walk.

“They don’t tell us anything,” confirms Daphne.

She seeks advice, aware that only a false suitor would tell her the truth. While it may seem problematic to have a man instruct a woman on how to please herself, the sequence is respectful and sensual. When the duke realizes that Daphne never masturbated, the atmosphere becomes more tense. Filled with anticipation, the exchange lays the groundwork for the second, possibly sexier, half of the season.

“When you are alone, you can touch yourself … anywhere on your body, anywhere that gives you pleasure,” Simon tells Daphne.

“But especially between your legs,” he whispers, causing half the audience’s heart rate to accelerate dramatically.

The scene that follows is a defining moment for Daphne. Bridgerton presents to the spectators the symbology on the nose of the candid flower. Significantly, the heroine leaves the white rose that Simon gave her while following her advice. She starts by gently touching her body, then lifts her nightgown. The camera follows your every move as it slowly but surely reaches the center of your pleasure.

Unlike other conventional depictions of masturbation, Bridgerton she is not afraid to focus unambiguously on Daphne’s body as well as her face when she climaxes.

This fun edition closes the deal for this scene, which ends with the young woman playing the piano the next morning. Having experienced her first orgasm, Daphne is relaxed and is able to complete a song she was struggling with. Hilarious, her mother congratulates her for “breaking up”. Even though a man told her how to touch herself, Daphne takes complete control of the moment.

Next to Bridgerton, a number of other fantasy dramas have also portrayed female masturbation in recent years. Foreign The episode ‘Surrender’ shows Claire of Caitriona Balfe thinking about her lover Jamie while her husband Frank is sleeping. In a show so positive about sex and focused on women, this masturbation scene seemed a little lackluster.

Unlike Daphne, Claire is a modern woman who has had sex before and knows what she likes. However, the moment is full of guilt and shame as she is torn between family duties and exciting adventures in another time and place. Later in the episode, she tries to fix things by sleeping with Frank, although it is clear that she is not having fun.

similarly to Bridgerton, The big on Hulu is a drama dramatically witty, sexy, not entirely historically accurate. The series about Catarina, the future Empress of Russia, has the best character of Aunt Elizabeth (Belinda Bromilow). In “And you, sir, it’s not Peter the Great”, Elizabeth shows this in public, looking at a statue of the late Emperor Peter the Great. The doll focuses on the character masturbating on the palace stairs, a scene seen from the statue’s point of view.

In the pilot of the 2013 teen drama Reign, Mary’s chaperone, Kenna (Caitlin Stasey), is excited by a bed ceremony. After spying on a couple on their wedding night, she seeks relief. She touches herself off camera and then joins a much older, married king of France.

The case of Reign it is emblematic. In 2013, the original scene was cut by the CW before it aired, proving that the taboo around female pleasure was still alive and strong. The risk is that women will internalize this shame. According to a 2020 survey of masturbation, 53% are still uncomfortable discussing sex alone. But pop culture can help to tackle stigma and celebrate masturbation against all patriarchal attempts to control women’s bodies.

Inside Bridgerton, particularly, the masturbation scene is not just represented for laughing as in The big, nor is it a way to bridge the gap between two lovers as in Foreign. It is certainly not an invitation for a man to participate, as is the case with Reign.

It’s Daphne’s time, and hers alone. An act of self-care to understand your desire and, finally, regain power over your body. This does not mean that masturbating does not improve a couple’s sex life. Au contraire. When Daphne and Simon get married, he asks her to show her what she likes in the bedroom. This is a very modern exchange that is only possible because, at this point, Daphne knows what she wants and how she works.

This utilitarian and sensual masturbation scene fits Bridgerton ‘s a broader and more necessary conversation about sexual consent and positivity. Not bad for another period drama.

Bridgerton the first season is now available to watch on Netflix.

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