This is one of the most precise breakdowns I’ve read about the collapse between sex and sexualization, especially as it's playing out across Gen Z discourse. The literacy crisis angle was sharp—how lack of media comprehension flattens everything into moral panic.
Also really appreciated the reminder that sensuality doesn’t require skin—it requires tension. “The sexiest films are often devoid of sex” might be the most subversive sentence of the piece.
Saved this one. Will be thinking about the spoon metaphor for days.
I think a large number of Zoomers and Gen Alpha kids have also grown up watching "explainer" and iceberg videos like those by MatPat, which do the work of "interpretation" for viewers.
I was a film lecturer up till a few years ago and increasingly found students would become angry if a film's characters were morally ambivalent without those characters being explicitly punished. They were very comfortable voicing moral condemnation of characters (and writers/ directors for depicting these characters) but very anxious and hesitant about attempting interpretive or symbolic analysis.
Now as a secondary/ high school teacher it is even harder. It is not easy teaching Romeo & Juliet when kids angrily assert Shakespeare must have been a pedo for writing it.
There seems to be a massive tendency and comfort for righteous condemnation and a fear of individualistic interpretation or analysis present in the zeitgeist.
Puritanism at its finest, one of the bedrocks of this country
I think the Lolita reference is the reason why most Sabrina Carpenter fans, me including, didn't defend her
I agree that Lolita as a book had amazing language and the film was also quite aesthetic, but it should NOT be encouraged. Carpenter probably didn't read the book or watched the movie, she probably, MOST PROBABLY, got the ideas from Pinterest and her team thought it was brilliantly controversial. While I do realise that stars need to be on page 3 for one thing or other — as a celebrity, you should NOT be encouraging the sexualization of minors, which was the primary issue with Lolita as a narrative.
“Needing to be spoon-fed the answers - via BookTok, via cut-and-dry plotlines, via painful transparency - allows for the spoon to be potentially wielded by an agent with malintent.” 🗣️🗣️🗣️
This is so incredibly well written. Thank you for your work on this one, best post I’ve read in a while. ❣️
In our department, we are currently trying to deep dive into the effect of pornography and explicit content on evolution of media and, most importantly, the gradual destruction of a lot of older materials and research. Thank you so much for writing this piece, I am happy to know that when we finally catch up, there are people still dissecting this in current context.
this was such an amazing breakdown of exactly what I've been feeling/seeing over the last few years. Great reminder of the troubling trend of linking sexuality + aesthetic and how the two often don't overlap.
I think that beyond literacy, our generation just grew up with sex as the baseline. We grew up with online grooming and “to catch a predator” and we are rejecting sex because we can’t even conceptualize safe sex, since it hasn’t been thought to us. I think we had a sexual liberation moment that then turned out to be very hollow. Which exposed us at a very young age to an unrestricted internet and media. We are perpetually kept young due to trauma but also due to the poor economic conditions. Our generation can’t even become parents without the support of our parents which are turning out to be the generation that have to contribute longer to their children’s lives. We are also the generation that stays with their parents longer. We haven’t been brought up properly and it’s becoming critically clear with how easy fascist ideology catches on to this generation. this is also based on a lot of assumptions but it’s my 2cents
Loved this. I hadn't considered how deeply entwined nuanced/complex narrative structures and feelings toward sexual expression were, but you've written it so clearly that it feels impossible the two aren't correlated if not deeply affected by each other. And you gave such wonderful examples of how both exist in our mainstream conversations about media today! All around great read.
This is one of the most precise breakdowns I’ve read about the collapse between sex and sexualization, especially as it's playing out across Gen Z discourse. The literacy crisis angle was sharp—how lack of media comprehension flattens everything into moral panic.
Also really appreciated the reminder that sensuality doesn’t require skin—it requires tension. “The sexiest films are often devoid of sex” might be the most subversive sentence of the piece.
Saved this one. Will be thinking about the spoon metaphor for days.
Loved that conclusion. Very poignant and well written!
I think a large number of Zoomers and Gen Alpha kids have also grown up watching "explainer" and iceberg videos like those by MatPat, which do the work of "interpretation" for viewers.
I was a film lecturer up till a few years ago and increasingly found students would become angry if a film's characters were morally ambivalent without those characters being explicitly punished. They were very comfortable voicing moral condemnation of characters (and writers/ directors for depicting these characters) but very anxious and hesitant about attempting interpretive or symbolic analysis.
Now as a secondary/ high school teacher it is even harder. It is not easy teaching Romeo & Juliet when kids angrily assert Shakespeare must have been a pedo for writing it.
There seems to be a massive tendency and comfort for righteous condemnation and a fear of individualistic interpretation or analysis present in the zeitgeist.
Puritanism at its finest, one of the bedrocks of this country
thanks for the feature <33 :') great read
Thank you for the great video essay!! Always inspired by ur work
I think the Lolita reference is the reason why most Sabrina Carpenter fans, me including, didn't defend her
I agree that Lolita as a book had amazing language and the film was also quite aesthetic, but it should NOT be encouraged. Carpenter probably didn't read the book or watched the movie, she probably, MOST PROBABLY, got the ideas from Pinterest and her team thought it was brilliantly controversial. While I do realise that stars need to be on page 3 for one thing or other — as a celebrity, you should NOT be encouraging the sexualization of minors, which was the primary issue with Lolita as a narrative.
Carpenter needs to be more mindful
The book has more than amazing language and the film has more than “aesthetic.”
I can’t help but feel you are the very thing the author was warning us about.
??
“Needing to be spoon-fed the answers - via BookTok, via cut-and-dry plotlines, via painful transparency - allows for the spoon to be potentially wielded by an agent with malintent.” 🗣️🗣️🗣️
This is so incredibly well written. Thank you for your work on this one, best post I’ve read in a while. ❣️
In our department, we are currently trying to deep dive into the effect of pornography and explicit content on evolution of media and, most importantly, the gradual destruction of a lot of older materials and research. Thank you so much for writing this piece, I am happy to know that when we finally catch up, there are people still dissecting this in current context.
this was such an amazing breakdown of exactly what I've been feeling/seeing over the last few years. Great reminder of the troubling trend of linking sexuality + aesthetic and how the two often don't overlap.
I think that beyond literacy, our generation just grew up with sex as the baseline. We grew up with online grooming and “to catch a predator” and we are rejecting sex because we can’t even conceptualize safe sex, since it hasn’t been thought to us. I think we had a sexual liberation moment that then turned out to be very hollow. Which exposed us at a very young age to an unrestricted internet and media. We are perpetually kept young due to trauma but also due to the poor economic conditions. Our generation can’t even become parents without the support of our parents which are turning out to be the generation that have to contribute longer to their children’s lives. We are also the generation that stays with their parents longer. We haven’t been brought up properly and it’s becoming critically clear with how easy fascist ideology catches on to this generation. this is also based on a lot of assumptions but it’s my 2cents
Last paragraph, wha-BAM! Great article.
Thank you so much :)
brilliant
Thank u!!
I can’t stop reading this. So on point and written phenomenally.
Ahhh thank you :)
thank you for featuring my article along with Final Girl Digital ❤️ always appreciate your writing
Thank you Jade! Appreciate you reading :))
Loved this. I hadn't considered how deeply entwined nuanced/complex narrative structures and feelings toward sexual expression were, but you've written it so clearly that it feels impossible the two aren't correlated if not deeply affected by each other. And you gave such wonderful examples of how both exist in our mainstream conversations about media today! All around great read.
Awesome as usual! Hits the nail on the head every time
👏🏻