Sexual Boundary Violations via Digital Media Among Students

As digital media becomes more central to the lives of adolescents, it also becomes increasingly relevant for their sexual communication. Sexting as an important image-based digital medium provides opportunities for self-determined digital communication, but also carries specific risks for boundary violations. Accordingly, sexting is understood either as an everyday, or as risky and deviant behavior among adolescents. In the affectedness of boundary violations gender plays an important role. However, it is still unclear to what extent digital sexual communication restores stereotypical gender roles and restrictive sexuality norms or, alternatively, enables new spaces of possibility. In this sense, current research points to a desideratum regarding adolescents’ orientations toward sexting as a practice between spaces of possibility and boundary violations. This paper discusses the possibilities, but also the risks, of intimate digital communication among adolescents. The main question is, how adolescents themselves perceive sexting practices and how they position themselves between both spaces for possibility and for the exchange of unwanted sexual content. For this purpose, orientations toward normalities and gender of students are reconstructed. To answer these questions, twelve single-sex, group discussions were carried out with students aged 16 and 17 at five different secondary schools in northern Germany. A total of 20 boys and 22 girls took part. The group discussions were structured by a narrative generating guideline. The analysis draws its methodology from the Documentary Method, regarding implicit and explicit forms of knowledge and discourse. It results in a typology of three types with different orientations. The study shows, that most of the students consider sexting to be a risky practice; only one type shows normality in the use of sexting. At the same time, some of the young people are interested in experimenting with image-based intimate digital communication. Further, gender differences in use and affectedness are also documented. In this way, orientations toward gender stereotypes “favor” both the attribution of responsibility to girls, and overlook the responsibility of students who perpetrated the boundary violation. The orientations of adolescents should be taken more into account in research as well as in educational programs for the prevention of sexual violence.

Sex, Digital Devices, Social Media, and Social Isolation: A Study on Sexual Behavioral During COVID -19 Pandemic

Introduction: Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused social and economic damages. People have adapted to a new reality of physical distance. Objective: The study aimed to assess the use of digital devices and social media, focusing on psychosocial and demographic factors of people´s sexual behavior during the pandemic. Methods: A total of 1,357 Brazilian adults participated in a cross-sectional online survey. They were recruited through social media to obtain information regarding sexual behavior and the use of digital devices and social media. Results: Digital devices and social media were used by 38.8% of the participants. Among the group that used technological devices, most claimed to have changed their sexual behavior, with 76.9% consuming more sexual content through movies or series. Conclusion: In a smaller group, technological resources appeared as an alternative for safer sex, reducing the risks of COVID-19 transmission.

Internet risky behaviours among youth with visual impairment

Background Young individuals with visual impairment (VI), exposed to higher risky of social exclusion, might be more prone to Internet risky behaviours including electronic aggression. Objective Different types of Internet risky behaviours and the average time spent online were investigated among students with VI. These behaviours were analyzed for the relationship with witnessing, perpetrating and becoming a victim of electronic aggression. Methods A total of 490 special needs school students with VI answered a self-administered questionnaire. The average time spent online, different types of risky Internet activities and electronic aggression were recorded, as well as sociodemographic characteristics. Results Male students downloaded software illegally, hacked, published and viewed sites with sexual content, and gambled online statistically more often than female counterparts. Concerning electronic aggression, more than half of participants were engaged as witnesses, every fifth student as a victim and 11.6% as perpetrators. Two sets of ordinal logistic regression analyses have shown that communication with a person promoting violence and an excessive amount of time spent online during weekends predicted significantly the risk of witnessing and being a victim of electronic aggression. Additionally, communicating with a person promoting violence and an excessive amount of time spent online during schooldays were associated with increased odds for engagement in electronic aggression as a perpetrator. Conclusions Population with VI is prone to risky Internet use and likely to be engaged in electronic aggression. New instruments and preventive strategies need to be developed, as well as diagnostic tools tailored specifically to the needs of young people with VI.

