Let's Talk About Sex

Bravely breaking conservative and cultural barriers, Tatler speaks to three women —Dr Rica Cruz and sisters, Isabelle and Ava Daza— who are at the forefront of normalising the conversation around women’s sexual health

- Stephanie Zubiri

My gosh, during my time, we didn’t even use the word sex,” exclaims former Miss Universe, Gloria Diaz, while guesting on her daughters’ The Sexytime podcast. “You have to go to confession once you say the word ‘sex’! You must go straight to ‘Bless me father for I have sinned’! In the pilot episode, sisters Isabelle Daza and Ava Daza talk to their mother openly about sex. “We’ve had the most listeners in our episode with our mum,” shares Ava. “I think the whole idea of a sex podcast with their mum as the first guest was really intriguing for people because it’s just so uncommon.” Isabelle adds: “It was just very masaya, funny and gave a bit of context on how we grew up.”

“We attended an all-girls Catholic school,” recounts Ava. “We were taught to abstain [from sex] until we were married, and even when we finally did, it was still something not to be discussed. Therefore, there were a lot of questions and mystery behind what happens when you have sex. Thankfully in my family, we were a little bit more open because we were dominated by women, and they tend to overshare more than others. So it [sex talk] became somewhat normal between us.”