Benson Boone and the Partisan Battle for Youth Sex Appeal

“Conservatives used to be uptight, but the left has become the funless, sexless party."

This week at the Grammys, 22 year old Benson Boone had his clothes ripped off by Nikki Glaser and Heidi Klum. He then did a back flip while singing his hit song “Beautiful Things,” which has been streamed almost 1.8 billion times on Spotify. At the end, he adjusted his crotch, his mustache glistening with sweat. It was a vividly sexual performance by a wildly popular, straight, white, young male star.

In the final days of the 2024 election, Boone appeared at a Rock the Vote event that, in practice, was a rally to turn out young people to vote for Kamala Harris. Also appearing at the event were Leonardo DiCaprio (50 years old) and Robert DeNiro (81). While both were defining sex symbols of their eras, it’s hard to argue they are making many Gen Zers swoon.

Meanwhile, in a New York Magazine piece last week about the young inauguration party scene, 31-year-old influencer, Arynne Wexler said, “Conservatives used to be uptight, but the left has become the funless, sexless party. Not that the right is the party of sex, necessarily. We have fun.” The piece was accompanied by a much-debated photo of glamorous looking Republicans. Author Brock Colyar wrote, “The men look like Pete Hegseth, in bow ties and black suits, with clean-shaven faces. The women are almost all out of their league. As I was once informed, ‘These young conservative parties are 80 percent men and 20 percent the most beautiful women you’ve ever seen.’”

There may be declining rates of sex and relationships, but the desire for sex remains an incredibly powerful driver of human emotion and decision-making, especially for young adults who are biologically primed to have high sexual desire, and who aren’t happy with their loneliness. Contrary to what stereotypes some may have about the desires of Gen Z in this regard, large majorities of young men say that getting married, having children, and being able to provide for them are highly desirable and indeed achievable goals. They have less money and authority, but young people have always driven culture and defined what’s cool for the rest of us. So who is popular and sexy, and what they believe, matters.

The perception matters for both young men and young women. It was only a year or two ago that we saw articles that described young conservative men struggling to get a date, and being effectively blacklisted by young women on dating apps. This stands in stark contrast to the glamorous lifestyle described in that New York Magazine piece. So which is it? Are conservative young men lonely and hopeless or cool and sexy? Are young liberals sexless bores or fun-loving party animals? There is a battle to define the two sides that may have long-term consequences.

In recent decades, the left’s messaging about sex has centered around threats to abortion rights and gay rights, HIV prevention and ending sexual assault. All very important, but also very serious. Intentionally or not, the left has tended to overlook the fun side of sex (Hotties for Harris was a notable exception). Most young men say they have been in relationships, even “serious” relationships. While not many young men explicitly point to having a busy sex life as essential to their definition of manliness, the current array of who is popular on YouTube and TikTok (and who isn’t) suggests there is clearly a market for helping young men navigate sex, romance, and everything in between. It may be hard for Millenials, Gen Xers and Boomers to wrap our heads around, but Republicans and their influencers have positioned themselves as the party with sexual energy (even if, in practice, sexual frequency seems pretty similar across parties). And Democrats aren’t giving young people an aspirational vision of sex, wealth, or strength (even if, in practice, plenty of Democrats have sex, are rich, and lift heavy). We might hope people vote on tax policy or foreign affairs, but they also vote based on who they want to be associated with, and aspire to, culturally.

Benson Boone’s energy is something that can’t be manufactured in a focus group. But the left shouldn’t ignore its power either.

(*safe, enthusiastically consensual and with reproductive choice, obviously)