Gen Z is sick of there being so much sex everywhere

One of the most-repeated mantras in the world of marketing is that sex sells. But to hook Gen Z (young people between the age of 13 and 24 years old) on a television series or a movie, the phrase may have less validity: teenagers and young adults are getting fed up with seeing so much sex everywhere. That’s what a recent study suggests that was published at the end of 2023 by the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)’s department of psychology. Its research has brought back the discussion on whether zoomers are more puritanical than their predecessors.

There have been several studies conducted by prestigious universities that suggest that Gen Z has a complicated relationships with sex. They have less interest in casual encounters, gratuitous nudity and the constant chatter around everything that has to do with sexual relationships.

The aforementioned investigation, which was conducted by UCLA’s Center for Scholars & Storytellers and is entitled Teens & Screens: Romance or Nomance, is carried out every year to examine trends and preferences among young people when it comes to consumption of audiovisual content, entertainment and social media. Among the findings of its most recent edition, one of the most striking is that a significant portion of respondents (47.5%) believe that sex and romance are overly represented in audiovisual media, and that a majority (51.5%) would prefer to see more depictions of “friendships and platonic relationships”. In addition to sexual content, young people also demonstrated a significant rejection of romantic relationships in general. 44.3% said that romance is “overused” by the media and 39% would like to see more aromantic or asexual characters on their screen. “While it’s true that adolescents want less sex on TV and in movies, what the survey is really saying is that they want more and different kinds of relationships reflected in the media they watch,” said the founder and director of the CSS and co-author of the study, Yalda T. Uhls.

UCLA has published other studies that also suggest a decline in sex in other areas of zoomers’ lives. The Annual California Health Survey, conducted by the same university, noted in 2021 that the number of 18- to 30-year-olds who said they had no sexual partners in the previous year had reached 38%. In 2011, the same survey had shown this figure at 22%.

The Guardian columnist Barbara Ellen coined the term “puriteens”, which, according to the writer, represents their contrast with the open attitude towards sex shown by millennials, the previous generation. “Now, with Gen Z, It’s interesting to note how a group so motivated and articulate about defining itself in terms of sexuality and gender, is seemingly so disinclined to put it all into practice,” mused the columnist.

In a 2022 article in Psychology Today, doctor Justin J. Lehmiller links Gen Z’s growing disinterest in sex with the rise in use of technology and smartphones, parental overprotection, economic uncertainty and anxiety surrounding the future of the planet. As remote as these factors may seem, to Lehmiller, they represent causes of stress and anxiety that affect the libido.

Esther Gonzalo, health psychologist and coordinator of the Spanish psychoeducational program for teens Desconect@, believes that young people do have a “clear interest” in sex, but that it goes beyond the sex act itself, and that they are concerned about the search for identity and affection. “When you talk to them and look beyond the surface, you see what they are looking for, what they feel comfortable with and what they don’t feel comfortable with,” says Gonzalo in a telephone call with EL PAÍS. The psychologist says that the Covid-19 pandemic and technology have affected young people’s psychosexual development. In light of this, Gonzalo underlines the importance of studies like Teens & Screens that, by focusing on the relationship of young people with the content they consume, illuminate their thinking on their own sexuality and relationships.

In responses cited by Teens & Screens, the teens who were interviewed object to being pigeonholed by their romantic and sexual interests, and express interest in seeing “lives like theirs” depicted on screen. They reject what they consider unpleasant stereotypes of romantic clichés, such as plots suggesting that relationships are necessary to be happy, that male and female protagonists always end up together romantically, and the abundance of plots centered on love triangles. “What they’re looking for is to be shown the possibility that there is variety when it comes to their orientation and identity,” says Gonzalo.

More comfortable alone

Teens & Screens agrees on one fact previously suggested by other studies on Gen Z: a greater taste for solitude. Some 46% of those interviewed said they were happy alone and did not need a partner. This coincides with what Gonzalo says about how this is a generation that is trying to get rid of what they consider myths about the need for romance to be happy. The psychologist notes that this is also due to factors such as the pandemic, which made them more reclusive and dependent on technology as a substitute for social contact. “I would venture to say that they are extremely comfortable at the thought of being alone. The thought of having to expose themselves to social situations likely makes them very uncomfortable,” she says.

Despite the fact that studies on Gen Z have been principally conducted in the United States, the experiences that the Spain-based Gonzalo has had with her adolescent clients support the findings of these investigations. They stem from the same reflections on the zoomers’ break with predominant ideas regarding sex and human relationships.

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