Welcome to Long Live the Sex Scene, a special project by Cosmopolitan that explores why these steamy television and movie moments truly matter, especially right now. Join us as we rewind, replay, and then rewind them all over again.
In 2023, a “Teens and Screens” study conducted by UCLA’s Center for Scholars and Storytellers suggested that 13 to 24-year-olds wanted less sex—at least, on their screens. It wasn’t long before that data was editorialized (often without noting the very different viewing habits of Gen Z teens and Gen Z adults), with publications declaring that Gen Z was not only more averse to seeing sex in film and TV but opposed to and even fearful of sex in general.
At Cosmopolitan, we beg to differ. So do many of you: Over the summer, more than 450 of you—our readers over the age of 18—took our survey about sex scenes, and the vast majority (86 percent) said yes to steamy onscreen moments. In fact, nearly half of Gen Z respondents said they wish there were more sex in TV and movies.
But with that call for hornier entertainment came an important clarification: It’s not just about lots of skin-on-skin. While 46 percent of Gen Z respondents gave a thumbs-up to sex scenes with full nudity, nearly double that amount (90 percent) said they found emotional sex scenes enjoyable. In fact, 74 percent of Gen Z respondents said a sex scene doesn’t even need nudity to be considered a good watch.
A deeper look at our survey results shows that perhaps it wasn’t sex scenes Gen Z adults reported being tired of in earlier studies—perhaps what they’ve actually grown weary of is gratuitous nudity. It could be that the inclusion of emotional connection and consent in entertainment has become just as (if not more) important to a pop culture–obsessed generation than butts and breasts.
For more evidence, see the fervor over Honoria and Mabel’s tender lovemaking in The Buccaneers or that raunchy spit swap between Mary and Stack in Sinners. Or, really, any other scene in our Long Live the Sex Scene package.