Are Female Paraphilias Hiding in Plain Sight? Risqué Male–Male Erotica for Women in Sinophone and Anglophone Regions

Female-oriented male–male erotica is a genre of popular culture often know as Boys’ Love (BL), yaoi, and danmei. It is one of the largest by-and-for women sexual subcultures and a global phenomenon. With the largest data sets in the field, we ask: Which risqué sexual content do Sinophone (Chinese-speaking) and Anglophone (English-speaking) participants particularly enjoy in BL and does this differ between cultures?, and Are there sub-demographics in Sinophone and in Anglophone culture who enjoy particular forms of risqué sexual content in BL and do these forms relate also to enjoyment of particular storylines and concern with legal issues? The material studied meets the DSM-5 definition of the paraphilic, and little is known about paraphilias in women or in the general population. Using Categorical Principal Component Analysis we explored one 15-response question from our Sinophone (N = 1922) and Anglophone (N = 1715) BL fandom surveys: Which risqué sexual content do you particularly enjoy in BL? We also tested for associations with seven demographic and other BL content-related questions. Notably, the component structure was nearly replicated between the two independent samples, in order of strength: BDSM Specialist, Mechanoid/Animal Sex Specialist, Underage Sex Specialist, and Minority Paraphilia Specialist. In both samples, it was the avid BL fans and/or those who liked explicitly sexual stories, a largely overlapping demographic, who most engage the risqué content, while, for the Sinophone, this included also more non-heterosexual and/or other-gendered people. We conclude that women’s paraphilias have been largely overlooked because they might be expressed more commonly through fantasy than action, that their mass expression has awaited both the means and the market force, and that current conceptualization of, and assumptions about, paraphilias is overly modeled on that of men.

Not in front of the children? An analysis of sex on screen in Italy

Despite the fact that both state owned (RAI) and privately owned (Mediaset) Ital-ian television channels habitually adopt scantily dressed women in provocative poses to fulfill a purely decorative function on daytime television, a closer look at Italian TV reveals that it is far less liberated than it seems. In fact, in stark contradiction to the apparent unrestraint of autochthonous studio productions, references to sex and sexuality in imported fictional products tend to be severely mitigated in their translated forms. Furthermore, it also appears that sexual behaviour beyond traditional male/female ‘mainstream’ sexual practices becomes in-creasingly taboo in translation, as they too are either toned down or totally eliminated. Relegated to cable and satellite channels or late-night/early morning viewing on one of the privately owned Mediaset channels, programs containing very explicit sexual content such as US produced ‘Sex and the City’ are moderated quite significantly for Italian audiences, not only in terms of the pervasive use of strong, taboo language, but also for explicit references to a variety of sexual practices.This paper will discuss the norms which govern the translation of ‘adult’ materials for Italian TV both from an examination of the linguistic content of the programs themselves and from the point of view of operators involved in the dubbing process.

SPACE, PLACE AND LOCATION IN SEXUAL SOCIAL MEDIA

Contributing to the swiftly emerging field of the geographies of digital sexualities, this panel explores the geosocial and geopolitical dimensions of digital sexual cultures by zooming in on the connections between sexual practices, geographic imaginaries, and locally embedded social media platforms devoted to sexual expression. Building on case studies of an Estonian platform used primarily by those interested in group sex (LC, est. 2018), a Swedish platform preferred by BDSM practitioners (Darkside.se, est. 2003), and a Finnish platform for nude self-expression (Alastonsuomi.com, est. 2007) we show how these platforms contribute to and shape sexual geographies in digital and physical registers. On the one hand, these platforms operate as spatialized tools which put bodies in motion in the interest of hooking up. They function as digital compasses that allow for orientation of sexual desires in physical spaces. On the other hand, these platforms also assemble localized online places for flirtation, imagination, visibility, and appreciation, which interlink bodies with the visual pleasures and vulnerabilities of seeing and being seen. We approach questions of locatedness and place-making both through the regional and linguistic boundaries within which these platforms operate, as well as through our participants’ sense of comfort and investment in the local as a space of sexual play. As sexual content and communication are increasingly pushed out of large, U.S.-owned social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr, local and (to some extent) independent platforms where sexual expression is less regulated offer an interesting counterweight.

