I Want Your Sex

The presence of sexual innuendo and sexual practices has escalated since the gang has gone to college. The Harsh Light of Day was a particularly intense episode in that area because of, not only the amount of sex that occurred in that episode, but the portrayal of the act of sex. There has always been a question of how much sex should be shown on national television, if any. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is definitely a series that puts a lot of emphasis on sexual acts and notes how these acts affect the characters in the show. However, what makes sex in this show perhaps more acceptable in some eyes is the way sex is portrayed. Sex is not seen by the main characters as something that should be done recklessly. In fact, those minor characters who take these views are shunned by the others. Sex is portrayed as a natural occurrence in teenage and young adult years but also as something that should be thought through.

Sex is an important part of the show, also because it enables the writers to delve deeper into the characters than by what is particularly shown. It's interesting that the characters seem sheepish about discussing their sexual lives with each other (with the exception of Anya) while the audience is allowed a great deal of insight into the sexual feelings of the characters. Another thing I found interesting is that though sex is an important part of the lives of all of these characters, and often is something that young adults worry about (as is seen in the way Buffy reacts after her first 2 sexual experiences) in the episode Fear, Itself everyone in the house apparently had something that they feared more than sex.