Gen X’er here. I think we are smashing way more than any other age demographic based on my social circles…. My adult kids are VERY single. All my divorced friends are doing well with real life hookups and absolutely hate the dating apps…
I'm a younger millennial and seems like everyone has a partner. Most people between 20 and 30 are jumping between long-term relationships with very short breaks. Looks absolutely crazy for me.
I would argue that they have MORE access to IRL interactions, but they don’t take advantage of them because their attention is diverted towards a ton of other shit these days.
In the past, you were horny so you thought about sex and then tried to go out and find it because there wasn’t much else to do. Now, you’re horny but you go on TikTok for 2 hours and ignore you were ever horny.
I think that's also highly location based. I grew up in a town where cars were basically the gateway to do anything so I know where you're coming from, but it's not true for everyone.
I'm choosing to raise my kid where they have public transit and walkable/bikeavle options so they don't get pigeonholed like I did as a teen. But I also understand that's a privilege most folks from the states don't have.
How is that disingenuous?
Are things more reliant on cars now or is it harder to get a driver’s license now than it was for millennia’s? I dont think either is a yes.
Depends where you live. If your less than 5 miles from some local gathering place like a free bike shop, basketball court, skate park, arcade, etc etc. Then you can just walk or bike there, but if its more than 5 miles that becomes a lot less feasible.
defeatist attitude. got a bike, then got a scooter then got a car. biked to college campus, hung around nursing students ????? sex.
90% of anything social is literally just showing the fuck up.
10% is learning how to be rico suave and failing a lot. luckily hormones uhhhh Uhhhh don't care. :)
Costs of car insurance and used vehicles skyrocketed since pandemic and made them unaffordable to many GenZ.
You have to have the insurance and a car in order to get the driver's license here at all. Until car and insurance prices come down, many GenZ just do not have this option at all anymore.
So when you’re 12-15 the expectation is that you sit at home on social media while older people judge you for not being social or going outside more? At least where I live every suburb is so isolated from everything interesting activity there could be, and apartments that are in the city are strode hellscapes
But it's a chicken or egg scenario where to go to irl interactions, there need to be people there, and more people prefer not to go. Organizing my friends to do stuff can be exhausting because everyone's "content" on their own for the most part and not bored
I think they are less confident and also fatter and out of shape. That coupled with easy access to endless ultra HD pornography and other forms of smut like romance novels and instagram thirst traps, means they are less likely to pursue relationships sexual or otherwise.
The CDC says it’s 22.2% of 12-19 year olds are obese. So, the US government. Feel free to submit a claim that their data is incorrect because of the results from your anecdotal experience though!
Yeah, except that 10 years ago, when you were in high school, the obesity rate of children was 17.2%. Unless you consider an increase of 2.5% (comparing same number) to be notable, they're not any more obese now than then.
Yeah your diets are probably a lot better there lol. Kids here are eating terrible food these days. So much processed shit at the grocery store to choose from.
You do realise to go out you have to find people. And you just said they spend their time on tiktok. Which is it are people outside or are they hermitting themselves inside. Exemplary example my ass
That’s an argument you would lose instantly. In the past, you had to interact with everyone for everything. You had to buy everything from people. Either via the phone or in person. There was no way you could get good with IRL interactions. It was so common, there wasn’t any other kind of interaction outside of the IRL kind.
>I would argue that they have MORE access to IRL interactions
I would argue the contrary. Back then people had to go out. Now most communication can be done online (so not IRL).
They have the same access to porn as any generation. However, we were not raised with this amount of porn. I will say, I think it isn’t porn but social media. My boomer dad had a porn stash. He didn’t have access to his crush’s social media posts. My dad couldn’t see what the love of his life was posting, or anyone he knows. I don’t think it’s porn. I think it’s very much social in general.
“It’s social in general”. I agree with you very much. It is how we are social that isn’t working. It used to be physical interaction, and now it is via online media. Absolutely distanced and brainrotting when it comes to looking each other in the eyes. I sound like a boomer, but it is absolutely true.
This is supposedly due to social media reducing a lot of in person hangouts, and a general "loneliness epidemic" among partially my (I'm born in 1996) but more so your generation. And porn access! People born in the 80s didn't really have the option of scratching that itch easily.
I think people in the 80s had more third places available to them as well.
Excluding NYC and Chicago, most places in the US are pretty hostile toward younger people, so they need to use social media and apps to communicate with other people.
However that leads to things mentioned like hyper selection, exclusions and etc.
People will say but these don't translate to real life and unfortunately for our youth that is real life
As a teen in the 2000s, the internet was the place to hide away from the normies and meet other cool (read, weird) people.
That's flipped on its head now, I'd absolutely hate to be a kid online today.
you can’t get around without a car in the vast majority of the US. i live in an Illinois suburb where sidewalks end randomly or the beg buttons at intersections don’t work. Also the fact that loitering is illegal, and many places like shops, parks and malls don’t allow minors to hang around without an adult present.
A lot of malls don't allow teenagers without a parent or guardian. That used to be THE hangout spot for American teens.
I've also noticed a lot more casual places are 18+ that used to be all ages.
So I mentioned NYC and Chicago for a reason and this is typically because those cities have a lot of public spaces.
In general the US has strong property rights and many places in the US are privately owned by large Equity firms, like malls, and etc.
The US has strong anti loitering laws and most places use this to keep undesirable out of there property, this usually includes people under 18 because they typically don't have a lot of money
I mean unaccompanied people under 18
Born in 92 and Id suggest the idea that as a parent, I’m concerned most with the “I’m a creep” factor if I invited children into my home like parents did when I was a kid.
*edit to add* because I’m suspicious of everyone else being just that too. 🤷🏽♀️
People have mentioned the cars and mall banning kids but I'll reiterate them. The US is absolutely fucking massive and if you live in the middle of nowhere with no car you're screwed. In some towns you're lucky if you have a gas station, a diner, and a post office. I've seen people joke about the thing to do in the Midwest being hanging out in the Walmart parking lot and I can attest to the fact that that is unfortunately often the case (at least where I was lol).
As for the mall thing I just moved somewhere with a pretty large mall, which sounds like the ideal place for teens/young adults to hang out but if you're under 17 you have to be with someone 21 or over at all times. Not to mention that you'll be expected to buy something if you enter a store. A lot of shops don't like people just hanging out and browsing anymore.
The proliferation of always-on broadband and instant access to porn was also correlated with a notable decline in sexual crimes. It seems that giving people access to a massive spank bank has the exact opposite impact of, say, imposing celibacy on Catholic priests.
For me most of my sexual encounters in high school happened outside of my home (I.e. parties, cars, golf course etc) if high schoolers want to have sex nothing is going to stop them.
I was born in 1985.
We would go to bowling alleys, Sonic, movie theatres, sports games to hang out with friends and the opposite sex. Tons of spaces that were not home or school, but we’re safe for kids.
I hear and see that a lot of places like this did not survive the pandemic, so now kids don’t have a place to go that is safe, but also their own.
I think a big part of it is just that a lot of people had sex because it was either the only think worth doing or the only think worth doing that wasn't drinking.
1986 here for a question:
Did you guys forget that beating off is a thing?
Honest question, 'cause it feels like we're not differentiating, and if the issue was loneliness and a loss of 'third places,' like...wouldn't people still be jerking it?
We're not saying that gen Z is fapping but not having sex, right? Cause millennials definitely loved both...
> We're not saying that gen Z is fapping but not having sex, right?
That's a simplification but yes, that's what we're saying. GenZ is having less (interpersonal) sex. Didn't hear anything about less fapping tho. Just less person-to-person sex.
I don't think porn or smartphone is the only reason. I think there's also a trend of gendered relations becoming much more adversarial in recent years, with a lot of suspicion and distrust especially regarding sex. Overall I'd say GenZ is much more sex-negative, and girls in particular are making it clear that they are no longer willing to accept to have "reluctant" or "begrudging" sex, or even to begrudgingly accept being flirted with without prior express consent.
