Each week, Benjamin Law asks public figures to discuss the subjects we’re told to keep private by getting them to roll a die. The numbers they land on are the topics they’re given. This week.
he talks to Em Rusciano. The singer, stand-up comedian and broadcaster, 45, is host of the podcast, Emsolation . She’s a public advocate for neurodiverse people and the author of a memoir, Try Hard .
Em Rusciano: “I remember being scared to go under general anaesthetic in case I spoke about maybe finding Madonna hot.” Credit: Abbie Davis We’ve landed on sex. Are you ready to talk about it? I’m 45 with three children.
I’ve been married for 23 years. I don’t have it; I don’t have any interest in it. What do you want from me? Is all that true? Sort of.
Not really. My husband’s very handsome! He’s good at the sex! [ Sighs ] I’m just going through a catastrophic lack of oestrogen due to perimenopause and I really want that thing as far away from me as humanly possible. It’s beautiful; it’s lovely; I bow at the altar of it.
But I don’t necessarily need it around me at this point in time. In public, you’ve always been super-frank talking about sex and sexuality. Was it like that at home growing up? You’re Italian-Australian, right? [ Nods ] We didn’t talk about sex.
My mum did a drive-by with Where Did I Come From? She chucked the VHS tape on the couch, said, “Watch that” and gave me pamphlets about my period. I found out about periods the day I got one.