What if there has never been just one way to understand gender?

In this Pride Month special, we're traveling around the world to explore how different cultures have understood gender throughout history.

From the Māhū people of Hawaiʻi and Tahiti to the Hijra communities of India, the Fa'afafine of Samoa, the Bissu people of Indonesia, and Two-Spirit traditions throughout Indigenous North America, we'll discover that gender diversity is deeply rooted in human history.

We'll also explore the impact of colonialism, early LGBTQ+ researchers, transgender pioneers, the destruction of queer history during Nazi Germany, and the activists who helped build community for future generations.

This lesson isn't about politics or proving that gender diversity is "new" or "old." It's about expanding our understanding of humanity and recognizing that there has never been one universal way to understand gender.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Gender identity, gender expression, and key LGBTQ+ vocabulary
• Māhū traditions in Hawaiʻi and Tahiti
• Hijra communities in India
• Fa'afafine and Fa'afatama traditions in Samoa
• The Bugis five-gender system and Bissu people in Indonesia
• Two-Spirit traditions in Indigenous North America
• Magnus Hirschfeld and the Institute for Sexual Science
• Dora Richter and Lili Elbe
• The Nazi destruction of queer history
• Stonewall, Marsha P. Johnson, and Sylvia Rivera
• Ballroom culture and chosen family
• The impact of colonialism on gender-diverse communities

A Broad Sex Education is an inclusive adult sex education podcast exploring human sexuality, relationships, pleasure, culture, and identity through an evidence-based and approachable lens.

• https://outrightinternational.org/meaning-mahu
• https://kapaemahu.com/2023/05/hawaiis-mahu-and-their-ancient-history-are-finally-re-embraced/

• https://www.britannica.com/topic/hijra-gender-identity
• https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20170720-the-semi-sacred-third-gender-of-south-asia
• https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/religion-context/case-studies/gender/third-gender-and-hijras

• https://nhm.org/stories/beyond-gender-indigenous-perspectives-faafafine-and-faafatama
• https://youtu.be/dMIT3RSlgGU

• https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/the-history-of-two-spirit-folks
• https://www.ihs.gov/lgbt/twospirit/

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In this episode we're exploring the history of gay men through the lenses of geography and history.

From Ancient Greece and Rome to colonial laws, Oscar Wilde's trials, Berlin before World War II, Stonewall, and the AIDS crisis, we'll examine how societies have understood relationships between men across time and place.

Along the way, we'll meet activists, artists, researchers, and communities who challenged stigma, fought for visibility, and helped shape LGBTQ+ history.

This isn't a comprehensive history of gay men. It's an introduction to some of the people, places, and events that helped move society from criminalization toward greater visibility.

Class is in session! Happy Pride Month! 🏳️‍🌈

Topics include:

• Ancient Greece and Rome
• Colonialism and anti-sodomy laws
• Oscar Wilde
• Magnus Hirschfeld and the Institute for Sexual Science
• The Stonewall Uprising
• The AIDS Crisis
• ACT UP
• Keith Haring
• LGBTQ+ activism and visibility

Ancient Greece

• https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240226-greece-the-mediterraneans-ancient-gay-friendly-civilisation
• https://www.worldhistory.org/Sacred_Band_of_Thebes/
• https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/the-legacy-of-same-sex-love-in-ancient-thebes
• https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/62239/chapter-abstract/550701521?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false#550701521

Ancient Rome

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsQIphauFlg&t=26s

Colonialism and Colonization

• https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/12/17/alien-legacy/origins-sodomy-laws-british-colonialism
• https://www.humandignitytrust.org/lgbt-the-law/a-history-of-criminalisation/

The Trials of Oscar Wilde

• https://www.history.com/articles/oscar-wilde-trial
• https://famous-trials.com/wilde/327-home

Magnus Hirshfield, Weimar Germany, and the Destruction of Queer History

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNGvga0QKZg

Stonewall Riots

• https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/stonewall-why-did-mafia-own-bar/
• https://guides.loc.gov/lgbtq-studies/stonewall-era#s-lib-ctab-24103782-0
• https://couragecaliforniainstitute.org/how-the-nyc-stonewall-riots-launched-a-movement-and-changed-national-policy/

AIDS Crisis

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s9vBfCdIZA
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBP-63jtZfA

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If women who loved women have always existed, why is their history so much harder to find?

In this Pride Month special, we're exploring the stories of women who loved women across history and around the world. From Ancient Greece and the poetry of Sappho to the Golden Orchid Societies of Southern China, Anne Lister's coded diaries, Boston Marriages, and the literary salons of Paris, we'll uncover how women built relationships and communities long before the modern label "lesbian" existed.

Then we'll turn to the United States to examine the women who helped shape LGBTQ+ history, including the Daughters of Bilitis, Stormé DeLarverie, the Lavender Menace, Audre Lorde, lesbian caregivers during the AIDS crisis, and activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon.

