science

Real Sex

Real Sex is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Real Sex rather than just read about it. In short: Real Sex is a documentary television series produced by HBO. Real Sex was a sexually explicit "magazine" which "explores sex '90s style." Created by Sheila Nevins and produced by Patti Kaplan, the series began as a single 60-minute special about sexuality, largely in response to the cultural attitudes surrounding sex in the wake of the AIDS epidemic of the 1980's.

Key takeaways

Real Sex belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Real Sex to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Real Sex from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Real Sex is a documentary television series produced by HBO. Real Sex was a sexually explicit "magazine" which "explores sex '90s style." Created by Sheila Nevins and produced by Patti Kaplan, the series began as a single 60-minute special about sexuality, largely in response to the cultural attitudes surrounding sex in the wake of the AIDS epidemic of the 1980's. The series was female-run, and segments were largely directed by women. Real Sex explores human sexuality. Gary R. Edgerton and Jeffrey P. Jones described the fare in The Essential HBO Reader as "a peek into the diversity of sexual activities...with an emphasis that ranges from the unusual to the bizarre." The show typically explores three to four topics each episode. Segments are separated by street interviews with random people, relating to the episode's topics. It spawned a spin-off series called Pornucopia. In 2018, HBO began removing the show from its streaming services HBO GO and HBO Now, along with similar series Cathouse and Taxicab Confessions, making them largely unavailable.

Subsequent release history While a hit show for HBO during its original run in the 90s (with HBO rerunning the series and compiling "best of" episodes to air late night until the final 2009 episode), HBO has declined to include it in any of its various streaming services such as HBO Go and HBO Max/Max. In the Vice documentary series "Sex Before The Internet", series creator Sheila Nevins lamented the show's unavailability, stating that HBO largely disowned the series after finding mainstream critical success with shows like "The Sopranos" and "The Wire" and considers the series and other sexually explicit shows such as The Cathouse, as old shames. HBO's response in the documentary is that "there hasn't been a strong demand for this kind of adult programming, perhaps because it's easily available elsewhere."

Episode guide

See also Sexcetera, a similar series on Playboy TV

References

Further reading Langmuir, Molly (July 30, 2013). "Masturbation, Nudists, and Street Interviews: An Oral History of HBO's Real Sex". Vulture. New York Media. Retrieved December 22, 2013.

External links Real Sex at IMDb

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Real Sex

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Real Sex claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Real Sex before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Real Sex ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Real Sex

In research: Real Sex appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Real Sex in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Real Sex is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1990 American television series debuts, 1990 English-language television series debuts, 1990s American documentary television series, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Real Sex outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Real Sex in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Real Sex means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Real Sex out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Real Sex in simple terms?

Why does Real Sex matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Real Sex?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Real Sex.