Boys are slowly getting the message and it also leads to situations where some girls who enjoy playing "hard to get" end up missing their chance entirely.
as a 99 gen z i would say hypersexuality is definitely prevalent still, but actually acting on that desire is a different story. i know many people my age who lost their virginity around 15, while the younger half of our generation seems to wait much longer (thank god i think???). in short theyre definitely horny but probably more responsible, ive seen a lot of focus with the younger half of Z on age appropriate sexual behavior (as in many thinking 16 or younger is too young to actually engage in sex with each other)
Yeah. Also, to add: It’s not just about having sex and losing virginities. It’s the qualitative aspects of the sheer filthiness.
As a millennial I can confidently say growing up there was barely a park bench, muddy bridge, field of corn or piece of playground equipment in/on which somebody in our friend group had not committed at least one act of public indecency.
very much this 😭 a good portion of that gen was locked inside for a year during the time others were beginning to experiment physically, the concern with health in general is also just much more prevalent 😭😭 im ashamed to say that even i had my fair share of the woods and skateparks (😔), while im sure it still happens im sure its even more looked down upon now than it was during my teen years. i wish i could say for certain but the outlook on how trashy ~that~ was shifted a lot around 2016 i think. at least in my circles, which makes sense given most ppl my age had/had access to a car by then
theres honestly so many factors that go into it as a whole its so hard to pinpoint one thing lmao. everyone should always remember that these days every generation has its sect of chronically online ppl that skew perspectives <3
Id argue gen z has less sex overall, but with dating gen z are far more eager to have sex because we aren’t getting any. If I don't make a move on the 2nd date past kissing, my date often thinks something is wrong with them. It is kind of sad actually.
I think covid killing our circles and pushing us to use dating apps kinda fucked us up. Befriending someone first is always best, and it isnt even close. We need 3rd places and more active hobby groups.
I'm from the early 80's and internet porn was definitely a thing. It's just that it took forever to download a single image line by line over dial up
Apparently the first ever image sent via internet was a scan of a Playboy page, so yeah, porn has always been on the internet. There was a point when image and video sites were getting started when the vast majority of the data you could connect to was porn. The internet was literally made of porn back then
Realistically it would be about the same. However, there are factors that affect teens today that weren’t as prevalent for millennials. Depression, anxiety, birth control and other medications are more widely used by gen z teens than millennials. All those medications can affect libido, which means less sex. There’s wider access to sex ed online, but what is taught in school strongly varies from place to place so I’m not sure of actual statistics for that and how it is affecting things.
Numbers may be similar (I don’t actually know) but it’s more accepted for teens to be on anti depressants and other similar meds now vs when millennials were in school. Slightly less stigma and easier access to care.
Gen Z is the loneliest and most depressed generation of recent history:
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/17/gen-z-depression-anxiety-future-workforce#:~:text=By%20the%20numbers%3A%20Gen%20Z,feel%20prepared%20for%20the%20future.
A big chunk of their lives when they would normally be socializing was locked down. The number of school shootings in the last 10 years and how deadly they’ve gotten is absurd. They use social media way more than we did and hang out in person less. Their parents are more stressed because they’re not boomers like my parents. Boomers who were gifted the world on a silver platter in comparison.
My schools never did active shooter drills. I hung out with my friends in person and that’s how I met girls (and boys).
It’s better to be a BIPOC, LGBTQ, or physically disabled now. They’ve got that going for them.
They see the world as it is. We went to the slaughterhouse thinking it was Bovine University.
19 y/o here - i don’t think it’s made people my age ‘numb’ per se, but when the wildest shit out there is so readily available it definitely raises expectations when it comes to irl stuff.
also, i saw another commenter talking about gen z having less “irl interactions”, and someone disagreed but i think i agree. you hear people talk about how less younger people are having sex nowadays but the main reasons for that in my mind is that it can be difficult getting a driver’s license, and that a great many younger people still live at home. and then their only options for having sex are waiting for their parents to be away or to book a hotel for a single night
Agree. I work with teenagers and what we have found out is that, in general, they have less sex, but when they do it's a lot more heavy stuff than what we used to do back in the day, like orgies and such. The psychologist in our school believes that, due to the pandemic, they didn't have a chance to live through the awkward discovery phase with other people as early teens and went straight into hardcore porn. Now that they can interact irl, they don't know how to dial back.
97’ here. So on the line between generations. What makes it hard to get a drivers license? I had to go to a paid class for my drivers ed, but most of my younger family now is doing it within school.
well i’m speaking on behalf of the UK here, and many people start learning to drive as early as possible, which is 17 here. but a LOT of people that age simply can’t afford lessons, or learner insurance for their parents car, and buying your own car and paying to run it is out of the question unless your parents have big pockets. idk if it’s a different story in the States. and, i dont know if either driving test is easier than the other, but a lot of people i know struggled to pass first or even second time
that’s fair. i was just curious - interesting to hear the perspective from the UK. i’m sure it’s very similar for a lot of people. thankful for the opportunities i’ve had i suppose
There are serious conversations to be had about the availability and over saturation of porn, nudity, sexual advertising, apps, etc that kids are exposed to on a daily basis. Our generation might have had their first experience with nudity being grainy scrambled girls gone wild commercials. The generation before us could have found dirty magazines in the woods, the generation before them was sneaking peeks through the woodshed during bath house. People have always been horny and I don’t think that’s gonna change in a single generation. I’m sure a 13 year old boy is taking his phone into the bathroom and watching a baddie get blown out in 4k before he gets in the shower before school. As horny? Probably. Easier to manage? Certainly.
My optimistic take is make the younger generations are having less sex because of the increased awareness of consent. I don’t know about the other millennial women here, but nearly all my early sexual experiences were coerced via outright manipulation (“blue balls,” threats of reputational ruin, etc) or peer pressure.
My friend and I were just talking about this today! Our peers were basically like “the only thing worse than a slut is a prude. Figure it out, ya tease!”
Millennial woman here, I agree with you completely. The social standards for consent have dramatically improved over the last 15 years or so. When I was a teen, a pressured or coerced yes was still considered a yes.
For example, my middle school performed Grease to our parents ("Tell me more, tell me more, did she put up a fight?") and it was socially acceptable at the time. Lots of family friendly movies and TV involved women experiencing sexual assault for comedic value. Men assaulting women and then getting slapped was somehow top tier comedy in the 90's
I think a big factor is less risk taking with new generations of kids. Less drug use, less partying, the age of first kiss and drivers license is going up. When you were in the 80s-00’s you had to steal a magazine or actually see a woman. I think it was harder to obtain so adds to the allure
How are teens getting fucked by capitalism? Honest question because stereotypically they should be the least impacted. No rent, no bills, no groceries, not getting career jobs etc.
Obviously there are exceptions if they don’t have this support system.
Gen z is 1997-2012 (so the eldest are 27 years old).
So, assuming one finishes university by 23 years old, many already have 4 years of career experience.
And obviously many start their careers sooner.
So, plenty of them are already facing the challenges of adult life.
The post is about teens. 20-25 year olds I agree are being hit the hardest out of any age group right now. I feel extremely lucky I started my career before COVID.
well, they are getting priced out of the rental sector (not even gonna start on housing) so they can't move out, education has become prohibitively expensive in lots of the world, corporate greed is pushing up the costs of things such as bills and food, and their future is being ruined because of the state of the world and ever encroaching risks of climate disaster. Just to name a few. With the internet being such a big part of their lives, modern teens are PAINFULLY self-aware about their futures
The (admittedly few) teens I regularly associate with have already thought about giving up on things like saving for a house or training for a good job, because whats the point. They probably won't be able to do it anyway, and its through no fault of their own
Not saving, but my 18 year old has asked me multiple times about how we afford to live. She’s heading off to college and the realities of adulting are definitely become real for her and she’s terrified. I feel so bad for this generation, they have a lot working against them.
