What Gen Z Wants You to Know about Sex, Sexuality and Body Image
01 Jul, 2022
For Gen Z, exploring sex, sexuality and body image is all part of getting to know themselves. For brands seeking to reach young people, it’s vital to understand how they see all three. However, most brands still get it wrong as new FanBytes By Brainlabs and MAD//Fest Gen Z Sex Attitudes Report outlines.
Our teens and early twenties is when we form our key ideas about who we are. But Gen Z is experiencing this rite of passage at a time when social media is ever-present, and education has taken a nosedive due to the pandemic.
So it’s unsurprising that many brands don’t really understand Gen Z.
Google it: the headlines simultaneously paint a picture of a sex-averse generation that’s experimental and sexually fluid, and a group that rejects traditional ideas of a “perfect body” but is also hopelessly insecure.
So, what’s really going on?
Fanbytes by Brainlabs is an award-winning social media and influencer marketing agency. We used our industry-leading social listening tool, Bytesights, to examine the trends Gen Z engages with on their favourite app, TikTok.
We found that young people are not just frustrated by the dominant information they encounter: they’re also doing something about it.
In 2021, UK sex ed had regressed to worse than it was before the new syllabus was introduced. Instead, students were using the internet to learn about sex.
But porn is a poor teacher, so Gen Z started to create resources for themselves.
Gen Z isn’t averse to sex. For them, a healthy relationship with sex is connected with self discovery. When the pandemic kicked in, young adults set about creating sex education videos on TikTok.
The types of videos surfacing here not only show what Gen Zers are actually interested in - it also illustrates where the gaps are in our education system. As more brands seek to champion a social purpose, understanding the content Gen Z calls for is a clear path towards winning them over.
Gen Z is also most likely to identify as LGBTQ+ and sees sexuality as a spectrum. But they are critical of typical LGBTQ+ representation, which is often tokenistic or damaging. Couple this with a pandemic that impeded social bonds, and the last two years could have been a lonely and confusing time for young people.
TikTok filled that void.
Young people used the app to tell a wider range of stories and connect with others. LGBTQ+ people feature prominently, and many deliberately created content they wish they’d had earlier.
This means young people have higher standards for the LGBTQ+ representation used by brands now. So, how can you keep up?
Finally, the increase in screen time made young people feel especially insecure over lockdown. We can see an emerging duality between the positive messages Gen Z shares with friends, and the damaging information they still seek out privately. Gen Z is only too aware of how social media affects them, and they are vocal about how they want brands to help.
The problem is, many still aren’t listening.
TikTok is where Gen Z is holding brands to account - but it’s also where young people celebrate those who get it right. In 2022, most brands’ engagement with “body positivity” is out of date and risks turning off Gen Z. How can you make sure your messaging isn’t defeating its purpose?
In our report, we not only share our insights, but provide actionable steps to crack Gen Z throughout your marketing.
As Gen Z emerges as the biggest consumer generation and begins to form their brand loyalty, understanding the subjects that are most important to them is vital.
Even better: learn how to lead the conversation, and Gen Z can become your greatest ally.
Click the button below to read the Fanbytes by Brainlabs report in partnership with MAD//Fest.
Armoo will dig into the report findings in more detail in a MAD//Fest London session on 7 July. This year’s festival will see major brands, disruptors and agency heavyweight tackle 2022’s ‘No Guts, No Glory’ theme. View Day 2's agenda here