THE JOY OF SEX
Christiane Amanpour tackles the embattled world of intimacy
Christiane Amanpour: Sex and Love Around the World Saturdays, CNN
Most people are used to hearing CNN’s Christiane Amanpour interview world leaders and report from war zones. These days she’s having a very different sort of conversation. “Let’s talk about sex,” the decorated correspondent tells a group of Japanese women as they sip cocktails at a restaurant in Tokyo.
Yes, sex.
That’s the subject of her new series Christiane Amanpour: Sex and Love Around the World, a shift from the political and conflict coverage that earned her global acclaim and the title of the network’s chief international correspondent. She says the idea for the series came to her three years ago while brushing her teeth and listening to a radio broadcast about Syrian refugees fleeing to border camps. Amanpour wondered about more intimate questions surrounding the refugee experience.
“How do they maintain their relationships? How do they keep their intimacy? How do they stay human? How do they have sex? Do they have sex? They clearly are still having babies,” Amanpour says.
Q What makes sex and love just as important to cover as the conflicts in Syria?
A I spent my career in war zones. What I’ve discovered about that, when I finish interviewing the leaders, the military and the militants’ victims ... and all of that tragedy and the violation of human rights, I have slowly come to realize that is only one side of what makes people tick. People also need to have their humanity intact. They need to be able to love and to have intimacy, whether it’s with their spouse, partner or children or other family members.
Q How did this topic push you outside your comfort zone?
A I am very used to covering war, and those are not the most difficult things to talk about. They are difficult and dangerous to cover. But the emotional and intellectual reach (to do this series), for me was more. I’ve never asked these questions before in public, on television. Not only that, but what if people didn’t want to talk to me about it? I had dreaded the idea of having to get pushy about it. I was absolutely stunned and gratified to find how many people just wanted to talk about it.
Q You focus a lot on the women’s perspective. What can men learn from watching your series?
A I hope men can learn what women have on their minds, what they are saying and what they are feeling, and knowing that (women) want to have these experiences with their chosen partner. Maybe learning ... what it means to be in a relationship.
Q I noticed your show leans into the #MeToo conversation about consent and sexual empowerment.
A That is one point of it. Then there’s the very ordinary human reaction: (Sex is) fun. It’s literally about happiness and enjoyment. There is a political dynamic, too, but the series is not overtly political. I wanted to know how far women were prepared to go and what they would do about their right to happiness, and their right to sexual fulfilment, and their right not just to satisfy men in these countries, which are countries that are not known for their equal rights.
Q Why did you choose these locations — Berlin; Accra, Ghana; Beirut; Tokyo; Shanghai; and Delhi — and were there any places that were off limits?
A There were some places that I would have liked to have gone, but maybe they were too dangerous or too expensive ... but nothing was off limits in terms of subject matter. We decided not to do more of the West. We did Germany partly because of the refugee influx there, so we did a contrast between Germans and new visitors. There are many cultures that I would like to investigate, and I would also like to explore these topics through the eyes of men.
Q What is the biggest thing you learned in working on this series?
A There are so many feisty, powerful and empowered and wanttobeempowered women around the world who are on the cusp of understanding, that now is the historic time to seek out their own sexual and emotional fulfilment, and to dig deeper into what it means to be intimate and to love and to be loved. What does all of that mean to them, and how can they get it? That is what I learned: There is a lot of joy out there — and a lot of excitement and exploration.