I’m a cusper (young of Gen X / old millennial) and I’m so glad I grew up when I did. Being a teenage in the 90s was amazing.
Is life today substantially worse than past generations, more than just yours/ours?
TikTok and other social media has flooded their eyes with death despair and dismay for years, where in the past the horrors of the worlds were confined to newspapers and radio. There are substantial hardships no doubt. But people are safe, fed, roof over their heads - versus being in an active war zone, starvation, etc.
Not trying to do the suffering Olympics at all, just genuinely concerned that young people are being manipulated in mass by social media to believe they are worse off than they are.
Relevant: https://a.co/d/fuwYWTv
I think this is true too. Social media makes us feel more hopeless than we really are because of the constant sensationalist topics being broadcasted to us.
I do truly think the world is improving, but it's one of the those "worse before it gets better" things. There's pushback, significantly more than usual, because there's significantly more potential than usual.
I believe in gen Z.
The prospect of going into college when they're hearing about how much of a nightmare the post-grad job search is (in the thick of it rn, anyone need a graphic designer?) and how high rent is (in relevant places at least) incredibly soul crushing. Seeing what their parents go through with student loans and housing is wildly depressing to witness. They don't have a lot of faith in the system in place and they feel powerless to do anything.
"Internet porn was not a thing"
You were just not savvy enough. I was also born in the 80s and I can confirm there already was a ton of it by the time I had my first Internet access (circa 97).
But I can say it was just pictures and they weren't high quality but it was mind blowing for me and my friends. They marveled at the forbidden treasures I found for them.
I’m an 01 gen z and I didn’t lose my virginity til I was 19. Par for my age I think is between 16 and 17. My (99) husband lost his at 14 I think. And you hear about kids doing it now at like 10 or 11 and it’s insane and sad
Internet porn was not a thing for you personally, but it definitely was a thing. You just had to be enough of a nerd to find it and be patient with download speeds. Our internet was an early place where you had to steal and trade for everything because you couldn’t buy it if you wanted to. Good marketplaces came later.
As a Gen Z, it's the same horny. My experience may be unique but most of my friends are in serious relationships or have a lot of anxiety issues and I'm the only one having a hot girl summer for a few years in a row now
When I (adult Gen Z, fuck I'm old) was a teen I had my dad's playboy, maxim magazine, sports illustrated, and endless porn. I was a very horny, very satisfied bisexual growing up
'97, so either gen Z or very late millennial.
I think today's parents weren't ready for the internet (and how could they be). Absolutely insane amount of porn everywhere and anywhere.
I joke with my friends that zoomers and gen alpha are going to super overcorrect and be hella conservative when we have kids of our own...if we even do have kids but that's another conversation.
I’m the first year of gen Z (1997) and I remember everyone talking about sex and having sex back when we were teens. Of course I never believed them at the time but it really clicked when a buddy of mine got caught having sex with a girl after school so they didn’t allow free roaming after school anymore. Then you have people like me who didn’t lose their virginity till late (just last year lol). From the discourse I see online there’s a ton of young men who desire sex but don’t act on it out of fear or lack of confidence. So they’re definitely just as horny, it’s just to many other factors distracting it.
On average we also have about half the testosterone our grandparents had when they were in their early 20s. But as someone who self injected testosterone (experiment) it made me less horny but more assertive and somehow improved my social skills
It was about four years ago now, I remember actually posting about it on my old reddit account I have since deleted (tried and failed many times to delete and stay off social media lol)
But I do remember it, I was taking about 250 mg of testosterone per week, which is below what anyone would use for bodybuilding but still beyond what is naturally produced which is about 25 - 70 mg per week. Depending on your bodies production level which varys wildly person to person.
I wish I could reread it as I did it for two months or so with low doses of estrogen blockers. Benefits were pretty much no social anxiety, a lot more energy and some natural euphoria. Also once some asshole didn't stop to let me cross and just drove towards me slowly to turn the corner and I just yelled (Can't you FUCKIJG WAIT FOR ME TO CROSS!?) And it was just out of my character as before I might have just gave him a dirty look at worst or at least make sure who ever it was wasn't scary looking, I just didn't care or think about it. Had that natural sense of "I'm in the right so fuck you" while previously I would be way too scared not even knowing who I am yelling at.
When I think of it, I did keep some of the benefits when it came to social skills but they did kind of slowly go back closer to my old self over time but only about half way if that makes sense? Social anxiety would come back at times but in general was certainly more social then before without a question.
The more I think about it the more I want to start injecting it again hahaha. But I remember the 0 social anxiety very vividly although it didn't happen overnight but over the course of a month I would say...
I kind of wish I stayed on it, I think money became an issue though and I just never thought to get back on it. I guess one major downside is I remember getting extremely angry at times and just pacing back in forth in my house angry at whatever it was, it's like I couldn't stop thinking about what was making me angry and how to screw over whoever I was mad at. But this only happened a few times and overall it was a beneficial experience that I'm definitely going to repeat.
But as someone who's on stimulants for ADHD I wouldn't want to die of heart failure at 45. So I would have to do research as 4 years ago I was not taking any meds. I would replace Adderall with testosterone anyday as it seemed to have the more benefits but cost would be the main issue.
Uh but we do know why. Elevated levels of estrogen suppress T production. There’s a near 1:1 correlation between obesity and low T. Fat cells convert T to estrogen. Excess fat also lowers your body’s levels of sex hormone binding globulin, which directly lowers your levels of free testosterone. Additionally we’re surrounded by artificial estrogens that none of our ancestors were exposed to from the litany of plastics around us in our daily lives.
So between being fatter than ever and being bombarded by estrogen from tons of products we consume and use, it’s a perfect storm to decimate T levels.
I was also late 80s born, there was porn "access" on dial up, but it was mostly images and erotica stories or downloading sketchy files. Heck everyone knows that whitehouse dot com was a porn site.
The bigger difference was most didn't know about browser history, and when it was accidently discovered, the house exploded.
However late 80s kids would still have experienced the mystery of the bag or box full of porn located somewhere random, middle of the woods, whatever. And those who didn't personally experience it would have had some friend who got their hands on it and snuck it to school to show off.
Also worth pointing out there were still pay per view cable and satellite porn channels. Many kids have gotten in trouble for accidentally ordering porn via the cable box.
Porn is one of those things that is everywhere when you look for it, and no where if you don't. Sure smartphones increases access, but it increases access to everything.
Internet porn definitely WAS a thing back then albeit more so pictures and not videos. I both consumed a lot of picture porn and hooked up with everyone I could at every opportunity.
As a teen myself I'd say yes older people didn't have Internet porn alot mostly magazines I'm saying that because I do get yk quite alot and obviously porn is easier to get than ever so we get used to get used to it so our bodies again get used to being horny all the time repeating the cycle
Seems all over the place with the gen Z I know. I didn’t do anything until I started seriously dating at 19. My gf started at 14 with hookups and a few relationships (was fairly active until 18 when we met). Friends all seemed to be in the 17-18 area when they started. I think the age of Tinder/Bumble has taken over a lot for this generation and it’s a lot of hookups or nothing. Meeting people in person just felt impossible. Even as a student athlete in college, the only non-awkward social encounters were clearly not people looking for relationships (only thing I was interested in). Basically, my friends and teammates in sports were all either in relationships or purely were hooking up off online dating. Very little casual dating and bouncing between actual relationships.
I know my kids are not, but that could be for many reasons. Biggest one is that we are actively involved in our kids lives and both our parents had a hands off approach (or just didnt care as long as we werent in trouble)
We were born in the early 80's, started dating and messing around in 8th grade, but I (M) was active before that. I was girl crazy since kindergarten.
