Exploring the “Sex Recession”: A Q&A with Carter Sherman

In today’s digitally saturated world, it’s easy to assume that Gen Z — raised on TikTok, BDSM trends, and hypersexualized media — would be experiencing a sexual renaissance. But journalist Carter Sherman’s new book, The Second Coming: Sex and the Next Generation’s Fight Over Its Future, reveals a different picture: one of delayed intimacy, stunted vulnerability, and conflicted desire.

Drawing on over 100 interviews with teens and young adults, Sherman uncovers how stress, shame, and politics are reshaping sex for a generation.

In this edited version of a Wired conversation with culture editor Manisha Krishnan, Sherman unpacks the limits of “sex negativity,” the impact of social media and pandemic isolation, and the emergence of a politically-conscious—but anxious—younger generation.

🔍 Why are Gen Z having less sex?

Sherman: “It is undeniably the case that they are having sex later and less frequently than previous generations… What is not true… is that Gen Z isn't interested in sex. They're definitely not ‘sex negative.’ They're sort of swimming in this miasma of anxiety from a lot of different sources… and…it makes them not able to cope in such a way that would lead them… to have sex.”

Between constant social comparison, high-profile cultural battles, and the legal rollback of reproductive rights, younger adults are trapped in a feedback loop of desire and dread.

🪞 Shame, porn, and unrealistic expectations

Sherman: “Many of them are very horny. They would like to be having sex, and in fact they feel a lot of shame over the fact that they haven't had sex yet or that they’re not having sex enough.”

Given widespread porn access and patchy sex education, taboo topics like choking or consent get warped into scripts for performance, not pleasure. Sherman cites research showing increased rates of rough sex and fear around eroticized acts.

🌍 Isolation and the pandemic’s sting

The pandemic accelerated pre-existing trends:

Sherman: “It speeded up… outsourcing of a lot of sexuality to the internet… young people’s sexuality… got pushed onto the internet… and they’re not always comfortable with what that means.”

Digital substitutes—webcams, nudes, sexting—became stand-ins for intimacy, leaving many feeling unprepared, exposed, or unsure of offline connection.

🏛️ Politics enters the bedroom

Political shifts have seeped into young people’s sex lives.

One interviewee described ordering abortion pills online after losing local access post‑Roe, saying the experience felt like “punishment for having sex.”

Challenges to reproductive and sexual autonomy dampen the perceived safety of sex—and reduce trust in societal infrastructure to support it.

🌱 Sexual progressivism vs. conservatism

Rather than being averse to sex, Gen Z often identify as sexually progressive—supporting LGBTQ+ rights, consent culture, and abortion access.

Sherman: “Anti-sex gets thrown around… The main clash… is between ‘sexual conservatism’ and ‘sexual progressivism.’… many of them are what I would call sexually progressive…”

They’re not prudish—they’re politically aware, cautious, and perhaps disillusioned.

💡 Final reflections: Connection over intercourse

Sherman concludes that the real concern isn’t whether Gen Z is having more or less sex, but whether they’re able to form emotional connection and cultivate vulnerability:

Sherman: “What I worry about is whether or not young people are connecting with one another … growing in their relationships… I just worry that there is a dearth of willingness to be vulnerable… which is… bad for politics… it diminishes our ability to connect with one another.”

Still, there’s hope in Gen Z’s political engagement—their alignment of sexual autonomy with broader social change suggests the potential for more equitable, empathetic relationships moving forward.

Gen Z aren’t prudes—they’re overburdened. The Second Coming reveals how social media, unreliable sex education, pandemic-era habits, and political backlash have produced a generation that aches with desire yet hesitates in practice. But in their commitment to consent, justice, and authenticity lies the promise of deeper, more conscious intimacy on the horizon.