‘That thing going unsaid was: I miss you, I care about you. I’m lonely. That’s what we’re trying to say when we flirt.’ Emilie Pine on writing about sex

The author ­says writing about sex is really about emotions

Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar Jones in 'Normal People' which had an intimacy coordinator on set, which is now the norm

Liadán Hynes

‘I’m struck by when women are allowed write about sex, and commissioned to write about it, it is often negative,” Emilie Pine says, listing off a number of potential gatekeepers, from publishers to theatre companies.

“It almost feels like women are given permission to write about sex only if it’s confessional, only if it’s traumatic. Then if you ­deviate from that social script, no one is listening anymore.”