Sex Positivity as Rebellion Amid the Rise of Gen Z Puritan Culture

What It Means to Want, Choose, and Say It Out Loud

Ever feel like the world screams “freedom” but side-eyes you for talking about sex? Same. Gen Z is caught in a weird cultural whiplash: hyper-visible online, but still punished for showing up as sexually autonomous IRL. It’s not just exhausting—it’s dangerous.

In a generation raised on sex-ed TikToks, hookup apps, and abstinence-only leftovers, sex positivity isn’t just a personal choice. “From an early age, [Gen Z understand] something that eluded past generations: that sex, its consequences, and control over both are political weapons.” [Source] 

But especially for young women, femmes, and queer folks navigating purity culture’s shiny new disguise. This isn’t about being down for anything—it’s about being down for yourself.

The New Puritanism, Rebranded

It’s giving judgment in a crop top.

Let’s name it: there’s a fresh wave of sexual shame out here—just with better branding.

It’s the influencer who posts thirst traps but shames OnlyFans creators.
It’s the hookup who says “you’re not like other girls” when you advocate for condoms.
It’s the classmate who talks consent in public but pressures you in private.

We’re living in a paradox: hypersexual imagery everywhere, yet real conversations about sex, desire, and autonomy still get side-eyed. 

That’s not freedom. That’s repression dressed in a crop top.

What Sex Positivity Actually Means

Spoiler: It’s not about saying yes to everything.

Sex positivity has been co-opted, watered down, misunderstood. Let’s get it straight:

• It’s not about performative kink or who’s the most “open-minded.”

• It’s not about having more sex or less shame around nudity.

• It’s not about being “down for anything” to seem cool.

It’s about consent, agency, and the radical act of knowing what you want—and saying it.

It’s about saying yes when you mean yes.
Saying no without apology.
And saying maybe with curiosity, not pressure.

It’s about reclaiming your body from cultural narratives that say it’s only valuable if it’s pure, or pleasing, or productive. Pleasure is not a luxury. It’s not a reward. It’s a right.

Rage & Love: Two Forces That Drive the Revolution

Rage is what cracks the foundation. Love is what builds the new structure.

We’re angry because we were taught:

• “Good girls don’t talk about sex.”

• “You’ll be respected if you just stay quiet.”

• “Pleasure is for men. Pain is for women.”

We’re also loving ourselves enough to unlearn it all. That’s what makes this movement unstoppable.

“As gen Z revolutionizes sex, they are revolutionizing society’s longstanding expectations of gender, too. By the light of these expectations, women should be the gatekeepers of sex, forever pushing off men, who are unfailingly horny; any fallout from sex is the woman’s fault; she should bear the trauma, stigma, pregnancy, childrearing or any of the other countless consequences that sex has had through the millennia. (Forget about folks outside of the gender binary.) Casting off these expectations is, I’ve found, a key part of young people’s sexual progressivism.” [Source]

So How Do You Unlearn Shame?

Start with these:

• ✍️ Cross It Out
  Write down one belief you absorbed about sex or your body. Cross it out. Rewrite it on your terms.

• 📱 Curate Your Feed
  Unfollow creators who shame sex or bodies. Follow two who speak truth, not taboo.

• 🧠 Define It for Yourself
  Make a list: “Sex Positivity Means…” Fill it with your values. Not patriarchy’s. Not porn’s. Yours.

• 💬 Start a Conversation
  Text your group chat or post in your story: “What does sex positivity look like to you now?” Watch what happens.

Your New Truth

Sex isn’t dirty. Talking about it isn’t shameful. And your pleasure isn’t up for debate.

Sex positivity is not an aesthetic. It’s not a phase. It’s a f***ing boundary.
It’s not about being desirable—it’s about being sovereign.

Embracing pleasure isn’t permission—it’s protest.