Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock
Topics: Gen Z, Mental Health
James Moorhouse
Despite Gen Z perhaps being the most sex positive generation going, it seems as if some are now giving up the ghost entirely.
In a world where people are way too comfortable sharing their bedroom business online, whether it be through podcasts, videos or even OnlyFans content, it is almost impossible to not see sex wherever you go.
While the newly introduced Online Safety Bill has gone some way to change that, with porn sites suffering a serious drop in numbers as a result, you only need to read up on the likes of spicy cruises, hotwifing and swingers' resorts to comprehend just how confident some folks are in sharing their sex lives with others.
However, there is rarely a middle ground on the internet and if folks aren't having a ridiculous amount of sex with lots of partners, it seems as if they aren't doing the dirty at all.
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A National Survey of Family Growth in the US between 2022 and 2023 found that almost one in four men (24 percent) and 13 percent of women aged 22-34 didn't have any sex in the past year.
Speaking to The Sun, 29-year-old Bella Whiteway said: “I became aware that the way I was having sex was making me feel used and not very happy.
“I realise the idea of going on a date and saying: ‘Actually, I’m not going to sleep with you,’ is alien to many people, but I have found it freeing.
“Celibacy gives me agency to think about what gives me value, and that is not how ‘sexy’ I am."
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Sophia-Charlotte, a 27-year-old from London, also decided to go celibate after breaking up with her previous boyfriend of 10 months.
She added: “I’d had a number of short-lived romances, since losing my virginity aged 17. But they were causing anguish.
"The break-ups made me feel disrespected, and the drama of men not wanting to commit was too much.
"I was focusing on what my exes wanted, meaning it was impossible to focus on me, my interests and my business running a modelling agency.
“In the summer of last year, I felt no desire to have sex with my then-boyfriend, as it had become mundane and I ended our relationship after 10 months.
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“I didn’t crave sexual relationships because I was on a new journey. It was thrilling in a different way to sex – it was proper me-time.
”I’m Gen Z and we’re open to all different kinds of sexuality. But if you’re actively dating, the pressure is on to get sex out of the way. But I wasn’t finding it fulfilling.
"I realised that being in a couple or prioritising sex can often take your mind off your career, business or travel goals.”
Other than being sick of men in the world of dating, Dr Natasha McKeever from the Centre For Love, Sex And Relationships (CLSR) has explained another potential reason why more and more young people are going celibate.
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She explained: “Young women today have more options, so may just be prioritising other things, including friendships, careers, education and hobbies. Being single is less socially stigmatised than it once was, too.”
Meanwhile, psychotherapist Susie Masterson says 'dating app fatigue' is also putting people off sex.
She said: “For anyone looking for connection – emotional or sexual – dating apps are a difficult place to be.
“Being in control of our bodies is particularly potent for women, given that much of our social conditioning is around being a receptacle or vehicle for male choices.
"For some heterosexual women who have felt as though the sexual agenda is dictated by men, deciding not to have sex can be liberating.”