You probably best know Gillian Anderson as playing Scully in The X-files, or Jean Milburn, a sex therapist in the Netflix series Sex Education. It seems like she is the perfect person to collect women’s sexual fantasies from around the world and anonymously publish them in her new book.
Anderson’s project was announced on both her own and Bloomsbury Publishing’s Instagram account on the 1st of Febuary, calling out for women across the globe to tell her what comes to mind when they think about sex.
The 54-year-old actress is no stranger to discussing topics surrounding sex that are often considered taboo by society. Anderson recalls and likens her work to Nancy Friday’s bestseller My Secret Garden, a book that came out in 1973 when she was just five years old. However, she didn’t read it until she was cast as Jean Milburn in Sex Education. In her Guardian article, Anderson explains that ‘My Secret Garden was a testament to the fact that women enjoyed as rich and diverse an erotic inner life as men did’. It was a book that allowed women to talk openly about topics like arousal and masturbation.
Anderson believes it is time to curate a My Secret Garden of the twenty-first century, which demonstrates the fading of sexual boundaries since 1973. A contemporary collection of women’s sexual fantasies and desires, a book that invites women across the globe, those who identify intrinsically as women, of different religions, married or single, to send Anderson their thoughts on sex. A book that aims at being truly inclusive and empowering to those who may find a similar experience in these letters.
The book is currently called Dear Gillian and the title is assumed to remain — resembling the form of a confession column. It is to be published by Bloomsbury Publishing, who have set up a safe email address where you can submit your thoughts. The project will protect all identities and all submissions will remain anonymous. Among the letters of the public, Anderson will include her own.
Submissions are open from 1-28 February, if you would like to share your thoughts with Gillian.
Words by Georgia McInnes
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