InScience: Sex and Love in Media and the Magic of Love

16 February 2026 News item

From 3 to 8 March, the InScience Science film festival will take place in Nijmegen, and this year’s theme is love. Alongside films, post‑screening discussions, and other activities, two lectures will explore this theme in depth. Researchers Serena Daalmans and Sándor Chardonnens will speak about love and sex in the media, and about magical love. Both programmes are in Dutch.

Sex and Love in the Media

InScience’s Big Ideas programmes always revolve around the festival theme and offer visitors an evening full of insight and wonder. The first programme, on Thursday 5 March, features the Sekszusjes (Sex Sisters) in conversation with communication scientist Serena Daalmans about how sex and love are portrayed on television and in film. How do media and art influence our sex lives, and what developments have emerged in recent years?

Daalmans studies representation and role models in media, and how these shape our self‑image. 'It definitely matters whether you see yourself reflected in the media. If, as a young girl, you never see strong women in leadership roles on television, you’re less likely to imagine that as an option for yourself. The same goes for non‑heterosexual relationships. Media still predominantly show heterosexual couples, and when other types of relationships appear, they’re often framed around problems or difficult coming‑out stories.'

Een portretfoto van docente Serena Daalmans voor de ingang van het Maria Montessorigebouw

Representation Falling Short

Daalmans is not optimistic about the current state of representation. 'It’s not really improving, especially for women. Only one in three people we see on television is a woman, even though women make up more than half of the population. And when women do appear, they’re often portrayed in stereotypical ways: we might not know whether they have a job, but we do know if they have a child or a partner.'

There has been some progress for sexual minorities. 'They’re now represented proportionally, but you still never see a lesbian woman doing her tax return. There’s always some kind of relationship problem.'

Still, she sees glimmers of hope. 'There are examples of sexual minorities who are, as we say, ‘respectfully represented’ and who have gained a large and positive following. Think of Heated Rivalry or Sex Education. These shows have gone viral and appear on television without negative connotations. People clearly enjoy watching them - especially queer audiences and heterosexual women.'

The popularity of these series encourages her. 'To me, it suggests we’re becoming more curious and more open to inclusive representation. Seeing more possibilities - also in terms of love and sexuality - is definitely a positive development.'

Magical Love

The second Big Ideas programme, on Saturday 7 March, explores what love looks like in magical or supernatural worlds. What rules apply there, if any? Historian Sándor Chardonnens will discuss medieval practices: Were love potions really brewed, and what were the ethical implications of such magic?

'Across Europe, there were professional sorcerers who claimed they could magically compel love', Chardonnens explains. 'If you were infatuated with someone who didn’t return your feelings, you could visit a wizard, who would prepare a potion to make the other person fall for you. These potions often contained active - and sometimes dangerous - ingredients such as St John’s wort or nutmeg, sometimes in hazardous doses. Bodily fluids of all kinds might also be added. Truly revolting.'

Less aggressive methods also existed. Someone might carve the name of their desired partner into an apple and hide it in that person’s home, or inscribe magical symbols onto a copper plate while reciting a spell.

Consent in Magical Practices

Consent played no role in these practices, Chardonnens notes. 'People at the time knew this crossed a line. Many potion recipes were therefore written in secret code - for example, replacing all vowels with numbers.' Still, these methods were used, and most often by men.

'When women sought help from a wizard, it was usually because they feared their husbands would be unfaithful. A wizard might then cast spells to ensure the man became impotent with other women. Women tended to take preventive measures, while men resorted to brute force.'

Attend the Lectures

Curious to learn more? Tickets for the Big Ideas programmes at InScience are available now. Students pay 10 euros instead of 15, and employees and alumni receive a 5 euro discount with the code INSC26RU.

Big Ideas: Fantastic Love with Novio Magica

Big Ideas: Scenes with the Sex Sisters

Contact information

For further information, please contact one of the researchers involved or team Science communication via +31 24 361 6000 or media [at] ru.nl (media[at]ru[dot]nl).

Contact: Dr S. Daalmans (Serena) , Dr L.S. Chardonnens (Sandor)
Organizational unit: Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts
Theme: Diversity, Behaviour, History, Media & Communication