Because lesbian history isn't just a history of love. It's a history of visibility, activism, community building, and showing up for one another.

Topics discussed:

• Sappho and the origins of "lesbian" and "sapphic"
• Golden Orchid Societies
• Anne Lister and her coded diaries
• Boston Marriages
• Parisian lesbian culture
• Daughters of Bilitis
• Stonewall and Stormé DeLarverie
• The Lavender Menace
• Audre Lorde
• Lesbians during the AIDS crisis
• Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon

🏳️‍🌈 Happy Pride Month. Class is in session.

Sappho & History of the word Lesbian

• https://www.intomore.com/culture/the-fascinating-history-of-lesbian/
• https://thehistorianshut.com/2020/10/21/sappho-of-lesbos-and-the-husband-hoax/

Golden Orchid Society

• https://www.makingqueerhistory.com/articles/2016/12/20/the-golden-orchid

Anne Lister

• https://www.annelister.co.uk/
• https://english.northwestern.edu/about/anne-lister-society/story.html

Boston Marriages

• https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/boston-marriages.htm

Natalie Clifford Barney

• https://thesalonhost.com/natalie-clifford-barney-the-forgotten-poet-hostess-of-the-most-free-spirited-salons-in-paris/
• https://guides.loc.gov/feminism-french-women-history/famous/natalie-clifford-barney

Daughters of Bilitis

• https://guides.loc.gov/lgbtq-studies/before-stonewall/daughters-of-bilitis

Lavendar Menace

• https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/lavender-menace-action-at-second-congress-to-unite-women/

Lesbian Support During AIDS Crisis

• https://www.youthco.org/lesbian_solidarity_during_the_aids_epidemic

Audre Lorde

• https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/audre-lorde
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Audre-Lorde
• https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/audre-lorde

Stormé DeLaverie

• https://www.storme-delarverie.com/
• https://www.nps.gov/people/storme-delarverie.htm

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In this Office Hours episode for AAPI Heritage Month, we’re unpacking the sexualization and desexualization of Asian people, from the stereotype of the “submissive Asian woman” to why Asian men have historically been portrayed as less desirable in Western culture.

We discuss where these stereotypes came from, how media and history shaped them, the impact of fetishization in dating culture, Filipino taxi dance halls in 1920s California, interracial dating panic, K-pop, anime, and why attraction is never socially neutral.

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Why are boys told not to cry? Why are women expected to be nurturing? And who decides what masculinity and femininity are supposed to look like in the first place?

In this Study Break episode, Cin and Asa unpack gender roles, social expectations, beauty standards, emotional expression, and the pressure people feel to perform masculinity and femininity in everyday life.

This conversation explores how many of the “rules” around gender are socially learned, reinforced through culture, and rarely questioned until adulthood.

A Broad Sex Education is an inclusive sex education podcast covering gender, sexuality, relationships, communication, and culture in a way that actually makes sense.

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If sexual violence is so common, why are so many survivors afraid to come forward?

In Part 2 of this series, Cin, Asa, and Brooklyn examine the systems, trauma responses, institutional failures, and social conditioning that make rape and sexual assault some of the most underreported and difficult crimes to prosecute.

Through sociology, personal experience, legal frameworks, prevention strategies, and cultural analysis, this lesson explores what survivors are forced to navigate after assault and why prevention requires more than simply condemning rape.

In this lesson, we discuss:

• Why survivors often don’t report sexual assault
• Trauma, memory, shame, and fear of retaliation
• Why rape and sexual assault cases are difficult to prosecute
• Rape kits, evidence collection, and institutional failures
• The Violence Against Women Act, Title IX, and California’s “Yes Means Yes” law
• The “Man vs Bear” discussion and women’s safety calculations
• The “Not All Men” conversation and male accountability
• The mental load women carry to navigate safety
• Drink spiking prevention and harm reduction
• Prevention, intervention, and what men can do to help stop sexual violence
• The social conditioning that sustains rape culture
• Statistics surrounding sexual violence and reporting

⚠️ Content Notice: This episode includes discussions of rape, sexual assault, coercion, abuse, misogyny, violence against women, childhood sexual abuse, and trauma. Please take care while listening.

🛍️Affiliate Link: Nightcap Drink Spiking Prevention Product

• Discount code: NIGHTCAP10-ABROADSEXED

• Women Wait to Report Sexual Assault (Blog)
• Daniel Sloss' X on MAX (Stand-up Comedy Special)
• Nightcap Drink Spiking Prevention Product (Website Affiliate Link; Discount code: NIGHTCAP10-ABROADSEXED )
• RAINN.org (U.S. Resource for Survivors)
• UN Women (Global Resource for Survivors)
• Futures Without Violence (Organization)
• MCSR.org (Organization, also known as Men Can Stop Rape)
• National Sexual Violence Resource Center (Organization)
• CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS)
• Lifetime Economic Burden of Rape Among U.S. Adults (PubMed Article)

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If consent seems so simple, then why does non-consent feel so normalized?