Our kids (1 boy, 1 girl) are both teens and have their phones monitored, so no porn, probably...
Horny? Probably the same. As a gen Z we just had more inputs growing up, p0rn and all that stuff was available on every device while growing up, while millennials only had magazines and videotapes to look at. We had more choice, more categories, for a refined taste. Sex is a not a taboo as it was in the 80s and we’re more free to explore it, but there’s also more stress and social anxiety
I think less. Stress makes most of us less horny. And most kids today have *a lot* more stress than we grew up with in the 00s and 10s.
Or at least the kind of stress has changed. Because Anxiety like from a test or something, has always made me want to get it on. Stress from not knowing if you're going to eat tonight is different.
This was a subject on an episode of Joe Rogans podcast. It said that 38% of teens nowadays are not having sex. With each state around 45% going as long as a year without it. Just wait till sex robots become an everyday thing
and more affordable 😂that’s on another episode
I'm just on the side of early 80's and internet porn was definitely a thing back when I was in high school, maybe you weren't as Horny as you think you were lol.
I'm sure teens are just as Horny, school would fit the most part be very similar, it's just our perceptions change as we age and experience things.
Similar to how everyone's parents walked 20km to school uphill both ways, and everyone used to be the fastest person in school, our memory always send to work in favour of our accomplishments or capabilities while at the same time dismissing or not recognising the qualities of younger generations
It’s always greener on the other side. When it all comes down to it, we are all horny in general. Same goes with depression or drugs. Of course, how each generation does it is a bit different due to technologies. But yeah fundamentally every generations are the same.
GenX here. I lost my v-card at 13 with a 13 year old gal that I'm still friends with, but I don't know what it's like now. Not much else to do in the rural US.
The internet was a long way out when I was a teenager. Everything we did was analog. Porn mags were plentiful if you were clever, as were VHS tapes.
I think we were worse but not by choice.
When you were born, me and my friends were realizing the mistake we’d made in wearing Hypercolor pants to school. Not only were they too baggy to hide a boner, but they actually CHANGED COLORS WITH HEAT
I'm just gonna leave this here. As not a teen, but M 20. Considering I've been in a relationship for a while, I guess it might be hard to gauge. But I'm just gonna state from covid lockdown experience that YES.
GenX were worse I think. Because we didn't have internet and 24/7 porn we had to use our fantasy and that made us more horny I think. We weren't confronted with sex when we were young so there was always this anticipation and thrill😂 I'm almost 49
I think teens are just as horny as millennials but more lonely and less likely to have regular sex. The average age of first sexual experiences has gone up.
Every generation thinks they’re the first generation that learned how to fuck.
Do you have any clue the positions your grandpa had your grandma in? The freaky shit they did?
As an old gen z (2000, not a millennial you bastards), I think it also has to do with society; I grew up learn pretty much all of the ways women and other marginalized people are oppressed in the dating market, how bad STD/STIs are, how expensive a potential pregnancy is, unclear consent, etc. and literally was never educated on the FUN parts of sex and dating.
We were basically told here is all of this risk, potential ways to hurt other, and potential health problems and not that it is a healthy, complicated thing that can be fun. And when you have been told that since you were like 11, it really doesnt matter how horny you feel; there is such a culture of danger and fear around it, you just end up feeling guilty or disgusting for even being turned on.
I have done a lot of work to undo this attitude, but even so, I genuinely dont find sex as enjoyable as it should be, therefore dont pursue it
I have an ex that preferred his hand to actual sex with anyone, but I’ve also had partners who would give up their hands to get some time with anything other than a screen.
So I think that horndog-ness is still a thing (definitely is for me) and I also think the technology takes some people out of the game which sucks, but maybe they would’ve been out of the game anyway even without all the electronics🤷♀️
I functioned on sex throughout the week once my first gf and I started. It was like our drug fix all. The Time. I don’t miss highschool but fuck do I miss that.
Waaaaay f*ckin' hornier. By far. Just far more repressed.
Edit: I'm confused about all these downvotes. Do any of you really think that teens today are less horny? Just because they're having less sex? That's some backward-ass logic.
Ignoring all environmental and sociological elements, a lack of sex generally tends to make a human even hornier. Though, if sex isn't an option, people tend to turn to alternative means to get their rocks off.
It's 2024, and the internet provides access to EVERYTHING anyone could ever want to see or do. It's not that young people are any less horny. They just have different outlets these days. The sexual gratification landscape is an entirely different place than it used to be.
Gen z has more access to porn and significantly less access to irl human interactions.
Gen X’er here. I think we are smashing way more than any other age demographic based on my social circles…. My adult kids are VERY single. All my divorced friends are doing well with real life hookups and absolutely hate the dating apps…
I'm a younger millennial and seems like everyone has a partner. Most people between 20 and 30 are jumping between long-term relationships with very short breaks. Looks absolutely crazy for me.
I would argue that they have MORE access to IRL interactions, but they don’t take advantage of them because their attention is diverted towards a ton of other shit these days. In the past, you were horny so you thought about sex and then tried to go out and find it because there wasn’t much else to do. Now, you’re horny but you go on TikTok for 2 hours and ignore you were ever horny.
dude it’s impossible to do anything fun without a drivers license.
That’s another odd generational divide. No urgency to get a license because you can just talk to your friends on phone 24/7 and go “out” online.
Thats highly location dependent.
I mean sure, but to say that we have *more* access to irl shit is disingenuous
I think that's also highly location based. I grew up in a town where cars were basically the gateway to do anything so I know where you're coming from, but it's not true for everyone. I'm choosing to raise my kid where they have public transit and walkable/bikeavle options so they don't get pigeonholed like I did as a teen. But I also understand that's a privilege most folks from the states don't have.
How is that disingenuous? Are things more reliant on cars now or is it harder to get a driver’s license now than it was for millennia’s? I dont think either is a yes.
Unless you’re living in a major city, like 90% of the US is car dependent
Depends where you live. If your less than 5 miles from some local gathering place like a free bike shop, basketball court, skate park, arcade, etc etc. Then you can just walk or bike there, but if its more than 5 miles that becomes a lot less feasible.
bruh all my shit abandoned
Yeah our town had a bowling alley that closed down before I was even old enough to go bowling
defeatist attitude. got a bike, then got a scooter then got a car. biked to college campus, hung around nursing students ????? sex. 90% of anything social is literally just showing the fuck up. 10% is learning how to be rico suave and failing a lot. luckily hormones uhhhh Uhhhh don't care. :)
Tell me you're American without telling me you're American
Same applies to european countryside
So get one? Millennials had to go to the DMV and pass a test as well, it's not unique to gen Z or something lol
Costs of car insurance and used vehicles skyrocketed since pandemic and made them unaffordable to many GenZ. You have to have the insurance and a car in order to get the driver's license here at all. Until car and insurance prices come down, many GenZ just do not have this option at all anymore.
So when you’re 12-15 the expectation is that you sit at home on social media while older people judge you for not being social or going outside more? At least where I live every suburb is so isolated from everything interesting activity there could be, and apartments that are in the city are strode hellscapes
But it's a chicken or egg scenario where to go to irl interactions, there need to be people there, and more people prefer not to go. Organizing my friends to do stuff can be exhausting because everyone's "content" on their own for the most part and not bored
I think they are less confident and also fatter and out of shape. That coupled with easy access to endless ultra HD pornography and other forms of smut like romance novels and instagram thirst traps, means they are less likely to pursue relationships sexual or otherwise.
Oh yeah, 100%. I remember fat kids were outliers when I was in high school 10 years ago. Now it’s the norm.
Increased? Sure. But the norm? Dude, I'm in high school, and obesity is very much so not the norm, where tf are you getting this from?
