Julia Fox and female celibacy: let's talk about it

Sometimes, amid the myriad of impulses, debates, streams of thought, and clashes that occur daily on social media on any topic - from the most trivial to the most complex - we lose track of where we are and where we are going, of what is forward and what is backward, of what is reactionary and what, instead, is actually helping us to free ourselves. That's what happens, for example, when discussing Gen Z and sex, when the trad wives assert themselves in the imagery of TikTok and lifestyle and cooking content, and we can no longer understand the boundary between societal choice and imposition, and that's what's happening around Julia Fox, who has criticized the latest advertising campaign by Bumble.

Bumble's Advertisement Sparks Debate

In the United States, billboards for the dating app Bumble are causing a stir. To introduce the public to the new version of the platform, claims based on the rejection of chastity and celibacy were chosen, encouraging people to get busy and not accept sexual abstinence as a solution to a lack of dates. In short, grab the apps and start dating! This didn't sit well especially with women, who Bumble seems to primarily target. After all, until a few weeks ago, what set this dating platform apart from others was that it was up to females - who after matching could choose whether to start a conversation or not -  to take the initiative. But what are these women complaining about? The idea of female chastity as laziness rather than a free choice, the implicit obligation to carry on a couple's life that seems to weigh primarily on them.

Julia Fox and Chastity

Among the women who found this approach annoying is also Julia Fox, who decided to respond sarcastically, somewhere between serious and playful. "Two and a half years of chastity, and I've never been better, to be honest," she commented. While the media enjoy spreading the news and recalling her statements on the matter from Kanye West onwards, let's try to reflect on something else. Why is it so difficult to accept that a beautiful and famous woman - who has no problem making eccentric and extravagant style choices, and unfortunately, we believe aesthetics also matter in this case - has no interest in sleeping with anyone and especially men? What is our stance on desire and female sexuality? Why do we have to publicly justify it?

Bumble's Apology

Just a couple of days or less, and Bumble's apology has arrived. On Instagram, for greater sharing and dissemination, the app admitted to being shortsighted and listed the reasons presented by users for why it ultimately decided to withdraw the campaign. A positive outcome, demonstrating how reasoned debate can lead to a more aware and profound public discourse. Who knows what the next dating app campaign will be?

Female Desire: Between Chastity and Slut Shaming, Nothing is Ever Right?

What do the invitations to avoid the deplorable chastity and those to procreate and start a family have in common? Control over women's bodies, the choice imposed from above of what is normal and what is not. Let's be clear: between insults to those who are too "vanilla" and therefore boring in the bedroom and the praise of the traditional family, there are many differences, the first instance only occurs in micro-social debates, while the second is reinforced at the governmental level, just look at Italy. But the case of Julia Fox vs. Bumble could be useful in looking at everything in a different light, more general and less short-sighted. The waves of feminism and social activism in the '10s and '20s of the 2000s pushed for sexual liberation, and they were right. On the flip side, however, progressive pushes risk going full circle, falling into reactionary stances, imposing another standard, equally unsuitable for all because we are all different and above all because we must have total control over our choices, always.