On this episode of “The Federalist Radio Hour,” senior policy analyst at the Independent Women’s Forum and senior contributor at The Federalist Inez Stepman joins Culture Editor Emily Jashinsky to discuss how the progressive, Boomer emphasis on sex positivity hurt Generation Z.
“The reactions to that consensus or the proposed solutions from the left and the right are diametrically opposite. From the left we see this continued attempt to try to force human sexuality into a very legalistic framework,” Stepman said. “And then for the right this was a confirmation that, in fact, you know, sex is a powerful force, is a natural force for good and ill, and that consent is just not enough. It’s not a strong enough or broad enough concept to divide between positive and negative sexual experiences.”
According to Jashinsky, “We have normalized a sexual culture that is traumatic for women.”
“We’ve told them that it’s a sign of enlightenment and liberation to engage in this kind of sexual activity. To scroll through Tinder as a college freshman and have random hookups, is a sign of empowerment,” Jashinsky said. “It was pushed by the champions of women and the people who did actually win some very legitimate victories for women, legally and politically. But now culturally, I think this is an immense pain for American women and Western women, and I don’t know how generations are going to heal from it.”
“Well it turns out that unrestrained sexual liberation is not actually good for women and that a lot of the norms that were in place, although they greatly restricted female liberty especially in the sexual realm, also were doing so in fear of exactly the consequences of unrestrained nature,” Stepman added.