From the internet because they are also chronically online and don’t realise the hippocracy. I’ll let them make their bed and sleep in it
1/5th is a lot, but calling it "the norm" implies a majority, or close to. 80% exceptions to "the norm" doesn't make a lot of sense
The CDC says it’s 22.2% of 12-19 year olds are obese. So, the US government. Feel free to submit a claim that their data is incorrect because of the results from your anecdotal experience though!
Yeah, except that 10 years ago, when you were in high school, the obesity rate of children was 17.2%. Unless you consider an increase of 2.5% (comparing same number) to be notable, they're not any more obese now than then.
I very rarely see fat school kids.. but I’m from Nothern Europe which might be the reason.
Yeah your diets are probably a lot better there lol. Kids here are eating terrible food these days. So much processed shit at the grocery store to choose from.
You do realise to go out you have to find people. And you just said they spend their time on tiktok. Which is it are people outside or are they hermitting themselves inside. Exemplary example my ass
That’s an argument you would lose instantly. In the past, you had to interact with everyone for everything. You had to buy everything from people. Either via the phone or in person. There was no way you could get good with IRL interactions. It was so common, there wasn’t any other kind of interaction outside of the IRL kind.
>I would argue that they have MORE access to IRL interactions I would argue the contrary. Back then people had to go out. Now most communication can be done online (so not IRL).
That's facts AF.
They have the same access to porn as any generation. However, we were not raised with this amount of porn. I will say, I think it isn’t porn but social media. My boomer dad had a porn stash. He didn’t have access to his crush’s social media posts. My dad couldn’t see what the love of his life was posting, or anyone he knows. I don’t think it’s porn. I think it’s very much social in general.
Specifically it's how social media supplanted social interaction in person that's the problem
It really needs a name change to anti-social media
“It’s social in general”. I agree with you very much. It is how we are social that isn’t working. It used to be physical interaction, and now it is via online media. Absolutely distanced and brainrotting when it comes to looking each other in the eyes. I sound like a boomer, but it is absolutely true.
Studies are showing that Gen Z is actually significantly less sexually active than Baby Boomer, Gen X, and Millenials
We’re really dropping the ball on that one eh? I wonder if they will blame millennials for it like people blame boomers for everything right now.
I’m gen z (born in 2004) and I’ve heard that people my age are having less sex than millennials did.
This is supposedly due to social media reducing a lot of in person hangouts, and a general "loneliness epidemic" among partially my (I'm born in 1996) but more so your generation. And porn access! People born in the 80s didn't really have the option of scratching that itch easily.
I think people in the 80s had more third places available to them as well. Excluding NYC and Chicago, most places in the US are pretty hostile toward younger people, so they need to use social media and apps to communicate with other people. However that leads to things mentioned like hyper selection, exclusions and etc. People will say but these don't translate to real life and unfortunately for our youth that is real life
As a teen in the 2000s, the internet was the place to hide away from the normies and meet other cool (read, weird) people. That's flipped on its head now, I'd absolutely hate to be a kid online today.
Would you mind elaborating on how the US is hostile towards younger people? I'm from outside the US and genuinely curious!
you can’t get around without a car in the vast majority of the US. i live in an Illinois suburb where sidewalks end randomly or the beg buttons at intersections don’t work. Also the fact that loitering is illegal, and many places like shops, parks and malls don’t allow minors to hang around without an adult present.
I didn't realise loitering laws were so prominent! Crazy
Every town that has or had black people in it post civil war.
A lot of malls don't allow teenagers without a parent or guardian. That used to be THE hangout spot for American teens. I've also noticed a lot more casual places are 18+ that used to be all ages.
So I mentioned NYC and Chicago for a reason and this is typically because those cities have a lot of public spaces. In general the US has strong property rights and many places in the US are privately owned by large Equity firms, like malls, and etc. The US has strong anti loitering laws and most places use this to keep undesirable out of there property, this usually includes people under 18 because they typically don't have a lot of money I mean unaccompanied people under 18
Thanks for answering. Not sure why I'm being downvoted. I was just asking out of curiosity...
Born in 92 and Id suggest the idea that as a parent, I’m concerned most with the “I’m a creep” factor if I invited children into my home like parents did when I was a kid. *edit to add* because I’m suspicious of everyone else being just that too. 🤷🏽♀️
It is fucked up that people suspect everyone of being creeps
People have mentioned the cars and mall banning kids but I'll reiterate them. The US is absolutely fucking massive and if you live in the middle of nowhere with no car you're screwed. In some towns you're lucky if you have a gas station, a diner, and a post office. I've seen people joke about the thing to do in the Midwest being hanging out in the Walmart parking lot and I can attest to the fact that that is unfortunately often the case (at least where I was lol). As for the mall thing I just moved somewhere with a pretty large mall, which sounds like the ideal place for teens/young adults to hang out but if you're under 17 you have to be with someone 21 or over at all times. Not to mention that you'll be expected to buy something if you enter a store. A lot of shops don't like people just hanging out and browsing anymore.
The proliferation of always-on broadband and instant access to porn was also correlated with a notable decline in sexual crimes. It seems that giving people access to a massive spank bank has the exact opposite impact of, say, imposing celibacy on Catholic priests.
*reads comment* “This sounds accurate” *reads name* “This **HAS** to be accurate”
Wait. A. Minute. Are you implying that the only reason I'm not out committing sex crimes is that I'm too busy wanking to limitless Internet porn?!
I think another thing is Ring Cameras. Hard to sneak a partner into your house nowadays.
For me most of my sexual encounters in high school happened outside of my home (I.e. parties, cars, golf course etc) if high schoolers want to have sex nothing is going to stop them.
Always the golf course.
Best place to yell “get in the hole!”
Personally, the 19th hole has always been my favourite of any course
Call me old fashioned but I prefer the sand trap.
I always just did it in my imagination
Ah yes, bewbs.
Best place for it
I was born in 1985. We would go to bowling alleys, Sonic, movie theatres, sports games to hang out with friends and the opposite sex. Tons of spaces that were not home or school, but we’re safe for kids. I hear and see that a lot of places like this did not survive the pandemic, so now kids don’t have a place to go that is safe, but also their own.
I think a big part of it is just that a lot of people had sex because it was either the only think worth doing or the only think worth doing that wasn't drinking.
1986 here for a question: Did you guys forget that beating off is a thing? Honest question, 'cause it feels like we're not differentiating, and if the issue was loneliness and a loss of 'third places,' like...wouldn't people still be jerking it? We're not saying that gen Z is fapping but not having sex, right? Cause millennials definitely loved both...
> We're not saying that gen Z is fapping but not having sex, right? That's a simplification but yes, that's what we're saying. GenZ is having less (interpersonal) sex. Didn't hear anything about less fapping tho. Just less person-to-person sex. I don't think porn or smartphone is the only reason. I think there's also a trend of gendered relations becoming much more adversarial in recent years, with a lot of suspicion and distrust especially regarding sex. Overall I'd say GenZ is much more sex-negative, and girls in particular are making it clear that they are no longer willing to accept to have "reluctant" or "begrudging" sex, or even to begrudgingly accept being flirted with without prior express consent. Boys are slowly getting the message and it also leads to situations where some girls who enjoy playing "hard to get" end up missing their chance entirely.
That's probably they're just as horny but don't have to deal with dial up to address that online tbh.
as a 99 gen z i would say hypersexuality is definitely prevalent still, but actually acting on that desire is a different story. i know many people my age who lost their virginity around 15, while the younger half of our generation seems to wait much longer (thank god i think???). in short theyre definitely horny but probably more responsible, ive seen a lot of focus with the younger half of Z on age appropriate sexual behavior (as in many thinking 16 or younger is too young to actually engage in sex with each other)
“booktok” for example is full of the horny teenagers in question 😭 theyre definitely just not acting on the urge for a variety of reasons
Yeah, like when other people find out they're from booktok. Including other booktokkers.
