'Motherland: Fort Salem': Sex positive episode sees the witches harness the power of horniness
Spoilers for 'Motherland: Fort Salem' Season 1, Episode 3 - 'A Biddy's Life'
There's something new come over Tally Craven (Jessica Sutton) - something that's gotten her flush with power, supercharging all her spells. Her fellow recruits might joke about it, but apparently this power is exactly what the yearly "Beltane" event is all about. Drill sergeant Anacostia (Demetria McKinney) may be calling it "energy," but everyone knows exactly what she she's talking about this Beltane - she wants her young witches to harness the sheer, unadulterated power of horniness.
Male witch recruits have showed up at Fort Salem, and there's a lot of excitement in the air. Uniquely, 'Motherland: Fort Salem' doesn't tamp down on their young recruits' feelings - they are actively encouraged to "mingle" with the men, and use it to enhance their own powers. It's a fun excuse for an episode to have rain-soaked men playing lacrosse, but underneath it all is a new kind of empowerment rarely seen in shows featuring powerful women - sex positivity.
For the most part, sexuality has come to represent the dark side of powerful women in fantasy fiction. The second any woman with great amounts of power starts to get sexual, you know they're starting down a dark path towards evil. The most egregious example has to be the X-Men's Jean Grey. Writers seem to want to prefer a woman to repress their desires, and remain "pure." It's a trope that's gone on for far too long.
This episode reverses that trope, allowing its characters to enjoy the benefits of charged sexual energy, in ways both literal and figurative. The recruits are told, in no uncertain terms, that Beltane is about getting to know the male recruits in "every way possible." Without getting too graphic, the show embraces sex positivity in a way that's a definite rarity in television today. The witches of 'Fort Salem' aren't forced to undergo the same kind of repression that many female heroes with power are forced to endure - the power is in their hands, and they get to use it as they see fit.
While there are a lot of controversial aspects of 'Motherland: Fort Salem' that a militant matriarchal society brings up, it's safe to say that this aspect of life at Fort Salem is going to be very popular with its fandom.
The next episode of 'Motherland: Fort Salem' airs April 8, on Freeform.