Is sexy back? Why it might be time for the great raunch revival

Simone Ashley, who appeared in Bridgerton graces the pages of the new Pirelli calendar (PIRELLI CALENDAR / ETHAN JAMES GREEN)
Simone Ashley, who appeared in Bridgerton graces the pages of the new Pirelli calendar (PIRELLI CALENDAR / ETHAN JAMES GREEN)

Have you noticed? It’s getting hot in here. Exhibit A: the return of the Victoria’s Secret fashion show last month, which saw the “angels” put on their wings and wink at the cameras after a six-year hiatus. B: the most talked about film of the year, Cannes Palme d'Or winner Anora, which features enough sex scenes to send prudes into a spiral (or, at least, earn the marketing gold critic quote: “makes Pretty Woman look like a Disney movie”). C, D and E: Sabrina Carpenter’s winking innuendos, Charli xcx’s insistence that we “wanna guess the colour of [her] underwear”, Tate McRae getting arrested for public nudity in the music video for “It’s ok I’m ok”.

Look all around and you’ll see we're amidst a great raunch revival. Last year, the biggest songs were about breakups and self-introspection, epitomised by Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” and SZA’s “Kill Bill”. Now? We’re too busy enjoying a seemingly endless brat summer (autumn?) to soundtrack our heartbreaks. The PG perfection of the Barbie movie has been replaced by the full-on 18+ content in films such as Poor Things. The short-lived era of fully-clothed models in the Pirelli calendar has been swapped out for a return to, as this year’s photographer Ethan James Green puts it, the brand’s “sexy classic” roots. Even lads mags are back, courtesy of the recent relaunch of Loaded and the upcoming return of Playboy’s print magazine. Sure, sex always sells, but right now, it appears to be flying off the shelves.

Bella Hadid (Getty Images for Victoria's Secr)
Bella Hadid (Getty Images for Victoria's Secr)

Funny, because in the real world, all reports point to a very different trend. Over the last five years, there’s been a steady roll-out of data that’s found most people are actually having less sex, particularly young adults. Not only that, but a recent study by the Center for Scholars and Storytellers (CSS) at UCLA also found that Gen Z wants to see less of it on screen, with 51.5 per cent of respondents stating they’d rather see TV shows and films about friendship and platonic relationships. That’s a sweet sentiment, but it doesn’t quite add up. Statistically, sex scenes have actually been on a steady decline for decades now, down by 40 per cent since the year 2000. Perhaps that’s precisely why watching Barry Keoghan slurp up Jacob Elordi’s bathwater in Saltburn felt so shocking; there’s simply been nothing close to that level of eroticism in mainstream cinema for nearly a quarter century.

Watching Barry Keoghan slurp up Jacob Elordi’s bathwater in Saltburn felt so shocking because there has simply been nothing close to that level of eroticism in mainstream cinema for nearly a quarter century

The easy conclusion to arrive at is that the recent uptick in steamy pop culture appeals because it fills a void left by the downtick in real-life sex. But it’s also no coincidence that many hyper-sexualised depictions of women in mainstream media came to a halt in the wake of the #MeToo movement. It was, after all, around the same time that Perilli decided it might be better to clothe its cast, aiming to showcase “real women” in response to criticism that previous editions had served only the male gaze.

“#MeToo really forced everyone to pause,” said Ethan James Green of his decision to reinject sex into this year’s calendar – a bit of mindblowing softening of the real meaning of a movement against systemic sexual abuse, but OK. The uncomfortable implication here is that it almost seems as though the Great Sexy Institutions of yesteryear have decided enough time has passed for people to get over the whole #MeToo thing, even if they don't want to spell it out. No worries, Loaded’s new editor Danni Levy isn’t afraid to put it plainly: she heralded the return of the magazine as an antidote to a time when “the world has gone PC mad”, allowing men to “ogle beautiful women”, just like the good old days.

To successfully participate in the great raunch revival, then, sexiness needs to serve a purpose beyond simply being, well, sexy. The highlight of Anora, for instance, isn’t the fact that its lead Mikey Madison wears skimpy outfits and can work her way around a dance pole; it’s in her nuanced, humanising portrayal of a sex worker and the film’s careful depiction of power dynamics. The more suggestive lyrics on albums such as Charli xcx’s Brat and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short ‘n’ Sweet, on the other hand, are less about pleasing and more about teasing – expressing desire, yes, but also putting men in their place. “I can't relate to desperation,” sings Sabrina on her summer smash “Espresso”, before the chorus nonchalantly acknowledges the power of her own sex appeal: “Now he's thinkin' 'bout me every night, oh / Is it that sweet? I guess so”.

Sabrina Carpenter for her Espresso single (PR Handout)
Sabrina Carpenter for her Espresso single (PR Handout)

“I feel like [this type of media is] following a continued wave of asserting bodily autonomy,” says sex educator and academic Ericka Hart. She is, however, quick to mention that sexy never truly went away – lest we forget the pearl-clutching outrage sparked by Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B’s “WAP” in 2020. What’s changed, then, is who is doing it and how it’s being received. “There's always so much commentary on how women should present their body that I feel like, especially for white women, perhaps we are at a time where they are interested in pushing the envelope in terms of sexuality. Because Black women have pushed this envelope consensually and non-consensually for centuries,” she says. And although companies such as Victoria’s Secret have been at pains to win diversity points after being criticised for a lack of inclusivity across the spectrum, it’s still falling short. “We need to have a conversation about [why we’re] seeing the same people be ‘sexually liberated’ [in media] – most of the people in Victoria's Secret show were thin, even some of the models who are considered fat or plus-size were more straight-sized.”

We need to have a conversation about why we’re seeing the same people be ‘sexually liberated’ in the media. Most of the people in Victoria’s Secret show were thin

Sex educator and academic Ericka Hart

So, same old, same old. Sexy may be back and full-frontal in the mainstream, but in the hands of big business execs, at least, it still looks pretty similar to the tired tropes that pushed it out of view in the first place. There are some titillating slivers of optimism in the types of stories being told and the people who are telling them. The worry is that corporations will only see that as an opportunity to thoughtlessly jump on the bandwagon, unravelling recent progress around sexism, equality and body standards in the process. In life or on screen, sex in 2024 is a minefield to navigate. Don’t have anything meaningful to add? Best keep it in the bedroom.