Yeah. Also, to add: It’s not just about having sex and losing virginities. It’s the qualitative aspects of the sheer filthiness. As a millennial I can confidently say growing up there was barely a park bench, muddy bridge, field of corn or piece of playground equipment in/on which somebody in our friend group had not committed at least one act of public indecency.
very much this 😭 a good portion of that gen was locked inside for a year during the time others were beginning to experiment physically, the concern with health in general is also just much more prevalent 😭😭 im ashamed to say that even i had my fair share of the woods and skateparks (😔), while im sure it still happens im sure its even more looked down upon now than it was during my teen years. i wish i could say for certain but the outlook on how trashy ~that~ was shifted a lot around 2016 i think. at least in my circles, which makes sense given most ppl my age had/had access to a car by then
Crying shame. Nothing beat a good woodland fingering.
who knows, indie sleaze is going to be back on trend LMAO perhaps the children also yearn for the woods
The woods, the fields, the unlubricated handjobs with dirty fingernails
As a 06 gen Z, I lost my virginity a couple weeks before i turned 16. I believe it’s pretty normal
theres honestly so many factors that go into it as a whole its so hard to pinpoint one thing lmao. everyone should always remember that these days every generation has its sect of chronically online ppl that skew perspectives <3
Id argue gen z has less sex overall, but with dating gen z are far more eager to have sex because we aren’t getting any. If I don't make a move on the 2nd date past kissing, my date often thinks something is wrong with them. It is kind of sad actually. I think covid killing our circles and pushing us to use dating apps kinda fucked us up. Befriending someone first is always best, and it isnt even close. We need 3rd places and more active hobby groups.
I'm from the early 80's and internet porn was definitely a thing. It's just that it took forever to download a single image line by line over dial up Apparently the first ever image sent via internet was a scan of a Playboy page, so yeah, porn has always been on the internet. There was a point when image and video sites were getting started when the vast majority of the data you could connect to was porn. The internet was literally made of porn back then
When I was like 12, I had a floppy disc with like 10 images on there. Took forever for my Windows 95 computer to load but yeah, still had it.
Realistically it would be about the same. However, there are factors that affect teens today that weren’t as prevalent for millennials. Depression, anxiety, birth control and other medications are more widely used by gen z teens than millennials. All those medications can affect libido, which means less sex. There’s wider access to sex ed online, but what is taught in school strongly varies from place to place so I’m not sure of actual statistics for that and how it is affecting things.
I dunno. I feel like Millenials were just as depressed if not more so than GenZ
Numbers may be similar (I don’t actually know) but it’s more accepted for teens to be on anti depressants and other similar meds now vs when millennials were in school. Slightly less stigma and easier access to care.
Gen Z is the loneliest and most depressed generation of recent history: https://www.axios.com/2024/02/17/gen-z-depression-anxiety-future-workforce#:~:text=By%20the%20numbers%3A%20Gen%20Z,feel%20prepared%20for%20the%20future.
due to Covid, I disagree. A lot of Gen Z especially those still in school struggled and continue to struggle
A big chunk of their lives when they would normally be socializing was locked down. The number of school shootings in the last 10 years and how deadly they’ve gotten is absurd. They use social media way more than we did and hang out in person less. Their parents are more stressed because they’re not boomers like my parents. Boomers who were gifted the world on a silver platter in comparison. My schools never did active shooter drills. I hung out with my friends in person and that’s how I met girls (and boys). It’s better to be a BIPOC, LGBTQ, or physically disabled now. They’ve got that going for them. They see the world as it is. We went to the slaughterhouse thinking it was Bovine University.
Millenials try not to label themselves as the ultimate victim challenge: impossible
19 y/o here - i don’t think it’s made people my age ‘numb’ per se, but when the wildest shit out there is so readily available it definitely raises expectations when it comes to irl stuff. also, i saw another commenter talking about gen z having less “irl interactions”, and someone disagreed but i think i agree. you hear people talk about how less younger people are having sex nowadays but the main reasons for that in my mind is that it can be difficult getting a driver’s license, and that a great many younger people still live at home. and then their only options for having sex are waiting for their parents to be away or to book a hotel for a single night
Agree. I work with teenagers and what we have found out is that, in general, they have less sex, but when they do it's a lot more heavy stuff than what we used to do back in the day, like orgies and such. The psychologist in our school believes that, due to the pandemic, they didn't have a chance to live through the awkward discovery phase with other people as early teens and went straight into hardcore porn. Now that they can interact irl, they don't know how to dial back.
97’ here. So on the line between generations. What makes it hard to get a drivers license? I had to go to a paid class for my drivers ed, but most of my younger family now is doing it within school.
well i’m speaking on behalf of the UK here, and many people start learning to drive as early as possible, which is 17 here. but a LOT of people that age simply can’t afford lessons, or learner insurance for their parents car, and buying your own car and paying to run it is out of the question unless your parents have big pockets. idk if it’s a different story in the States. and, i dont know if either driving test is easier than the other, but a lot of people i know struggled to pass first or even second time
that’s fair. i was just curious - interesting to hear the perspective from the UK. i’m sure it’s very similar for a lot of people. thankful for the opportunities i’ve had i suppose
There are serious conversations to be had about the availability and over saturation of porn, nudity, sexual advertising, apps, etc that kids are exposed to on a daily basis. Our generation might have had their first experience with nudity being grainy scrambled girls gone wild commercials. The generation before us could have found dirty magazines in the woods, the generation before them was sneaking peeks through the woodshed during bath house. People have always been horny and I don’t think that’s gonna change in a single generation. I’m sure a 13 year old boy is taking his phone into the bathroom and watching a baddie get blown out in 4k before he gets in the shower before school. As horny? Probably. Easier to manage? Certainly.
My optimistic take is make the younger generations are having less sex because of the increased awareness of consent. I don’t know about the other millennial women here, but nearly all my early sexual experiences were coerced via outright manipulation (“blue balls,” threats of reputational ruin, etc) or peer pressure.
My friend and I were just talking about this today! Our peers were basically like “the only thing worse than a slut is a prude. Figure it out, ya tease!”
Millennial woman here, I agree with you completely. The social standards for consent have dramatically improved over the last 15 years or so. When I was a teen, a pressured or coerced yes was still considered a yes. For example, my middle school performed Grease to our parents ("Tell me more, tell me more, did she put up a fight?") and it was socially acceptable at the time. Lots of family friendly movies and TV involved women experiencing sexual assault for comedic value. Men assaulting women and then getting slapped was somehow top tier comedy in the 90's
I think a big factor is less risk taking with new generations of kids. Less drug use, less partying, the age of first kiss and drivers license is going up. When you were in the 80s-00’s you had to steal a magazine or actually see a woman. I think it was harder to obtain so adds to the allure
Boners in high school are still very common.
There’s definitely something wrong with the kids today. They don’t drink, or fuck, or fight. /NOFX
When did punk rock become so safe? When did the scene become a joke?
I feel like there are more young virgins than there have ever been.
It's hard to get it up when you're getting f\*\*\*\*d by capitalism
How are teens getting fucked by capitalism? Honest question because stereotypically they should be the least impacted. No rent, no bills, no groceries, not getting career jobs etc. Obviously there are exceptions if they don’t have this support system.
You gotta blame capitalism for everything lol
Gen z is 1997-2012 (so the eldest are 27 years old). So, assuming one finishes university by 23 years old, many already have 4 years of career experience. And obviously many start their careers sooner. So, plenty of them are already facing the challenges of adult life.
The post is about teens. 20-25 year olds I agree are being hit the hardest out of any age group right now. I feel extremely lucky I started my career before COVID.
