Gillian Anderson is having a bit of a life-imitates-art moment, if her Sex Education character is anything to go by. Just like her alter ego Dr Jean Milburn, Gillian wants to talk about sex – and she's doing just that in a new book, which will chronicle the intimate lives of women from around the world.
In announcing her new project, Gillian has also called for women to write to her personally with their sexual fantasies and stories – some of which will be published in the book.
She says of her call for the personal entries: “The ‘Dear Gillian’ project will form a generation-defining book, compiling your anonymous letters to me to explore how women really think about sex. I am asking for letters of around 1,000 (but no more than 2,500) words, in any language, describing your most intimate, private sexual fantasies. Simply open your letter with ‘Dear Gillian,’ and let your imagination run wild. I will, of course, also share my own.”
The good news is, in 2023 we will see a continued shift in attitude toward being more flexible and open-minded when it comes to our sex lives.
She adds: “Whatever your background, whomever you do or don’t sleep with, whether you’re eighteen or eighty: if you identify as a woman, I want to hear from you.”
Gillian Anderson was inspired to write the book after reading Nancy Friday's My Secret Garden as part of her research for her role in Sex Education – and recently gave an interview on the Women's Prize for Fiction podcast on why it resonated with her. “[Here] women are sharing their deepest fantasies in an unfiltered, raw way… The interviews divulge something truly personal,” she said of the ground-breaking 1973 book.
Of her 21st century ‘reboot’ of the book, as she calls it – she wants to explore what the sex lives of women look like, 50 years later. “As women, we know that sex is about more than just sex. But so many of us don’t talk about it," she says.
“Our deepest, most intimate fears and fantasies remain locked away inside of us, until someone comes along with the key. Here is the key. I want to hear from you… Because when we talk about sex, we talk about womanhood and motherhood, infidelity and exploitation, consent and respect, fairness and egalitarianism, love and hate, pleasure and pain.”
Don't call it smut — the genre is changing how readers perceive their own pleasure.
