Sex and Millennial Culture: Observations about Teens, Tweens, Homosexuality
This article is part of the TNGG Sex Week series on Gen Y and sex. Read more from the series here.
No one will argue the point that sex and the internet go together like peas and carrots. Every time you check your e-mails or surf the web, you’re either being offered bargain rates on sexual performance medications or the ability to meet scantly clad local singles.
Logically, a generation that was the most connected to the internet would likely be the most sex crazed, for no other reason than sheer volume of the sexual material we get bombarded with. I wanted to take this opportunity to share a number of trends I have noticed within my generation as we take on the second decade of a new millennium.
Teens
One key aspect that sets Generation Y apart from those before it, is the large segment of people that never received proper sexual education during high school. Fortunately, in this digital age it is becoming harder and harder to suppress information from inquiring minds that need to know.
According to a recently released study by the Guttmacher institute, the rates for teen pregnancy rose in 2006 for the first time in a decade, regardless of race. This video below combines various viewpoints on the subject of sexual non-education, and was compiled in July 2007 when people were recognizing this developing social problem.
Tweens
Everyone knows the ancient adage that sex sells. One thing that isn’t discussed as openly is how early this sexual commercialism starts in an American’s life. Disney has been pumping out much more (sexual) entertainment icons than animated classics for our generation.
Here’s is the view the creators of South Park took on Disney’s new business strategy (Warning for those of delicate composure: the language gets rather explicit after 1:20 into the video, so please use proper discretion).
Homosexuality
http://www.adamofficial.com
The homosexual rights movement has made some great strides in the past decade. As entertainment is a reflection of culture, one would assume that gay celebrities have greater freedom to be themselves and celebrate their culture than in years past. In 2009 we watched Adam Lambert fall to Kris Allen in the American Idol competition amid accusations of vote manipulation, with 15x more votes than total population coming from Allen’s home-state of Arkansas.
The following fall, Lambert and Allen both released their first albums after the competition. Allen’s first album released with some of the weakest sales ever for a winner of American Idol, peaking in it’s first week at 11th overall album on the Billboard charts, while Lambert’s debut album peaked at 3rd and has significantly outsold Allen since it’s release. Millennials have effectively cleared the controversy surrounding the shady American Idol outcome, and have voted with their wallets.
Another illustration in mainstream media lagging culture is this “banned” Superbowl commercial. CBS deemed this commercial too racy to air for their family audience. Hypocrisy and controversy aside, this decision might have been the best possible outcome for the site. Not only do they save money on an overpriced time slot for an audience that isn’t focused for them, but CBS has also ensured that most everyone in the gay community learns about their brand.
As of the when this article was written, ManCrunch’s video had been viewed by 630,000 people. Thanks to social media and the power of the internet, ManCrunch got the publicity they sought for a fraction of the cost of their proposed Superbowl advertisement. While traditional media proves reluctant to “get with the times” and continues to cater to a shrinking segment of their viewers, savvy marketers are proving quite capable of leveraging the backwards attitude for their own means.
As technology and social media permeates the world as we know it, it becomes harder and harder for those who wish to “control” culture. Sexuality has long been in the crosshairs by religiously pressured mainstream media. It is a losing battle to wall off children from the world as it actually is, as technology has given truth an uncensored broadcasting medium.
Millennials are by no means more sexual than generations past, but with ability to communicate and share without the need of some fossilized executive’s approval, we may prove to be one of the most sexually authentic generations yet. The last thing I wanted to share is the sexual advertisement of 2009 that best connected with me as a 25 year old white male, enjoy!
Author: Scott Templeman – Marketing Coordinator for The Gilbane Group (http://gilbane.com). Duties include coordinating Conference speakers, webmaster, and acting as a fill-in IT department. Computer geek, SM enthusiast, and football fanatic are among a list of interests and activities that epitomize ADHD.