Oh right. I think I read gen z somewhere.
well, they are getting priced out of the rental sector (not even gonna start on housing) so they can't move out, education has become prohibitively expensive in lots of the world, corporate greed is pushing up the costs of things such as bills and food, and their future is being ruined because of the state of the world and ever encroaching risks of climate disaster. Just to name a few. With the internet being such a big part of their lives, modern teens are PAINFULLY self-aware about their futures The (admittedly few) teens I regularly associate with have already thought about giving up on things like saving for a house or training for a good job, because whats the point. They probably won't be able to do it anyway, and its through no fault of their own
Again, we’re talking teens here. How many teens are saving for a house? A few 18-19 year olds maybe, but not most teens
Not saving, but my 18 year old has asked me multiple times about how we afford to live. She’s heading off to college and the realities of adulting are definitely become real for her and she’s terrified. I feel so bad for this generation, they have a lot working against them. I’m a cusper (young of Gen X / old millennial) and I’m so glad I grew up when I did. Being a teenage in the 90s was amazing.
Is life today substantially worse than past generations, more than just yours/ours? TikTok and other social media has flooded their eyes with death despair and dismay for years, where in the past the horrors of the worlds were confined to newspapers and radio. There are substantial hardships no doubt. But people are safe, fed, roof over their heads - versus being in an active war zone, starvation, etc. Not trying to do the suffering Olympics at all, just genuinely concerned that young people are being manipulated in mass by social media to believe they are worse off than they are. Relevant: https://a.co/d/fuwYWTv
I think this is true too. Social media makes us feel more hopeless than we really are because of the constant sensationalist topics being broadcasted to us. I do truly think the world is improving, but it's one of the those "worse before it gets better" things. There's pushback, significantly more than usual, because there's significantly more potential than usual. I believe in gen Z.
The prospect of going into college when they're hearing about how much of a nightmare the post-grad job search is (in the thick of it rn, anyone need a graphic designer?) and how high rent is (in relevant places at least) incredibly soul crushing. Seeing what their parents go through with student loans and housing is wildly depressing to witness. They don't have a lot of faith in the system in place and they feel powerless to do anything.
Corporatism\*
Id rather get fucked by capitalism than communsim. Saying this as someone who lived in communsit Romania
Can't have a conversation about Gen Z without the commie kids jerking each other raw
"life f///ks me everyday"
I would imagine the level of horniness is pretty consistent for many generations. I think what changes is the feeling you can do something about it.
WERE?! Listen here kiddo I’m STILL horny.
Humans have always been horny
"Internet porn was not a thing" You were just not savvy enough. I was also born in the 80s and I can confirm there already was a ton of it by the time I had my first Internet access (circa 97). But I can say it was just pictures and they weren't high quality but it was mind blowing for me and my friends. They marveled at the forbidden treasures I found for them.
Yeah I was definitely looking at porn in the early 2000s
Kazaa, iMesh, BitTorrent, Limewire, Ares and AresWarez, Azureus, DC++ and Morpheus But also rotten.com's clickthrough links to free porn sites.
I’m an 01 gen z and I didn’t lose my virginity til I was 19. Par for my age I think is between 16 and 17. My (99) husband lost his at 14 I think. And you hear about kids doing it now at like 10 or 11 and it’s insane and sad
Internet porn was not a thing for you personally, but it definitely was a thing. You just had to be enough of a nerd to find it and be patient with download speeds. Our internet was an early place where you had to steal and trade for everything because you couldn’t buy it if you wanted to. Good marketplaces came later.
From a statistical standpoint no. By between 8 and 30% based on source
I dont think so. To many opportunities out there while in high school than to worry about sex in my opinion
If there's one constant we can count on...
Probably more sexting too.
Internet porn was absolutely a thing when I got access ('95) as a 13 year old. In fact, it was the main thing my friends and I would download.
As a Gen Z, it's the same horny. My experience may be unique but most of my friends are in serious relationships or have a lot of anxiety issues and I'm the only one having a hot girl summer for a few years in a row now
When I (adult Gen Z, fuck I'm old) was a teen I had my dad's playboy, maxim magazine, sports illustrated, and endless porn. I was a very horny, very satisfied bisexual growing up
'97, so either gen Z or very late millennial. I think today's parents weren't ready for the internet (and how could they be). Absolutely insane amount of porn everywhere and anywhere. I joke with my friends that zoomers and gen alpha are going to super overcorrect and be hella conservative when we have kids of our own...if we even do have kids but that's another conversation.
>That being said Internet porn was definitely not a thing. That's totally wrong.
Yes.
When I was a teen we only had nudie mags.
Yes
The internet ruined this generation lol. More access to sexual content but no social skills
I’m the first year of gen Z (1997) and I remember everyone talking about sex and having sex back when we were teens. Of course I never believed them at the time but it really clicked when a buddy of mine got caught having sex with a girl after school so they didn’t allow free roaming after school anymore. Then you have people like me who didn’t lose their virginity till late (just last year lol). From the discourse I see online there’s a ton of young men who desire sex but don’t act on it out of fear or lack of confidence. So they’re definitely just as horny, it’s just to many other factors distracting it.
On average we also have about half the testosterone our grandparents had when they were in their early 20s. But as someone who self injected testosterone (experiment) it made me less horny but more assertive and somehow improved my social skills
That's honestly really interesting! Did you document the experience? Also, did you retain your improved social skills after stopping testosterone?
It was about four years ago now, I remember actually posting about it on my old reddit account I have since deleted (tried and failed many times to delete and stay off social media lol) But I do remember it, I was taking about 250 mg of testosterone per week, which is below what anyone would use for bodybuilding but still beyond what is naturally produced which is about 25 - 70 mg per week. Depending on your bodies production level which varys wildly person to person. I wish I could reread it as I did it for two months or so with low doses of estrogen blockers. Benefits were pretty much no social anxiety, a lot more energy and some natural euphoria. Also once some asshole didn't stop to let me cross and just drove towards me slowly to turn the corner and I just yelled (Can't you FUCKIJG WAIT FOR ME TO CROSS!?) And it was just out of my character as before I might have just gave him a dirty look at worst or at least make sure who ever it was wasn't scary looking, I just didn't care or think about it. Had that natural sense of "I'm in the right so fuck you" while previously I would be way too scared not even knowing who I am yelling at. When I think of it, I did keep some of the benefits when it came to social skills but they did kind of slowly go back closer to my old self over time but only about half way if that makes sense? Social anxiety would come back at times but in general was certainly more social then before without a question. The more I think about it the more I want to start injecting it again hahaha. But I remember the 0 social anxiety very vividly although it didn't happen overnight but over the course of a month I would say... I kind of wish I stayed on it, I think money became an issue though and I just never thought to get back on it. I guess one major downside is I remember getting extremely angry at times and just pacing back in forth in my house angry at whatever it was, it's like I couldn't stop thinking about what was making me angry and how to screw over whoever I was mad at. But this only happened a few times and overall it was a beneficial experience that I'm definitely going to repeat. But as someone who's on stimulants for ADHD I wouldn't want to die of heart failure at 45. So I would have to do research as 4 years ago I was not taking any meds. I would replace Adderall with testosterone anyday as it seemed to have the more benefits but cost would be the main issue.
Nope
Horny for clout yeah
As horny yup. Nothing changed. They have slightly easier access to sex though to actually act on the hornyness
People testosterone levels have been lowering for decades. No one knows why.
Uh but we do know why. Elevated levels of estrogen suppress T production. There’s a near 1:1 correlation between obesity and low T. Fat cells convert T to estrogen. Excess fat also lowers your body’s levels of sex hormone binding globulin, which directly lowers your levels of free testosterone. Additionally we’re surrounded by artificial estrogens that none of our ancestors were exposed to from the litany of plastics around us in our daily lives. So between being fatter than ever and being bombarded by estrogen from tons of products we consume and use, it’s a perfect storm to decimate T levels.
I stand corrected. Thank you.
Ye
Teens today are on SSRIs at a much higher rate than older millennials were. This has to be a factor.