Insular Cortex Response to Static Visual Sexual Stimuli

According to previous research, the insula is important for processing salient and emotional stimuli, but its precise role remains elusive. By combining high spatial and temporal resolution, intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) might contribute to filling this gap. Four drug-resistant epileptic patients with intracranial electrodes in the insula were instructed to watch and rate pictures with sexual content and neutral pictures. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were computed separately for both types of stimuli. Ninety-three percent of the anterior insula (AI) and 85% of the posterior insula (PI) contacts showed differences between ERPs. AI-positive deflections tended to have an earlier onset than PI-positive deflections. The results suggest that the AI generates a P300-like response and contributes to the early phase of the late positive potential, both components found enhanced while viewing emotional stimuli in the ERP literature. The present findings are interpreted as congruent with the role of the AI in maintaining attention to salient stimuli.

Attention Bias and Recognition of Sexual Images in Depression

Depression greatly affects sexuality. Theoretical and empirical evidence account for the existence of attention bias to sex-related stimuli. This attention bias might be impaired in depression, resulting in sexual problems. A sample of 13 patients with depression and 13 matched healthy controls were tested using the dot-probe and picture recognition task to measure attention to erotic images. No difference in attention to sex-related stimuli (ω2 = 0, p = 0.22) and in memory bias (ω2 = 0, p = 0.72) was found between the two groups. Explorative analyses were conducted to identify the sexual content-induced delay effect in the data, assess variability differences, and compare trial-level bias score-based indexes between groups. Across all analyses, there was little evidence for depression affecting sexual-related cognitive processing, and even this might be explained by other means. Our results suggest that restrained attention is probably not the main factor behind sexual problems in depression.

The Influence of Mass Media and Pop-culture on Young Heterosexual African, Caribbean, and Black Canadian (ACB) Men in Windsor, Ontario

Mass media and pop culture have contributed to unhealthy sexualities and irresponsible sexual behaviors. In these platforms, casual sex is normalized while minimizing its serious social and health consequences. Sexual contents and activities hype unhealthy sexual attitudes, which feed into African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) men’s stereotypes as hyper-sexualized, irresponsible, reckless, and incapable of dealing with issues affecting their health. Based on 3 focus group discussions with 31 self-identified heterosexual ACB men, aged 16 years and above, the paper explores how mass media and pop-culture have impacted young heterosexual ACB men's social, and sexual attitudes and behaviors in Windsor, Ontario. The results suggest that exposure to sexual content and materials influence unhealthy and irresponsible sexual behaviors, especially among young heterosexual ACB men. Also, the negative portrayal of ACB men in the media and pop culture define and shape how ACB men conduct themselves.

To what extent do erotic images elicit visuospatial versus cognitive attentional processes? Consistent support for a (non-spatial) Sexual Content-Induced Delay

It is almost a cultural truism that erotic images attract our attention, presumably because paying attention to erotic stimuli provided our ancestors with mating benefits. Attention, however, can be narrowly defined as visuospatial attention (keeping such stimuli in view) or more broadly as cognitive attention (such stimuli taking up one’s thoughts). We present four independent studies aiming to test the extent to which erotic images have priority in capturing visuospatial versus cognitive attention. Whereas the former would show in quicker reactions to stimuli presented in locations where erotic images appeared previously, the latter causes delayed responding after erotic images, independent of their location). To this end, we specifically modified spatial cueing tasks to disentangle visuospatial attention capture from general sexual content-induced delay (SCID) effects—a major drawback in the previous literature. Consistently across all studies (total N = 399), we found no evidence in support of visuospatial attention capture but reliably observed an unspecific delay of responding for trials in which erotic images appeared (irrespective of cue location). This SCID is equally large for heterosexual men and women and reliably associated with their self-reported sexual excitability.