In Part 1 of this two-part series, Cin, Asa, and Brooklyn examine rape culture through sociology, history, media, mythology, power, and social conditioning. From legal definitions and consent education to cultural messaging, misogyny, and modern online communities, this lesson explores how society normalizes harmful behavior and why conversations about consent are often more complicated than they seem.

Throughout the episode, we also examines historical depictions of sexual violence in mythology and art to explore how power, pursuit, coercion, and entitlement have been romanticized across centuries.

In this lesson, we cover:

• Consent, coercion, and boundaries
• Legal definitions of rape
• Implied consent and communication
• How rape culture shows up in society
• Victim blaming and harmful gender expectations
• Why rape is about power, control, and entitlement
• The “myth of the monster” and acquaintance assault
• Hypermasculinity and misogynistic online spaces
• The Gisèle Pelicot case and online rape forums
• Historical depictions of non-consent in mythology and art

⚠️ Content Notice: This episode includes discussions of rape, sexual assault, coercion, abuse, misogyny, violence against women, and childhood sexual abuse. Please take care while listening.

🎓 In Part 2, we continue the discussion by examining:

• why survivors often don’t come forward
• how difficult sexual assault cases can be to prosecute
• prevention, accountability, and what men can do to help stop sexual violence

For help in the US, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or chat 24/7 on RAINN.org.

Internationally, a worldwide list of directories is provided by UN Women, with national agencies on The Pixel Project.

• Tea and Consent YouTube (Video)
• Consent for Kids YouTube (Video)
• Sexual Assault is About Power by Lyn Yonack, MA, MSW, BCD-P (Blog)
• Exposing a Global 'Rape Academy' by Saskya Vandoorne, Kara Fox, Niamh Kennedy, Eleanor Stubbs and Marco Chacon, CNN (News Article)
• The Undetected Rapist by Dr. David Lisak (Research paper)
• Gisele Pelicot France Case by By Saskya Vandoorne, Niamh Kennedy, Caroline Baum, Kara Fox, Carlotta Dotto, Eleanor Stubbs, Yukari Schrickel and Byron Manley, CNN (News Article)

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The “Tea and Consent” video is one of the most widely shared explanations of consent. It is simple, clear, and easy to understand.

So why doesn’t consent always feel that simple in real life?

In this extra credit minisode, Cin and Asa break down the tea analogy and explore what it misses. From power dynamics and social pressure to communication gaps and real-world scenarios, this lesson expands the conversation beyond a simple yes or no.

Because consent isn’t just about asking a question. It is about whether someone feels free to answer.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why the tea analogy works and where it falls short
• How power dynamics impact consent
• The difference between clear communication and real-life ambiguity
• Implied consent, coercion, and social pressure
• Dating culture, entitlement, and transactional expectations
• Why consent is more nuanced than we are often taught

This episode includes discussions of consent, coercion, sexual assault, and rape culture.

Please take care while listening.

🎓 This is just the beginning. Next lesson, we dive deeper into rape culture and how it shapes our understanding of consent.

• Tea and Consent Video by Blue Seat Studios
• Consent for Kids Video by Blue Seat Studios

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What actually makes someone “good” at sex?

It’s probably not what you think.

In this mini-lesson, we break down the real skills that create better sex, deeper connection, and more confidence in the bedroom. This is not about performance or technique. It is about awareness, communication, and understanding your body and your partner.

We cover:

• Why being open-minded changes everything

• How learning your own body improves your experiences

• What it means to communicate what you actually want

• How to stay present and read your partner’s responses

• Why sex is a shared experience, not a performance

• Letting go of the idea that there is one “right” way

Plus a bonus tip on what to do after sex that most people skip but should not.

If you have ever wondered whether you are “good” at sex, this episode will shift how you think about it.

• Sex Talks: The Five Conversations that Will Help Transform Your Love Life by Vanessa Marin, LMFT and Alexander Marin

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Most people think they know what sex is. But if you had to define it, could you?

In this lesson, we go back to the basics and break down what sex actually means. This episode explores how sex is defined, what happens in your brain during sex, and how the experience can change depending on context, connection, and physical dynamics.

We cover the role of key brain regions involved in arousal and pleasure, the difference between dopamine and oxytocin, and how substances like caffeine, alcohol, and weed can impact your experience. We also look at how different positions affect control, stimulation, and connection, and why sex is not one-size-fits-all.

This lesson is designed to give you a clearer, more inclusive understanding of sex so you can better understand your own experiences and communicate with others.

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