Showmax’s Sex in Afrikaans Review
Toet,Tet and Tril is what I was thinking hearing Sex in Afrikaans. I pictured someone in a voortrekker kappie doing reverse cowboy. Or a mielie farmer skommeling on a tractor. Then as I started watching it became more nuanced and informative. All preconceived notions and caricatured thoughts disappeared.
Sex has always been taboo in South Africa, more so in Afrikaaner communities. The Apartheid-era was synonymous with Calvinistic ideals with sex was bound to the marital bed. This was most likely confined to missionary between a man and a woman after watching the evening news. Clinical Psychologist Bradley R Daniels helps four Afrikaans couples and two singles have open discussions about their sex lives for the first time publicly. It is an unearthing of the rampant and not so conservative Pompery beneath the Boerewors veil.
Episode one of the 18SNLV documentary series introduces us to the four couples. The pastors’ kids Tracy and Brady are very open about their mutual enjoyment of sex. They stood out immediately as they are the only Coloured people in the doccie. Tracy is open-minded and it is refreshing to see a woman say she enjoys sex without shame.
The episode titled “Sex work” interviews two white sex workers: Amanda and Juan. Juan performs at bachelorette parties and works as a sex worker. He speaks candidly seems to only have had positive experiences. Amanda is candid and critical of her work. She doesn’t enjoy it and her introduction to it was not pleasant. You feel her pathos through the screen. She laments about how Afrikaaner women should keep their appearances up for their men. I sense a deep sadness in her, and she deserved more screen time. Sex work is work. We should be aware that in South Africa Black sex workers face tremendous dangers and discrimination.
South Africa ranks third in the world for sex toy searches on the internet. The “Sex toy” episode introduces sex dolls. I admit it freaked me out a bit because of how life-like it looked. Benni, a DJ spoke about his experience. It is safe to say a plastiek pop kan pomp. Daniels broached this subject with the couples in this episode. There are honest conversations about masturbation, and singleton Rea said she still believes you can get warts on your hands from engaging. This episode is informative and very graphic in terms of the business behind it all. The Afrikaans dorpies are major revenue-generating players in the market. Luckily the toys are all battery-operated so the only load being shed is not electrical.
Episode three is titled “Pornography” and opens with some historical background on the local industry. Joe Theron was the pornography King of South Africa. He published the American porn magazine, Hustler locally. He eventually published Loslyf magazine; the iconic porn mag of the 1990’s. Theron also made the first South African porn movie called Africa Rising. It was an annotated history of local porn in the first half. Our interviewees spoke about their experiences with sending sexy pics and making home-made sex tapes. The candour and ease is helped by Daniels. He really holds the group’s attention and the viewers. The rest of the episode had interviews with retired porn stars, and a local OnlyFans star.
South Africa has about 40 000 registered Swingers. Episode four introduces a swinging couple that gives the inside scoop on how they found other swingers pre-Internet. They looked for cryptically worded ads in the Farmer’s weekly magazine. In the Afrikaans setting swinger parties are called swaai braai’s…a braai then a naai. The couples and singles were reticent about making their own porn. The couples and singles exhibited fairly conservative opinions on the porn industry.
Things ramp up a bit in the last two episodes; BDSM and Fetishes. Things ramp up a bit in the last to episodes; BDSM and Fetishes. Mistress Berlin tells us straight she is a sadist and proceeds to show us a how she mummifies a client. Then proceeds to electrocute his tollie. The BDSM episode introduces us to mistresses and dungeon masters. The couples and singleton’s discuss their experiences and understanding. The Fetishes episode expands on BDSM and introduces various fetishes. I don’t want tog give anymore away. View it with pleasure and surprise.
The doccie is refreshing and as slick as hot lube. There are some laugh out loud moments hearing someone casually say ek naai rond. There is playfulness in the use of Afrikaans throughout (English subtitles). Having positive conversations around sexuality is needed to dispel myths and educate. It may leave you honger tollie at the end. It also puts a face on communities we don’t usually associate sexuality with. Gone are the days of dark adult stores or hush tones discussing orgasms. Showmax is fast becoming a production house of unique South African content. The subject matter and effortless flow overall are impressive. The quick jumps between the group interviews and outside subjects adds to a consistent narrative. You feel like you learnt something after episode. Sex in Afrikaans is not an edgy take on sexuality. It sheds light on sexuality with an Afrikaans twist. It ruk en pluks jou. It is a visual human sexuality course and kak stout.
Sex in Afrikaans is available to stream on Showmax.
Feature Images provided by Showmax