This is not your parents’ sex education tape. There is no stern grandmotherly teacher who doesn’t acknowledge that sex can be fun and goofy and silly. Because it is. If you start to take sex so seriously that you lose track that it’s supposed to be a release, the pressure you put on yourself can ruin it. Annie Sprinkle’s (ex-porn star, now sexologist) How To Be A Sex Goddess In 101 Easy Steps is a whimsical workshop for women who want to explore their own sexuality in a way that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

While it doesn’t contain any extremely new information for those of us who are not just being introduced into the fun world of the study of sexuality (the basics are looking at and learning your body, costumes, role-playing, masturbation, gender-bending etc.), the way these things are presented is quite nontraditional. There is a large range of body types included: pierced, tattooed, unadorned, shaved, natural, trimmed, bony, slender, full figured, and of many races. In addition, it was nice to see safe sex measures were taken during the sex acts.

The style of the video is trippy, almost psychedelic. There is a plethora of green screen backgrounds that don’t always make sense. The music in the background sounds a little bit like the beeps and whirs that would come Willy Wonka’s candy machines in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I swear to god I heard a slide whistle at one point.

The premise, as Annie narrates in a conservative looking dress, is the female personas of the Slut and the Goddess. She covers steps to get in touch with both of these different sexual identities. They are purposely exaggerated and a spoof of the stereotypical idea of sexually strong women. For example, the viewer in instructed to choose both a slut and goddess name. Slut names suggested are things like Lola, or Lotta Top, where as the goddess names included Jwala and “Rainbow Buffalo Cornwoman”. I mean, that’s obviously meant to be hilarious even though it is delivered with a straight face. Throughout you could tell the women were having a great time but probably had to stop to take breaks to laugh.

I found the exercises suggested by the way they are portrayed to be purposely silly, a little like doing the Electric Slide alone on a dance floor (not actually suggested--just a comparable feeling). But I don’t say that in a bad way. If you can do the Vag-A-Lift sexercise with your partner after watching this, sure you’ll probably laugh, but it breaks down inhibitions and helps you have a fun time with sex and your sexuality. As Sprinkle says in the commentary section of the DVD, she wanted the video to be funny and make fun of itself, but to still help people open up and try new things.

This video quickly goes over tantric breathing, stretching, physical exercises to strengthen the body, sex magick, and female ejaculation, but it never goes into great detail about any of these. I would recommend this for women who have a sense of humor and would like to let Annie Sprinkle and her Sluts/Goddesses help remove the proverbial stick our culture has stuck up our asses. Sex can be goofy without being bad. It encourages women to let go and get in touch with a more primal part of themselves that isn’t prim and proper and isn’t sorry about it. It will really help you loosen up mentally in a great way.

While How To Be A Sex Goddess In 101 Easy Steps does include hardcore material, I did not find it stimulating. For me this wasn’t a video to rub one off to even though it did have cunniligus, spanking, strap-ons, fisting, vibrators, and tribadism (bumpin’ cunts, if you weren’t sure). It’s not meant to be titillating.

It's a postmodern take on sex education. Sprinkle wants you to embrace the goofiness and have fun. And I think we all should.