Sound the alarms!
According to a new study published by The Journal of Sex Research, younger generations of LGBTQ+ men are more likely to identify as bottom or versatile than the elder counterparts.
Unfortunately, the answer might not be that simple, based on data from the full report, which was released this week.
How about we take this to the next level?
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The study comes from a trio of researchers at the University of Oxford and Manchester, who sought to determine whether there was a generational pattern between LGBTQ+ men who specify their sexual role and those who don’t.
(For all intents and purpose, the study only focused on top, bottom, and versatile. Sorry, sides!)
Using data from more than 100,000 users on gay dating app Surge, which boasts more than 8.5 million users, they were able to notice some patterns.
Basically, the study found that “younger men were more likely” to disclose a sexual role preference than older members and “more frequently identified as bottom or versatile.”
On the other hand, older gays tended to either identify as tops or not select a position. Let’s hear it for the daddies!
OK, OK, so the study has its limitations.
We’d be remiss to ignore the large swaths of LGBTQ+ men who exclusively use apps like Sniffies and Grindr.
Still, the initial findings are interesting considering younger generations, like Gen Z, have a reputation for socially eschewing traditional labels.
However, their dating app profiles tell a different story.
“Sexual role identification remains an important dimension of sexual and romantic culture among many men who have sex with men,” researcher Dr. Morten Thomsen told Phys.org.
“Our findings suggest that sexual role categories are being used in increasingly flexible and context-dependent ways within contemporary digital environments, especially among younger users.”
Interestingly enough, the study also found trends across regions.
For example, in Europe, the most common position was versatile, while bottom was the most prevalent in North America and Africa.
Notably, the study pointed out that the influx of older gay men who identify as tops might be connected to “more traditional understandings of masculinity and sexual positioning.”
Furthermore, the younger generation’s proclivities for bottoming may stem from growing up in a society that hasn’t prescribed taboos to being the receptive partner in a relationship.
There’s a top shortage, us h*ng bottoms gotta report for duty
— Ryan (@ryxcito) September 2, 2025
With that in mind, it’s hard to tell if the top shortage is a full-on crisis — or if it was ever real to begin with.
Still, the study proves that there’s a lot to be learned from scanning the profiles on your go-to gay dating app.
“While our data can’t tell us exactly why people adopt particular labels, it allows us to observe patterns across generations and countries on a scale that has not been possible before,” Dr. Rampazzo told Phys.org.
So bottoms, doesn’t lose hope just yet… and vers bottoms, be prepared to step it up.
You know, just in case.
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