New Gen Z trend among women: No man, no sex, no children

Swinging skirts, a group of laughing children and a wooden spoon firmly in hand – this is how the so-called “tradwives” who have taken social media by storm in recent months present themselves. Feeds overflowed with millions of images of immaculately set tables and meticulously ironed aprons. The Tradwifes’ biggest goal? Be the perfect housewife, in the style of the 1950s, as if emancipation were just a failed modern experiment.

New social media trend among Gen-Z

But it can also be done in a completely different way: Social media wouldn’t be social media if a new – rather opposite – trend hadn’t already conquered the feeds. Instead of romanticized role models and self-sacrifice for the husband, it is now: celibacy instead of affection. Many representatives of Gen Z suddenly live by the motto: No man, no sex, no children.

The idea of ​​​​swearing off the entire male world originally comes from South Korea: the so-called “4B movement” was formed here in 2019. Their rules are radical: no sex with men, no heterosexual relationships, no marriages and no children. According to their own statements, members of the movement consciously accept that this attitude will further reduce the already extremely low birth rate in the country.

That sounds pretty crazy at first – but given the social situation in the country, the ideas of the 4B movement are no longer so far-fetched. By radically rejecting men, women are reacting to the deep-rooted sexism, increasing violence and general misogyny in South Korea. The country has shockingly high rates of femicide and violent crimes in relationships, while traditional role models remain firmly entrenched. Equality between women and men is nowhere near as advanced here as in many Western countries.

“Don’t bother dating, get divorced.”

Nevertheless: The idea of ​​female abstinence has long since arrived in the USA and Europe. The hashtag #celibacy has almost 200 million views on TikTok, followed shortly by the hashtag “boysober,” which means “to be sober when it comes to boys.”

“All girls go on a celibacy strike and sexually starve men until they learn how to behave properly,” propagates American influencer Lana Del Redneck, for example. The 26-year-olds are thoroughly fed up when it comes to men: “Don’t bother dating, decentralize men, get divorced, take a vow of celibacy.” I’m tired of women being crazy about men. You are weak if you have feelings for men, you need to grow up.”

And the 24-year-old coach Victoria de Vall also writes on Twitter: “We are through acting as if the hook-up culture is empowering.” She has been celibate since 2020 after admitting that she feels “unsafe” with her male sexual partners: “I realized that I didn’t know what intimacy looked like,” she says publicly.

“You’re all assholes, we can’t be bothered anymore.”

German influencers are also enthusiastic about the idea of ​​turning their backs on men: “Women are so fed up with men that they would rather die out than get married,” says TikToker “mlleopossum,” for example, enthusiastically in a video. “They say: You’re all assholes, we’re tired of patriarchal structures.” I think that’s cool too.”

As radical as these ideas may sound, studies also confirm that sex is no longer a top priority for young people:

“For a few years now, a whole series of scientific studies have shown that young people are having less sex than 15 or 20 years ago,” says German psychologist Juliane Burghardt in an interview with the “FAZ”. The meeting in Germany as well as in the USA, Japan, Australia, Finland or Great Britain. Generation Z is having less sex.

Dangerous sex trends

According to Burghardt, one reason could be that “single women in particular often experience sex as negative.” Sex is more dangerous for women than for men. The likelihood of rape in a family or friend context or of rape dates is higher. There are also dangerous trends such as choking or so-called “stealthing”, in which men secretly remove the condom during sexual intercourse.

There is also still the so-called orgasm gap. “On average, for every woman’s orgasm, there are three man’s orgasms.” “That’s a huge disparity,” says Burghardt. “If women experience dating and sex as potentially dangerous and not particularly good, why should they do it?”

One thing is clear: whether housewife romance or sex strike, Generation Z is once again going its own way when it comes to dating – to the delight or frustration of the men’s world.