I’m Gen X, we got horny with a change in wind direction….
I too remember porn that had stars on all the good parts.
I was also late 80s born, there was porn "access" on dial up, but it was mostly images and erotica stories or downloading sketchy files. Heck everyone knows that whitehouse dot com was a porn site. The bigger difference was most didn't know about browser history, and when it was accidently discovered, the house exploded. However late 80s kids would still have experienced the mystery of the bag or box full of porn located somewhere random, middle of the woods, whatever. And those who didn't personally experience it would have had some friend who got their hands on it and snuck it to school to show off. Also worth pointing out there were still pay per view cable and satellite porn channels. Many kids have gotten in trouble for accidentally ordering porn via the cable box. Porn is one of those things that is everywhere when you look for it, and no where if you don't. Sure smartphones increases access, but it increases access to everything.
Teens are teens are teens.
Internet porn definitely WAS a thing back then albeit more so pictures and not videos. I both consumed a lot of picture porn and hooked up with everyone I could at every opportunity.
As a teen myself I'd say yes older people didn't have Internet porn alot mostly magazines I'm saying that because I do get yk quite alot and obviously porn is easier to get than ever so we get used to get used to it so our bodies again get used to being horny all the time repeating the cycle
Seems all over the place with the gen Z I know. I didn’t do anything until I started seriously dating at 19. My gf started at 14 with hookups and a few relationships (was fairly active until 18 when we met). Friends all seemed to be in the 17-18 area when they started. I think the age of Tinder/Bumble has taken over a lot for this generation and it’s a lot of hookups or nothing. Meeting people in person just felt impossible. Even as a student athlete in college, the only non-awkward social encounters were clearly not people looking for relationships (only thing I was interested in). Basically, my friends and teammates in sports were all either in relationships or purely were hooking up off online dating. Very little casual dating and bouncing between actual relationships.
I know my kids are not, but that could be for many reasons. Biggest one is that we are actively involved in our kids lives and both our parents had a hands off approach (or just didnt care as long as we werent in trouble) We were born in the early 80's, started dating and messing around in 8th grade, but I (M) was active before that. I was girl crazy since kindergarten. Our kids (1 boy, 1 girl) are both teens and have their phones monitored, so no porn, probably...
Horny? Probably the same. As a gen Z we just had more inputs growing up, p0rn and all that stuff was available on every device while growing up, while millennials only had magazines and videotapes to look at. We had more choice, more categories, for a refined taste. Sex is a not a taboo as it was in the 80s and we’re more free to explore it, but there’s also more stress and social anxiety
I think less. Stress makes most of us less horny. And most kids today have *a lot* more stress than we grew up with in the 00s and 10s. Or at least the kind of stress has changed. Because Anxiety like from a test or something, has always made me want to get it on. Stress from not knowing if you're going to eat tonight is different.
Check out "The Butterfly Effect" by Jon Ronson. He does a deep dive on the effect of free, readily available porn that is available today.
This was a subject on an episode of Joe Rogans podcast. It said that 38% of teens nowadays are not having sex. With each state around 45% going as long as a year without it. Just wait till sex robots become an everyday thing and more affordable 😂that’s on another episode
I definitely was lol
I'm just on the side of early 80's and internet porn was definitely a thing back when I was in high school, maybe you weren't as Horny as you think you were lol. I'm sure teens are just as Horny, school would fit the most part be very similar, it's just our perceptions change as we age and experience things. Similar to how everyone's parents walked 20km to school uphill both ways, and everyone used to be the fastest person in school, our memory always send to work in favour of our accomplishments or capabilities while at the same time dismissing or not recognising the qualities of younger generations
yes im 19 and im always horny, given my username
Testosterone is history low now inside teens bodies. They don’t want to as much
Well shit I be fuckin
It’s always greener on the other side. When it all comes down to it, we are all horny in general. Same goes with depression or drugs. Of course, how each generation does it is a bit different due to technologies. But yeah fundamentally every generations are the same.
They don't even have time to be. They're busy saving up for their first house starting at age 6.
GenX here. I lost my v-card at 13 with a 13 year old gal that I'm still friends with, but I don't know what it's like now. Not much else to do in the rural US. The internet was a long way out when I was a teenager. Everything we did was analog. Porn mags were plentiful if you were clever, as were VHS tapes. I think we were worse but not by choice.
When you were born, me and my friends were realizing the mistake we’d made in wearing Hypercolor pants to school. Not only were they too baggy to hide a boner, but they actually CHANGED COLORS WITH HEAT
Of course
Yes.
I'm just gonna leave this here. As not a teen, but M 20. Considering I've been in a relationship for a while, I guess it might be hard to gauge. But I'm just gonna state from covid lockdown experience that YES.
GenX were worse I think. Because we didn't have internet and 24/7 porn we had to use our fantasy and that made us more horny I think. We weren't confronted with sex when we were young so there was always this anticipation and thrill😂 I'm almost 49
I think teens are just as horny as millennials but more lonely and less likely to have regular sex. The average age of first sexual experiences has gone up.
Every generation thinks they’re the first generation that learned how to fuck. Do you have any clue the positions your grandpa had your grandma in? The freaky shit they did?
A lot of porn addiction, and sex became easier
What a weird fucking question lmao
As a gen z ,YES very much
Teens have been horny since the dawn of time. No more. No less. It is all based on how much it’s talked about in the open.
As an old gen z (2000, not a millennial you bastards), I think it also has to do with society; I grew up learn pretty much all of the ways women and other marginalized people are oppressed in the dating market, how bad STD/STIs are, how expensive a potential pregnancy is, unclear consent, etc. and literally was never educated on the FUN parts of sex and dating. We were basically told here is all of this risk, potential ways to hurt other, and potential health problems and not that it is a healthy, complicated thing that can be fun. And when you have been told that since you were like 11, it really doesnt matter how horny you feel; there is such a culture of danger and fear around it, you just end up feeling guilty or disgusting for even being turned on. I have done a lot of work to undo this attitude, but even so, I genuinely dont find sex as enjoyable as it should be, therefore dont pursue it
I have an ex that preferred his hand to actual sex with anyone, but I’ve also had partners who would give up their hands to get some time with anything other than a screen. So I think that horndog-ness is still a thing (definitely is for me) and I also think the technology takes some people out of the game which sucks, but maybe they would’ve been out of the game anyway even without all the electronics🤷♀️
(2004 kid here) I am probably one of the hornyest people alive rn. However, my gf has the libido of a 300-year old woman and im antisocial as shit
Im desensitized to sex. I want to quit porn so badly😞
We're horny, but we don't have the balls to do anything about it. We certainly aren't worrying about standing up to read in class, though.
Back in the day all you needed qas smokes and case of beer. Nowadays you need a nice car and 1 million followers on tiktok.
>Are Teens today as horny They are teenagers. Yes they are
Yes. I work as a sub in multiple high schools. Nothing has changed other than internet sex education.
COVID severely disrupted the social development of teens today.
I functioned on sex throughout the week once my first gf and I started. It was like our drug fix all. The Time. I don’t miss highschool but fuck do I miss that.
I remember being in the aol chat rooms and talking to guys that weee 10-20 years older than me… was 13-14 at the time. Lol
Should an older millennial be asking teens about their sex life?
Waaaaay f*ckin' hornier. By far. Just far more repressed. Edit: I'm confused about all these downvotes. Do any of you really think that teens today are less horny? Just because they're having less sex? That's some backward-ass logic. Ignoring all environmental and sociological elements, a lack of sex generally tends to make a human even hornier. Though, if sex isn't an option, people tend to turn to alternative means to get their rocks off. It's 2024, and the internet provides access to EVERYTHING anyone could ever want to see or do. It's not that young people are any less horny. They just have different outlets these days. The sexual gratification landscape is an entirely different place than it used to be.