The Hindu Lit for Life 2025: Leeza Mangaldas speaks about how sex education must start young 

The Joy of Sex: Leeza Mangaldas in conversation with Latha Menon, at The Hindu Lit For Life 2025, in Chennai on Saturday, January 18, 2025.
| Photo Credit: R. Ravindran.

On day one of The Hindu Lit for Life, the pavilion stage was set for one last session of the day. One of the first words heard on stage was “I LIKE SEX”, and as soon as the hundred odd people repeated those words, it started to rain! 

Also see: The Hindu Lit for Life 2025 Day 2 LIVE

Sex educator, author, and entrepreneur Leeza Mangaldas shared her enthusiasm about speaking on the topic of sex in a public setting and pointed out that the shame that comes with even uttering the word is built within us from a young age. The session also touched upon the subjects of pornography and how it must be used as entertainment and not education. She spoke about how women are policed and surveilled so much that they are conditioned from a young age that sex is something they must tolerate and not something that you actively participate in or enjoy. 

Speaking about a survey which proved that the demographic which experiences the least amount of orgasms is heterosexual women, and the most is homosexual women. “I think it is worth noting that in fact not just the size, but the presence of a penis isn’t even necessarily required to please a woman. There is so much you can do with your hands, and mouth and mind. The largest sexual organ is the brain,” she said adding that it is all about knowledge, skill, care, and desire to learn about your partner’s pleasure. 

Leeza points out that the reality we live in is a world where pre-marital sex is frowned upon, but marital rape is legal. “Even in 2025, there is still a huge judgement on women who are sexually confident or in any way are sexually expressive outside the confines of a same religion, opposite sex marriage,” she says as an unmarried woman who is a sex educator. 

Also read: The Hindu Lit for Life 2025 Day 1 highlights

According to her, sex education needs to begin at a young age. Right from teaching kids to not attach shame to their genitalia, to telling them that it is alright to love who they do, it all falls under sex education. “When you tell your children falsehoods or make stuff up that is inaccurate because you are uncomfortable with providing the answer, your child’s sense of discernment is going to be impacted”. Using age appropriate language to help kids understand the concepts is the only way to go. 

The session ended with an interactive Q&A session with many difficult questions being answered in a judgement free way, even if that meant it angered some audience members.