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You may know Elizabeth Banks best from theHunger GamesandPitch Perfectfranchises.
Gregg DeGuire / Stringer/GettyImages
But shes also intent on using her public platform to raise awareness aboutreproductive health.
In 2019 the actor, producer, and director became chair of the Center for Reproductive Rights Creative Council.
Shes been open abouther infertility and feeling judgedafter having her sons via surrogate.
Banks believes thatsex educationis a lifelong pursuit.
SELF: What inspired you to start this podcast?
Elizabeth Banks:Fairly recently, my son turned 10.
And an alarm bell went off.
And then I readGirls & Sexby Peggy Orenstein.
I thought, Wow, girls are not having a lot of fun when it comes to sex.
And what is it the root of all that?
Thats what I wanted to delve into with this podcast.
At the end of the day, womens sex and sexuality are still very regulated.
I wanted to start to take a stab at change the conversation about that if possible.
Youve mentioned that you think sex education is a lifelong pursuit.
Is there anything youve learned recently that youve been personally inspired by?
Putting pleasure first in life generally.
Its for making babies.
Youre trying to get something or stay safe.
Theres a power dynamic in it.
And I just thought, None of that is good.
None of that represents the sex that I have in my life as a married woman with my husband.
How was the topic of sex addressed in your household growing up?
We got the sex talk pretty early on.
And we had constant check-ins.
We had the books.
We hadThe Teenage Body BookandOur Bodies, Ourselves.
I remember hand-drawn sex positions.
It wasnt like we sat around the dinner table and talked about this.
But it was clear that my parents wanted us to be informed.
They wanted us to have resources.
I had my period very early in my life.
My mom said no one told her what was going on when it happened to her.
She didnt want to have that for us.
She felt that knowledge was power, and she wanted her girls to be empowered.
One of the problems we have in sex ed and health classes is we still separate the sexes.
We dont tell the boys about periods.
We dont tell girls about nocturnal emissions and boners.
Thats not doing anybody any favors.
You think boys dont see their moms bloody tampons in the garbage?
You also open up about your body insecurities and having stressed in the past over having smaller boobs.
Where are you at with those thoughts nowadays?
Ill be honest: Im still working through it.
And you should drink more water today because you feel better when you drink more water.
Are there any women who are really inspiring you right now?
You had an episode where you talked about kids and sex.
Do you and your husband have a game plan for that talk with your own kids?
Melissa is a mom and has created this incredible resource.
you’re free to go to thewebsiteand learn about how to talk to kids about literally anything.
Ill definitely be using a lot of that.
And frankly, Ill probably show my kidsThe Miracle of Life.Its still around.
How have those experiences affected your views on reproductive health?
If I get a season two, thats definitely something that Im planning to talk about.
And it is happening, of course.
Its happening in my world.
Its happening on SELF.
But is it happening at the level of sex education for young people?
So how do we readjust so that people get healthier messaging about their bodies?
How has hosting this podcast and exploring many of these topics influenced your own sex life or sexual self-esteem?
We used to hold hands, and I find that Im like, We can hold hands more now.
Its going back to little tricks of reconnection.
And its not that we were disconnected.
I have a great relationship with my husband, but these were wonderful reminders.
Im not a big love-language person.
But I was like, Oh, yeah, I like holding hands.
It makes me feel young and cute.
Thats a goal that Im going to set for myself.
And I didnt have that goal before I started this process.
