Sex and gender identity: the meaning of being intersex, non-binary
There are dozens of different gender identities and three different types of gender. Let’s take a look at the science and culture behind it.
Just a FAQ, USA TODAY
Research shows that young people in America today have less sex.
In 2023, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Youth Risk Behaviors found that adolescent sexual behavior has been declining since 2013. A 2022 survey from the Kinsey Institute, which says one in four Gen Z adults has never experienced partner sex.
But maybe Gen Z really thinks it’s modest? Guardian journalist Carter Sherman (31) delves into that question in her new book, The Second Coming.
Through interviews with more than 100 young people, Sherman discovered that this intergenerational dry spell is pure and not political, and gender absent for a variety of complex reasons.
General Z is sometimes framed as a “virginal nation,” Sherman writes, but our obsession with their lack of sexual intercourse may say more about our constant need to communicate how to have sex with young people. She argues that rather than rectifying, she should focus on approaches that promote safe, agreed encounters and reduce shame.
The following interviews have been compiled for length and clarity.
Question: You share in the opening of a book that made you crazy about losing your virginity as a teenager. How do the ideas of virgins have an impact on youth and how they think about sex?
I was obsessed with my (virginity). Truly, my last few years of high school was dominated by my complete freakout, which means I was still a virgin. I felt I should have sex already and my friend had left me by having sex, so I felt I wasn’t meeting the norm of being a teenager. Part of my own journey in writing this book has come to understand that standards are based on false information. You are either too virgin or not virgin. There’s no way to win. I don’t think we moved from the idea of a virgin. After all, many of the young people I spoke to feel their virginity is important, and some feel that virginity is treated as too important.
We always set standards that don’t match reality and feel bad about ourselves. What’s not helping is the level of shame people carry around and the constant feeling they are wrong.
Roev. Roev, where Wade is not having sex. How much of a factor is the end of Wade?
Gen Z is Roev. I absolutely recognize how much Wade’s overturn has changed in the US, especially in the sex life. 16% of Gen Zers have been hesitant so far since Roe’s collapse. There are a lot of young women I’ve spoken to. What Roe’s cover does is create deep anxiety, but create a generation ready to go around this. Feeling something like this is not only a sexual relationship, but also a romantic relationship, and it will not make you feel safe enough.
in At the same time, you talked to conservative young people, especially men, and found it. The movement to embrace traditional sex roles also complicates the feelings of young people about sex.
What I call “sexual conservatism” speaks of that. This is a move that puts risky to have queer, unmarried, or recreational sex. Sexual conservatism has done a much better job of talking about the challenges of raising a family in this country than progressive. It is very appealing to see young people heading towards sexual conservatism. Because it’s only the person on the right who hears them talk about it. If you feel you are not being heard, you will go to the only people talking about this issue in a comprehensive way.
Gen Z has a lot of online information on sex, including porn, at your fingertips. How does that affect their sex life?
I love that the internet has opened up a discussion about what sexuality is. But social media also does this to make people extremely aware of the ways they believe there is a lack of sex. We measure sexual value by likes, matches and followers. It makes people not want to engage in sex because they feel that they need to look completely naked in order to get naked. It’s not a recipe for vulnerability or connections.
How does fans alone fit all of this?
Only fans will bleed on mainstream social media, so it becomes another metric that will help people evaluate themselves and make themselves look like that too. For young people, the line between (real life) and virtual sex is very diminished and blurry. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing, it’s exactly how it is at this point. If you want to have a conversation about sex, you must admit that much of the sex life of young people is shaped by the interactions they have online.
What advice would you give to seniors trying to associate Gen Z now?
It’s rarely about approaching topics with an empathetic attitude, and rarely have accurate and correct information. Young people over the internet are taking more approaches to more repetitive LGBTQ+ identity. Recognizing it and not treating it with doubt is important for older people who don’t understand what young people are experiencing.
What is the bottom line about Gen Z’s sex life?
If that’s what they’re comfortable with, I really don’t care if the young people are having sex or not. What I’m worried about is that reducing sex is a proxy for not having a relationship, not connecting with me, and feeling better.
