Gen Z has never been so reactionary

Unless you’ve been living in an underground cave, if you’re into pop music and under 35, you’re probably aware that Sabrina Carpenter is currently on a European tour, set to stop in Milan on March 26. And if you enjoy mindless scrolling on TikTok—or happen to be a fan of the Espresso and Please, Please, Please singer—you also know that at the end of her song Juno, she playfully mimics a sexual position on stage. Each time it’s different, and ideally themed around the city she’s performing in.

Sabrina Carpenter’s exaggerated, cartoonish sexuality

Nothing shocking there, especially considering Carpenter’s song lyrics (which are almost all openly sexual, filled with winks, nods, and double entendres) and her persona—a mix of Betty Boop, pin-up, and a doll-like starlet from a 1950s variety show. However, many users on Twitter and TikTok, particularly in response to one of her latest performances in Paris, have voiced their disapproval, calling her anti-feminist, a pick-me girl, and someone who promotes a male-gaze-driven version of female sexuality.

Gen Z’s reaction online and the Olivia Rodrigo comparison

The backlash was ruthless, and comparisons with other pop stars quickly followed. Shortly after, Olivia Rodrigo performed at Lollapalooza in a high-energy set, rocking a bold red bodysuit matching her lipstick. It was a spectacular and powerful performance—one that should be appreciated on its own rather than used to tear down another artist, in this case, Sabrina Carpenter. So why do we keep doing what we once promised to stop—pitting young women in music against each other? Why has our desire for justice come full circle, taking on a puritanical tone? And why are these criticisms, surprisingly, not coming from our mothers and grandmothers, but from very young women who see any form of sexual expression as degrading and submissive—as something akin to what sex workers do? Their arguments are expressed in terms almost as harsh as the submission they claim to see in Carpenter’s playful stage antics.

Gen Z's conservatism and the debate on female sexuality

The path young people are taking raises concerns about well-intentioned protectionism quickly turning into conservatism. Why is it so hard to talk about female sexuality (and the ways it’s expressed) in a normal way? Yes, we live in a patriarchal society that treats women’s bodies (and pleasure) very differently from men’s. And yes, nothing—even Sabrina Carpenter’s positions—exists in a vacuum. But should the solution really be to deny any and all forms of female sexual expression—whether lighthearted and ironic, like the pop star’s, or more serious and intentional—until power dynamics are fully balanced or reversed? Do we really need to place so much weight and seriousness on a stage routine that plays with repetition and format, while stripping the performer of any agency and decision-making power, painting her as a passive, empty doll? Maybe it’s time to reassess, take a step back, and recognize when we’re pointing the same judgmental finger as past generations we pride ourselves on having moved beyond. Because slipping into reactionary thinking happens far too easily.