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Generation Z lives — and has sex — in a very interesting era for the English language. Social media has made a big difference in the spread of vocabulary, and the slang we’ve developed is an important tool for social connection and change.
Earlier this year, a new phrase popped up in the Gen Z social media dictionary: cracking. For all intents and purposes, cracking someone means having sex with them. Cracking is not so much used to describe “making love” but instead to describe casual sex.
So why can’t we just say that?
Rarely do we use literal words when discussing sex. Euphemisms are generally used to soften the blow of another word — think “passed away” instead of “died” — but when it comes to sex, we seem to use words that make the situation more aggressive.
Notably, cracking is not a word that we attribute to both people. It’s a word that frames sex as an act that is done by one person to another instead of a mutual act. Most commonly, you might hear “I cracked them” or “I got cracked.” It’s a conquest, not a connection.
Along with cracking, which is reminiscent of either cocaine usage or eggs — neither of which are very sexy — Gen Z has picked up words like “goon” meaning masturbating, “dih” or” puh” meaning dick and pussy, respectively as well as “smash” or simply “seggs,” meaning sex — because apparently, we can’t just say the word.
Words like these minimize what sex is, imply shame over our bodies and treat sex as something of a battle.
Sex is not a dirty word, and we shouldn’t shy away from explicit language in favor of euphemisms. Hiding words like sex, or calling genitals by a vague nickname, continues to project the idea that sex, desire and our bodies are things to be hidden. This only leads to shame and misunderstandings.
Of course, the language that we use can never be used to solely determine how we think and feel. But it’s typically a good indicator of the assumptions or stereotypes we might be falling into.
I don’t think the rise of words like crack and smash is a coincidence. Of course, slang around sex has always existed — with phrases like “getting busy” or “knocking boots” in the 90s or even Shakespeare using “nothing” as a double entendre — but the overly aggressive slang we use at the moment seems to indicate a larger issue.
Patriarchal expectations seep into every part of our society. Traditionally, sex is seen as something that men initiate and to which women succumb. There is no doubt that this ideology permeates the way we speak. Women are most often the recipients of this aggressive sexual language, including the endless casually derogatory names we use for sexually active women.
The rise of social media also means that slang travels and permeates our vocabulary much faster than it did in the past. It’s more documented than ever, and yet, our vocabulary is setting us back.
As someone who believes casual sex is normal and even healthy for young adults, I am also the prude who thinks we need to be more careful about how we view our partners. The more we connect violence to intimacy, the more it will become natural for us to see our partners in a negative way.
You don’t need to be in love with every sexual partner you have, but you do need to carry a certain level of empathy and respect for them and their body.
Talking about sex can be difficult. It can be awkward and a bit messy, but sex is all those things, too. Being able to have honest, intimate conversations about sex helps us to stop seeing it as something inherently shameful.
Gen Z is one of the most sex-positive generations to date, but treating sexual partners negatively is not sex positivity. Many of us talk about sex daily, often pretty shamelessly, but our vocabulary hasn’t seemed to catch up. Using our vocabulary to detach sex from intimacy will only make it harder for us to ever talk honestly about what we want.
Reach Skylar White at letters@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.
