I agree with Arwa Mahdawi (Sex-positive feminism had its moment – and now it has been replaced by voluntary celibacy, 21 May) that sex-positive feminism is on its last legs. As an 18-year-old who has spent just over five years on various forms of social media, I am intrigued about how the landscape has changed within postmodern feminism across that time. It was just a few years ago that I was grappling on a daily basis with the complexities of campaigns I saw on Instagram, and learning constantly how certain figures believed that a new sex-positivity should manifest itself.
For a teenager whose idea of social justice came predominantly from infographics, it was exhausting to keep up with how that movement’s ideas broached how we should use language, and what we should be reclaiming at a given time. My friends and I now discuss celibacy more than we discuss dating. We conclude that men are certainly not without blame.
I would like to know how (or whether at all) Mahdawi considers the rise of figures like Andrew Tate has contributed to this. The very fact that we are OK now with the previously blunt term celibacy shows the power in reclamations made outside the sex-positive movement.
Hannah Cleallsmith
Walberton, West Sussex
